FreeUp
FreeUp facilitates the upcycling of free used goods between New Yorkers to make the process as streamlined as possible.
Problem Background
Our survey shows many New Yorkers are open to or already pick up free items off sidewalks when passing by. These individuals indicated upcycling goods would be a more common occurrence if it was convenient to do so.
FreeUp aims to enable this behaviour by streamlining: 1) the process of finding goods; 2) decisions surrounding a good’s condition; and 3) logistics to acquire goods. Individuals indicated this would help them save money for various reasons and tap into the resell markets more efficiently.
If these goods are otherwise left as is, they will end up contributing to the 12,000 tons of waste NYC produces every day, most of which will be dumped in a landfill or burned and recycled into a lower quality product.
By using FreeUp, New Yorkers will be able to upcycle goods to reduce landfill trash and slowly convince more individuals to make changes that will lead to positive environmental changes.
Research Insights & User Pain Points
Our preliminary user survey to validate this problem of enabling New Yorkers to upcycle used goods found that individuals would be more inclined to take items from sidewalks if they have access to relevant information. T
his stems from a lack of advertising when goods are available with key information on the location and condition of goods. There was also a need for a means to ensure goods would be available for when users can make the time to pick them up.
After completing over 5 user interviews, we found that a website is a meaningful way for users to conveniently upcycle used goods.
In addition to addressing the pain points above, the website should allow users to access and explore all available goods and even add any items they would like to give away.
Solution Explanation
Based on our target users’ pain points as well as market research, we knew we wanted to work on the following features: location proximity, discoverability with filtering and categories, communication through a chat system, safety and urgency by visually highlighting the availability of an item.
Lofi & Hifi Mockups
Iterative Design Learnings
After synthesising the usability testing results we found some common insights with users. We learned that the filtering option needed to be more detailed with the addition of having categories and pickup type enabled.
To meet those needs the filtering was updated as well as more functional with a reset button added. Users also cited that the review stars highlighted next to a poster's name didn’t give enough context on what that meant.
To keep in line with the issue of trust and safety member information highlighting their membership date was implemented while taking off the star rating icons.
Implementation Details
Technical implementation
FreeUp is a web application, built on the PERN stack. The backend is hosted on Heroku and the frontend is hosted on Netlify.
We utilised Node.js and Express as a backend server and PostgreSQL as our database. Additionally, we used Knex.js to simplify schema design and seed the database with data to test with. Our frontend is powered by React along with the Material UI library for components.
We were proud to have accomplished many features in our current iteration of the application. Currently, users can: create new accounts and log in, create a listing, view all listings, view specific listing details, comment on a listing, and message another user.
Technical Tradeoffs
- Both developers had more experience building web applications even though this idea may be better suited as a mobile app.
- Using Sass and Mui to try and style components and not always being able to match up exactly to the Figma design mock-ups.
- Deciding which database (SQL/noSQL) would be better suited for FreeUp. A noSQL database could help store larger images and could result in faster lookup from our database. FreeUp relies heavily on user information therefore we needed to make sure data was fully secure. A relational database allows us to encrypt data, limit access with authorization and prevent against other types of malicious behaviour. Due to the amount of sensitive data in FreeUp we prioritised maintaining accurate records and protecting sensitive information, therefore we went with PostgreSQL as our (Relational/SQL) database.
What was the hardest part of development?
- Gauging how long tasks would take to complete, some tasks would be easier than expected and others would take much longer.
Key Takeaways
- Communicate often on what tasks and components you are working on to avoid merge conflicts.
- Code doesn’t have to look perfect in the initial attempts, you can always good back, refactor, and build upon your progress.
- Two sets of eyes are better than one when it comes to debugging and solving issues.
Future Steps
We will be continuing the project to iterate upon our MVP and grow FreeUp into a more advanced product. We will continue to clean and polish the website while also implementing more user stories (i.e. user credibility, map features, creating a mobile app, etc.). We hope our product will be able to partner with thrift stores, non-profits, scrappers, and other organisations to further increase upcycling/resell movements in NYC.
Learnings
Product Manager Learnings:
Rishi Shah
- Attentive listening: Instead of engaging in conversation for the sake of participating, I decided to listen carefully and understand what my teammates were trying to communicate to better empathise with them. This allowed for meaningful conversations and ultimately a better product.
- Prioritisation and negotiation: Whilst talking with my teammates, asking more questions to cover all aspects of a problem helps paint the bigger picture and ultimately decide on which features to build and how to prioritise them in the best order.
- Test early and often: User feedback is priceless! They can point out bugs we are already aware of, but also provide ideas we never even thought about. Getting their constant input ensures the product will be meaningful.
Designer Learnings:
Lavina Green
- Collaboration: It is very crucial building in a collaborative team environment when trying to achieve a common goal.
- Communication: Different perspectives and knowledge is crucial to crafting design solutions. Reaching out for input and critique has helped me see things in a different perspective.
Developer Learnings:
Jacob Nathanson
- Functional vs pixel perfect: It is better to focus on functional aspects of a product first rather than trying to get pixel-perfect UI when trying to get to MVP.
- Find compromises: It is okay to accept limitations and find compromises when creating new features.
- Praise each other often: Praise each other’s time, ideas, and hard work no matter how small. Bit by bit the product grows into something amazing!
Developers Learnings:
Zohaib Manzoor
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- Communicate feasibility: The importance of scoping MVP features and communicating feature feasibility to non technical members of a team
- Check-in often: Providing updates with daily stand down sessions helps track the stage of the app and how team members are doing.
- Encourage new ideas: Making time to agree on core values helps team members feel more comfortable sharing ideas and/or comments. Throwing out ideas is a great way for others to gain inspiration and build on them.
Full Team Learning
- Communication fuels success: Building an MVP requires constant negotiations and prioritizations between cross-functional teams to identify what is or is not in project scope. It is okay for this to change as long as reasonable justification is provided and all stakeholders are in agreement.
- Include users early on: User testing can be done before a single line of code has been written! There is no need to have a perfect solution before getting some user feedback. Their involvement should not be a final evaluation, but more so an iterative feedback loop to steer the project in a meaningful direction.