Ram Trade
Fordham University exclusive peer-to-peer marketplace application
Academic project
The challenge
Reflection
Lack of trust 🤝
A major issue with platforms like Facebook Marketplace, eBay, and Craigslist is that buyers and sellers face a critical lack of trust.
At Ram Trade, we believe that no one should have to choose between a great deal and their peace of mind.
The idea
Fordham exclusive marketplace application 📱
Ram Trade is a mobile marketplace application created exclusively for Fordham University students to foster safe commerce within the school community.
Our survey of approximately 300 students representing the student body reveals that: Most students have faced the challenges addressed and would prefer to use a Fordham exclusive platform.
As a designer and a developer with a background in business, my partner Bach Le and I wanted to brainstorm ways that we could implement our skills to tackle this challenge.
About
Timeline 📈
February 2024 - April 2024
Role 🧑💻
UI/UX Designer
User research
Survey 📝
Our survey of approximately 300 students representing the student body reveals that:
73% of students would feel more comfortable using a Fordham-exclusive marketplace, representing Ram Trade's addressable market.
63% have encountered difficulties verifying products and sellers, and 37% have had transactions fall through due to a lack of trust.
Through this survey, we were able to conclude that Ram Trade will be a desirable application for our target market.
Ideation
Conceptualizing & addressing the challenge 📊
Being a marketplace, Ram Trade can be separated into two major areas: Selling and buying.
However, to solve the challenge described above, we implemented many user protection measures such as Mandatory Fordham Email Verification and withholding payment until the buyer receives the right product.
In addition, we also implemented a conceptual AI that can auto-fill listing information when the seller uploads images of their products.
Design
Design process 🎨
My main focus for the design of Ram Trade was to create an experience and interface that can be easily adapted and utilized.
Since usability is the key to making the platform accessible and efficient, creating a design that users will be familiar with from alternative marketplaces was one of the major priorities.
With this information in mind, I focused on the ease of navigation through the application. As well as implementing a listing auto-fill AI feature and chat feature.
Design iterations 🏗️
As part of Fordham Foundry’s Pitch Competition, we completed 3 rounds of check-ins with mentors where we gained valuable insights and feedback for Ram Trade.
Competition 🏟️
This project was used to compete in Fordham University Foundry's Annual Pitch Challenge
One of the major feedback we received was creating additional revenue streams to not only make the business more profitable but to attract third-party businesses for advertisement and partnerships.
Below are the updated revenue sources that we implemented based on the feedback we received.
To account for the Transaction Commission which will make up around 65% of Ram Trades revenue, we decided to implement a with-holding payment method also known as the escrow payment method to ensure secure transactions
The way this method works is that Ram Trade holds onto the payment from the purchase until the buyer confirms that the item has been received.
The following designs of the escrow payment method were created to accommodate the above solution.
With this updated design iteration, buyers are able to:
Send payment to Ram Trade
Confirm receipt of the purchased item
Allow Ram Trade to release the payment once confirmed
The updated design allows the sellers to:
Receive a guaranteed payment of their sold items
In addition to these iterations, I have created the ‘Chat’ flow, an ‘Account Management’ flow and a ‘Product Listing’ flow.
View additional designs:
View prototype:
Unfortunately due to my Figma plan being downgraded to basic, I am unable to share the prototype separately anymore.
If you wish to view the prototype, please feel free to contact me.
Short but meaningful 🎨
This project in particular was a meaningful challenge as we not only had to design and develop the application in a short amount of time, but we also had to come up with a business plan to present at the Fordham Foundry Pitch Competition.
Constraints
Due to the limited time, we were only able to conduct research before creating the designs and business plans. With more time on our hands, it would be beneficial to conduct usability testing and analyze metrics to further improve Ram Trade.
Development
Ram Trade is currently being developed and we hope to beta launch the application in May of 2024!