Background
Buying new books can be an expensive hobby. Although thrift stores are a cheaper option for buying used titles, their selection is random and depends on what has been recently donated. College students who need to find required textbooks for classes are often limited to the area near campus.
The Product Concept
Because the product concept for Local Shelf consisted of two angles– buying/selling locally and buying/selling books specifically– I knew I needed to approach this problem with two goals in mind:
1. Learning about users’ experiences using local buy/sell products
2. Learning about their experiences purchasing secondhand books
I had an idea of what a book-specific product similar to Facebook Marketplace might look like. By learning more about other products and their essential features, I could develop a clearer picture of this new product.
Analyzing the Market
Because the primary drive behind this concept was buying and selling goods locally, I analyzed the strongest competitors in the local commerce space—Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp, and Nextdoor—to discover their strengths, weaknesses, and the features that make these products work. Thriftbooks specializes in reselling used books, making it essential for determining the necessary bibliographic information for a used book listing.
User Interviews
In order to tackle both of my research objectives simultaneously, I recruited four participants who had used local buy/sell products and also asked them additional questions about an experience many users have encountered—buying, selling, and trading used textbooks for college. All participants were college graduates who had bought or sold textbooks to other students or purchased secondhand textbooks through their campus bookstore or online.
Affinity Mapping
After the interviews, I grouped any mentions of beneficial features and users’ habits. All participants mentioned concerns with scammers when using local buy/sell products, but appreciated the ability to check other users’ reviews before making a transaction. I quickly discovered the most frequently mentioned feature was searching by location and expanding the search radius. Clearly, the buying/selling local aspect of these products is these products’ biggest draw.
SECTION
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.