107%
Growth of Enjoei
Enjoei, one of the main recommerce platforms in Brazil, grew 107% in the first quarter of 2021. Its GMV (gross merchandise volume) reached R$ 172 million during this period.
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UX Case Study / 01
Re-Play.
Making secondhand children's products easier to find, buy and sell.
Project
Independent UX Case Study
My role
Product Designer / Researcher / UX/UI Designer
Approach
Human-Centered Design
Tools & Methods
Design Toolkit.
Market Context
Understanding the opportunity.
To better understand the growth of e-commerce and the acceptance of buying secondhand products online in Brazil, I conducted desk research and found that this segment showed significant potential. Here are some of the data that supported this finding:
Brazilian E-commerce / 2020–2021
Ebit/Nielsen: According to the Webshoppers 42 report, the revenue of Brazilian e-commerce in 2021 was R$ 133 billion, representing a growth of 30.3% compared to 2020. In addition, the number of orders grew by 20.5%, totaling 256.8 million orders.
According to ABComm, the revenue of Brazilian e-commerce in 2020 was R$ 126.3 billion, representing a growth of 68% compared to 2019. In addition, the number of orders grew by 56%, totaling 194 million orders.
39%
Brazilians buying secondhand
39% of Brazilians had already bought used products, according to a study conducted by OLX. Of those, 45% made their first secondhand purchase during the pandemic.
$64B
Secondhand market forecast
A GlobalData survey projected that the secondhand market would reach $64 billion within five years, surpassing the traditional sales segment by 2024.
30.3%
Brazilian e-commerce growth
According to Ebit/Nielsen, Brazilian e-commerce revenue grew by 30.3% in 2021 compared to 2020, reaching R$ 133 billion, with 256.8 million orders.
Historical research data and forecasts referenced during the original case study. These figures may not represent current market conditions.
Project Overview
The challenge behind Re-Play.
Children often outgrow clothes and other items quickly due to their rapid growth and development, resulting in a high turnover of items that are still in excellent condition.
If these items were purchased by another family instead of buying new ones, it could represent an opportunity to save both financial and environmental resources.
Considering the positive outlook for Brazilian e-commerce shown by the data, along with the strong hypothesis regarding the life cycle of children's products, I decided to conduct more specific research to answer the following design question:
The Design Question
“What are the gaps in the online experience of buying and selling used children's products, and how can we improve this experience and make it easier for parents of children aged 0 to 6?”
Process
A human-centered approach.
I followed the Human-Centered Design (HCD) approach, adapting the methods to the specific needs of this unique project. The methods I used were carefully chosen based on their relevance at each step of the process.
- 01
Research
- 02
Ideate
- 03
Evaluate
- 04
Final design
User Research
Organizing what we know and don't know.
CSD Matrix
To organize my research efficiently, I used the CSD Matrix to analyze and structure information based on three key dimensions: Certainties, Suppositions, and Doubts.
From questions to methods
To proceed, I classified the assumptions and doubts to determine the best methodology for investigating each one. Interrogative words such as "what," "how," "which," and "why" indicated the most suitable research methods for each question.
Quantitative Research
Understanding buying behaviors.
Survey
To obtain more reliable results, I chose to focus on specific regions of Brazil, given the country's large size. Specifically, I targeted parents with children between 0 and 6 years old who lived in the Southeast and South regions of Brazil. At the time, these regions had the highest revenue from online purchases.
Survey Planning
Structuring the research
Data Collection
Based on the information above, I created a survey using Google Forms.
Survey Results
What the data revealed.
The survey collected 163 responses and helped identify purchasing habits, product categories, preferred platforms, and concerns about buying used children's products.
Percentages and findings are presented as recorded in the original survey.
Key Insights
From numbers to insights.
The survey findings helped guide the next phase of the project: qualitative interviews.
01 / Social Platforms
Buying and selling through social media
For both buying and selling used children's products, more than half of the people surveyed stated that they use social media instead of dedicated selling platforms. WhatsApp was the clear leader for both types of transactions.
I decided to investigate this behavior in the qualitative interviews, as WhatsApp is not specifically designed for sales, potentially leaving room for usability gaps.
02 / Product Opportunities
Opportunities beyond clothing
Toys, furniture, and books were found to be very promising, even for reaching parents who do not purchase used children's clothing online.
Clothes often have a low price and are donated by 78.3% of respondents, highlighting that clothing should not be the only focus.
03 / Purchase Experience
Identifying opportunities for trust
The way transactions are currently conducted does not cause insecurity for the majority of people.
However, the reported insecurities provide an opportunity to improve the purchasing experience.
Qualitative Research
Going deeper into user needs.
Semi-structured qualitative interviews
Based on the survey findings, the research focus expanded beyond used children's clothing to include toys and books, which were the first and third most purchased categories of secondhand products, respectively.
Although furniture was the second most purchased category, I chose to focus on books because they are closely related to toys. I hypothesized that this could lead to a more specific solution.
Interview Planning
Exploring behaviors and motivations
Research Synthesis
What the interviews revealed.
I compiled the findings to better understand participants' motivations, shopping behaviors, and the difficulties they experienced when buying secondhand children's products.
01 / Finding
Motivations for buying secondhand
Affordability, sustainability, and access to high-quality products in great condition.
02 / Finding
Books and reading habits
Finding specific books, keeping family collections, and donating rather than reselling.
03 / Finding
Toys and changing interests
Children's changing preferences, product availability, and donating unused toys.
04 / Finding
Clothing and product preferences
Wear and tear, sizing, and interest in particular brands.
05 / Finding
Benefits of secondhand shopping
Convenient pickup, lower prices, reuse, and environmental benefits.
06 / Finding
Challenges and frustrations
Uncertainty about product condition, difficulties finding specific items, and keeping up with selling groups.
Detailed Findings
Interview compilation
Motivations for buying used children's items included saving money, as these products are often sold almost unused and children tend to use them for a short time; environmental considerations; and access to high-quality products in great condition at lower prices.
Specific secondhand books in good condition were harder to find, although the search became easier when looking for books without a particular title in mind. Even after being read many times, books tended to remain in the family's library.
All interviewees said they were not interested in selling the children's books they had acquired. However, all but one had purchased secondhand children's books in good condition, suggesting that there were people interested in selling used books.
One participant subscribed to Leiturinha and received books monthly. She also donated books to a children's library for people in need.
When parents wanted a specific toy for their children but could not find it secondhand, they ended up buying it new.
Children received many gifts, so parents did not buy many toys and usually donated them after some time — on average, between six months and one year. Some children lost interest in toys quickly, while others did not.
Apparently, parents whose children lost interest more quickly had a higher likelihood of buying used toys. A common difficulty was finding specific products, since children often started requesting particular items at certain ages.
Older children tended to use their clothes for longer periods, leading to more wear and tear and making it harder to sell their used clothing in good condition.
Some participants were interested in specific brands and were willing to buy secondhand products in good condition, even when they were larger than their children's current size.
The main benefits mentioned were convenient pickup and delivery, shorter shopping times, spending less money while obtaining nearly new products in very good condition, keeping clothing in circulation, and contributing to environmental sustainability.
The main drawbacks included uncertainty about whether product photos accurately represented their condition, occasionally receiving very dirty products, difficulties finding specific items, and having to constantly monitor selling groups to avoid missing relevant products.
Competitive Analysis
Understanding the competitive landscape.
I analyzed WhatsApp, Facebook, OLX, and Enjoei, comparing their monetization models, delivery processes, and available features.
01
02
03
OLX
04
Enjoei
Business Models
Monetization.
WhatsApp Business API, WhatsApp Business, and WhatsApp Pay Brazil.
Advertising, games, and products sold on the platform.
OLX
Advertisements, sponsored listings, and products featured more prominently on the platform.
Enjoei
Sales commissions, withdrawal fees in some cases, and Enjupro, a service in which the Enjoei team manages the entire process.
Fulfillment
Delivery.
WhatsApp · Facebook · OLX
Product delivery is arranged directly between the buyer and seller, without the platform's intermediation.
Enjoei
Enjoei has a partnership with Correios, Brazil's national postal service, allowing sellers to generate personalized shipping labels directly on the platform.
Sellers can print the label at home and take the packaged product to a Correios agency to be shipped to the buyer.
Feature Comparison
Comparing platform capabilities.
The comparison maps the features offered by each platform during the original research, helping identify opportunities for a more focused experience.
| Feature | OLX | Enjoei | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search for location | Not available | Available | Available | Available |
| Search for age | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Search for categories | Not available | Available | Available | Available |
| Buy and sell | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Follow interests | Available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Seller rating | Not available | Not available | Available | Available |
| Access without an account | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Only kids' products | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Chat | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Phone number available | Available | Available | Available | Not available |
| Payment | Not available | Not available | Not available | Available |
| Commission | Not available | Not available | Not available | Available |
| Delivery | Not available | Not available | Not available | Available |
This comparison reflects the original research period and does not represent the current capabilities of these platforms.
Design Requirements
From research to design priorities.
After collecting and analyzing all the data, I identified the project's key objectives to align with users' needs and desires, address gaps in the current user experience, and provide a competitive advantage by offering what was missing from the main competitors' products.
01 / Requirement
Save Money
Participants confirmed that their biggest motivation for buying used items was cost-effectiveness, as they could find high-quality products at significantly lower prices than if they were new.
Additionally, finding products from their favorite brands was important to many users. Some even purchased items that did not yet fit their children because they were available at a good price and were from a specific brand they already knew and liked.
Not charging any commissions was considered essential to keeping prices low.
02 / Requirement
Trustworthy
Providing trustworthy information and realistic images in advertisements, as well as delivering clean, high-quality products, is crucial for maintaining a positive reputation for the seller.
Enabling users to review their experiences with sellers and making these ratings visible in all their ads can help others understand whether a particular seller typically provides good products.
Very bad experiences can also be reported to help maintain a safe and reliable marketplace.
03 / Requirement
Save Time
As busy parents with young children, these users do not have much free time to spare. They need a platform that allows them to search easily whenever they have a spare moment, receive alert notifications for products they need, and quickly create ads when selling items.
With WhatsApp groups, they may receive notifications about products that are not relevant to their interests or needs. And when they finally have time to search for something specific, they must sift through the entire chat history.
04 / Requirement
Enjoyable
For a segment of users, searching for products worth buying has become more than just a task. It has turned into a hobby. For this reason, providing a delightful and well-organized browsing experience is important.
For those who want to spend less time on their phones, allowing them to receive scheduled alerts about products they are interested in also helps them discover worthwhile deals that match their preferences, even when they haven't accessed the app for a while.
Moving into Design
These four priorities provided the foundation for exploring solutions that could make the experience more affordable, trustworthy, efficient, and enjoyable for parents.
Ideation
Turning insights into experiences.
Mapping the Journey
Service Blueprint.
This blueprint represents the primary flow of the customer journey. I created it while iterating on ideas and features that were considered important but were not yet part of the timeline. Creating it helped me understand the happy path and identify areas where the experience could be improved.
Navigation Structure
User Flow.
To gain a better understanding of the necessary screens, their organization, and the possible navigation paths, I created a user flow for the entire application.
The flow was developed from three perspectives: a guest user, a buyer, and a seller.
Interface Exploration
Giving ideas shape.
After defining the application's structure and navigation, I moved into visual exploration, starting with quick sketches and progressing to more detailed wireframes.
Exploring Ideas
Sketch: brainstorming.
Once I had gained a comprehensive understanding of the application and its content, I created some quick sketches as part of a brainstorming session.
These sketches allowed me to explore different design concepts and ideas. The image below shows the version I considered clear enough to begin developing the actual wireframes.
Structuring Interfaces
Wireframes.
Having gained a comprehensive understanding of the application's content, flow, and features, I moved to Figma to structure the screens in more detail.
This helped establish the layout and placement of the various interface components.
User Evaluation
Testing the experience.
Usability tests
As the application was not too large and I had already conducted extensive research with users, I decided to provide a more realistic experience during the usability tests.
Therefore, I created a high-fidelity prototype in Figma, recruited users who matched the target profile, and prepared a test script designed to be completed in approximately 30 minutes.
I also included questions about the navigation flow and interface.
High-Fidelity Prototype
Preparing the experience for testing
Test Planning
The usability test script.
The script covered five areas of the experience, combining practical tasks with questions about participants' expectations and understanding of the interface.
- Task 01
Login
- Log in to your existing account using Google.
- Task 02
Product feed
- Navigate through both feeds (Following and Explore) and describe the differences between them.
- Do you expect the Explore tab to contain all ads or only those from people you don't follow?
- Find a toy called "mini trailer."
- What would you do if you wanted to buy this product?
- Task 03
Favorites
- How do you find your favorited ads?
- What is your opinion on the way they are currently organized?
- Task 04
Selling
- Now, imagine you are a seller and want to create a new ad for a toy called Carl's House from Lego.
- After some time, Carl's House is sold. What do you do in the app to mark it as sold?
- What do you think would happen if you clicked the "Reactivate" button?
- How can you give more visibility to a listing for a "Nursing Rocking Chair"?
- In your opinion, do you think this is a paid service? How do you think it works?
- Task 05
Notifications
- How useful do you find receiving notifications? In what cases do you think they're helpful?
- What types of notifications do you expect to receive?
Usability Test Results
Turning feedback into improvements.
The usability tests revealed several details that needed refinement, as well as two important findings that influenced the final design.
Minor Findings
Refining the details.
These findings pointed to usability issues involving navigation, visual states, filtering, and the ad creation experience.
01
The "Explore" tab should only display ads from sellers and categories that the user does not follow.
02
The category icons in the "Explore" tab may appear disabled because they are gray.
03
The favorite button, when active, is black, making its state difficult to understand.
04
The first field when creating an ad should be for adding images, not selecting the category.
05
The "recommended for: boys/girls" field should include a "both" option, as participants were unsure whether to leave it blank or select both genders.
06
The term "recommended" in the filters was confusing and needed to be reconsidered.
Solutions to these minor findings are presented in the final version.
Key Finding #1
Making the purchase process clearer.
It needed to be clearer on the screen that the way to make a purchase was by sending a message to the seller; otherwise, users could become confused.
Design Response
The final design makes the action of messaging the seller more explicit on the product detail page, helping users understand how to initiate a purchase.
Key Finding #2
Supporting different ways to create an ad.
While some users preferred accessing the "My Ads" section in their profile to create a new ad, others found it more intuitive and faster to use the plus button in the menu.
Design Response
Therefore, it was important to provide both options to accommodate different user preferences and make the ad creation process more efficient.
These findings informed the interface refinements presented in the final Re-Play design.
Final Design
Meet Re-Play.
The final interface brings together the research findings, design requirements, and refinements made during usability testing.
Below are six interactions demonstrating the proposed experience.
Final Considerations
Reflecting on the possibilities.
This project is a case study, so it is not possible to measure the impact it could generate if it were a real product. However, I want to outline the success metrics that could be applied to evaluate its impact if it were developed further.
Despite the extensive research I conducted to build this first version, there are still risks to mitigate and improvements to be made, which can only be discovered through analyzing real usage data.
MVP Risks
Complementing or replacing WhatsApp?
One of the major risks of the MVP is the decision to position the application as a complement to WhatsApp.
Based on the data gathered from surveys and interviews, communicating directly with the seller, organizing pickup or delivery, and making payments did not require immediate improvement.
However, this approach may not work as expected. In that case, an in-app chat and an exclusive payment solution would need to be developed.
The question that remains is whether Re-Play could replace WhatsApp selling groups or be used alongside them to enhance the experience of buying secondhand children's items.
The Key Question
“Can Re-Play replace or complement WhatsApp selling groups to improve the experience of buying and selling used children's items?”
Potential Success Indicators
What would success look like?
The most significant potential impact would be enabling parents to find specific products to buy secondhand instead of buying them new, when someone has those products available for sale.
This could make transactions more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
Another significant indicator of success would be helping parents with products in good condition find buyers quickly and at a fair price.
01 / Product Discovery
Helping families find what they need.
Parents could find specific secondhand products available from other families, reducing the need to purchase new items.
02 / Successful Resale
Connecting sellers with buyers.
Families with products in good condition could find interested buyers quickly and sell their items at fair prices.
These are proposed indicators, not measured results from a launched product.
Explore the Experience
Curious to try Re-Play?
Explore the interactive prototype and experience the proposed application flows.
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