UX DESIGN CHALLENGE
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Project Info
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Timeline: 3 days
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Take-home assignment for UX design interview
Problem
​New users avoid Craigslist because of outdated UI and information hierarchy.
My assignment was to refresh the design of the Craigslist homepage, taking into account modern design sensibilities and making rational decisions about information priority.
Solution
​Visual redesign of Craigslist homepage
1. Better Fonts and Spacing
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Improved contrast and legibility
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Reduced eye strain and made clear divisions between features
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Pictures and colors create an inviting website
2. Organized Information Hierarchy
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Grouped all major action items together
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Placed account information to the top right
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3. New + Expanded Features
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Calendar now showcases current postings on a bulletin
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Users can now “like” posts to save them
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Added a Recommend tab to suggest relevant posts
Research
The characteristics of a digital relic of the past…
I started this take-home assignment by researching what users don’t like about the Craigslist homepage UI. The main talking points were what I had expected to see: issues about spacing, color, and looking outdated. I then researched the demographic of Craigslist users and found the following data:
Craigslist Users' Age Distribution
22.91%
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14.75%
18.22%
17.59%
16.10%
10.41%
18-24
25 - 34
35 - 44
45 - 54
55 - 64
65+
I also came across an article from UXMatters that suggested an unexpected advantage regarding the unorthodox UI that has made Craigslist stand out from the rest of the competitors:
"Craigslist deemphasizes products and emphasizes peer-to-peer relations."
User Interviews
My interviewees lasted 30 seconds on the homepage before giving up in frustration.
I conducted 2 interviews with family members and had them navigate Craigslist’s homepage for five minutes. I had them answer the following questions to understand and find trends on why users disliked Craigslist’s visual and information design.
​Interview Questions
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How often do you use Craigslist to search for items or post items for sale/other job advertisements?
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Have you ever had trouble finding the information or features you were looking for on Craigslist's website or app? If so, what was the issue?
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What is the most frustrating aspect of using Craigslist's current visual interface?
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When using Craigslist, do you find it easy to navigate between different pages and sections of the website or app? If not, what challenges do you face?
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What features or functionality would you like to see added to Craigslist's visual interface?
Key Insights
Interviewees rarely used Craigslist because they felt the website was distrustful and outdated.
I organized the interview data via an affinity table and began to notice a few trends that pointed towards a major dislike towards the typography and spacing of the information presented on the website.
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Ideation
Balancing innovation vs familiarity for all users
One of the biggest hurdles I had in the beginning was figuring out how drastic of a redesign I wanted for this project. As a business major, I learned that redesigns can potentially damage brand identity, resulting in a loss of traffic and profit. Therefore, I eventually opted to follow the current layout of Craigslist, but focused on organizing the key action items to a unified location.
Interviewer wanted a design that:
"...balanced ambition with realism."
​Reflections
Balancing innovation vs familiarity for all users
I’m immensely grateful to the interviewing company that gave me this take-home assignment! It was a great way to test where my current skill level in UX design was compared to the industry, and showed me areas to improve upon in my design process. Because of the short deadline, I was forced to cut out user-testing from my design process to make up for lost time. From this project, I learned that:
1. The first attempt shouldn’t be perfect. I frequently found myself stressing over each rough draft as a final deliverable, which was where I wasted the most time throughout this process. Making mistakes and questionable ideas is what’s expected during the creative process and how great ideas are generated.​
2. Good storytelling is key to a great case study. My first draft of this case study was very text heavy and inefficient at getting my key points across. I learned how to condense and show the right information to my viewers, as well as incorporating my personality in my writing to bring to life my thought process.
View My Next Project!