
Er-Go.ca
Connect. Trade. Repeat.
Er-Go.ca is an online second-hand product trading platform that aims to provide a better life solution for the Chinese community in Canada.
The platform attracted 2000+ users in the first month of its launch.
CHALLENGE
Second-Hand Trading
Despite being a highly demanding market, second-hand trading in Canada remains ineffective to the Chinese community due to the integrity issues derived from the trading process.
MY ROLE
UI/UX Designer
I was responsible for user research, competitive analysis, persona, user journey, wireframing, prototyping, usability testing, responsive web design, and product management.
CONTEXT
JUL - SEP 2020
This 10-week project was created by a group of 10 people. Design tools such as Bubble.io, Adobe XD, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator were used to create this project.
THE PROCESS

USER RESEARCH
DISCOVER THE PROBLEM
Despite being a highly demanding market, second-hand trading in Canada remains ineffective to the Chinese community due to the integrity issues derived from the trading process.
Trust, and why it matters
Survey results from 112 participants (male & female, 18 - 55 yrs old) show that over 63% of the participants think one of the major factors that prevent them from buying/selling second-hand products is the distrust in various aspects of the trading process.

Our research on Chinese users’ opinions towards different trading channels also shows that the level of trust (but not efficiency, surprisingly) is closely correlated with the frequency of usage, which reiterates the significance of trust to Chinese users in second-hand product trading. As indicated by the diagram below, there exists an opportunity to create a platform in the first quadrant with both a high level of trust AND high efficiency.
The lack of trust has always been a factor that keeps us away from others.
We believe that distrust, along with the inconveniences it brings about, may aggravate the sense of isolation and marginalization of the Chinese community in Canada. We want to address this issue by starting to work on a small aspect of people’s daily lives, that is, to create a second-hand product trading platform that not only provides a better life solution but also establishes a secure environment for people in our community.
TARGET AUDIENCE & PERSONA
Based on the previous findings, we’ve decided to target people who:
are 18 to 35 year old resident (long term & short term) in Canada,
are able to communicate (oral & written) in Chinese,
are motivated by financial and/or ecological reasons to trade second-hand products.


USER JOURNEY

PROBLEM REFRAMING
HOW MIGHT WE...
How might we encourage users to buy/sell second-hand products?
How might we build a platform that enables fast & easy trading?
How might we create a trustworthy environment for the users?

VALUE PROPOSITION
🔗 See our case study on Xianyu (Idle Fish)
① Fast & Easy
Users typically prefer the most convenient solution to a problem
② Profitable
Users want to maximize their benefits from the trading experience
③ Trustworthy
A trustworthy platform offers a fair and safe trading experience

RESPONSIVE WEBSITE
INTRODUCING ER-GO.CA

ACCESSIBILITY
WCAG compliance solution
Colorblind-Friendly Palette
Blue/orange is a common colorblind-friendly palette. Customization of background/text color will be available on the platform
Seizure Safe Mode
Enables epileptic and seizure-prone users to browse safely by eliminating flashing and blinking animations
Vision Enhance Mode
Accessible to the majority of visual impairments by adjusting the color saturation and the size of user interface elements



DATA ANALYSIS
MEASURING THE PERFORMANCE
Usability testing results from 40 users and live data collected from the website show an overall improved trading experience on Er-Go.ca compared to other platforms.