Enabling users to enrich their listings using web3.0 Blockchain technology .
Problem: User's on platform are selling high value items without its digital twin
Solution: Allow users to attach their existing digital product passport (DPP) to their listings, allowing users to see a products enriched history.
Digital product passport - a digital record that provides comprehensive information about a product. This includes everything from the origin of the product, materials used and environmental impact, this could also classed as a digital twin.
Backstory
currently on the eBay platform users who are selling specific items. Those being sneakers, handbags, jewellery and watches; have to upon selling their item ship it off to a warehouse to be authenticated and approved on condition, before being shipped to the buyer of the item. If there are any problems with the item in terms of condition the buyer will be contacted and asked if they wish to still accept the item. However if the item is deemed as fake, it will be sent back to the seller and the buyer will be refunded.
Some of the items already have existing digital product passport's issued by the brand upon them purchasing it. we found out that some users would like to transfer the item's existing digital product passport to the new owners, but have no way to actually showcase it on platform currently.
Discovery & Research
From user research it became apparent to ourselves that users were trying to sell their items on the eBay platform, but were struggling to showcase their DPP without it being stolen or copied by replica manufacturers.
Users were showcasing their DPP transfer link or serial number, which is a massive problem. Due to the link being through a QR code most people did not understand its importance. Not realising that this is the key to their digital warranty and to some degree ownership of the item. We knew we had to educate our users, but also change their regular routine in the experience. this was a pain point for us because we knew this would only be applicable to specific customers.
From research we realised that the watch market on eBay alone could be estimated at £700m, so we knew that it was a space that definitely needed to be looked into.
At this point we put together assumptions on how that process might look
Breaking down the flow
The team had been deep in discovery, uncovering many different assumptions and options for how to achieve the goal of transferring an NFT that came with a watch from the buyer to the seller.
We soon after had to come together as a squad to break down the existing flow for both sellers and buyers on items that fit into our cohort. This was important because we knew we would have to change the routine of those customers experience.
team get together to discuss what had been discovered to date and agreed on initial journey that could be visualised. we also had to take into account at what points the
Applying what we learned
We wanted to make sure our users are understanding the benefits of what their digital product passport is and how it can not only persuade users to purchase their item over others, but also allows them to possibly make more money on their item.
To make this clear we knew we had to educate the user on what DPP is, and how it may be the future of the platform.
We also started to move in the direction of workshopping as a squad what we think is the correct direction of the tech we are going to be using. Ultimately we understand that there are many different types of web3 technology that can be used. But we know that the most interesting one, as well as the one that would make the most headlines would be the use of NFT's. this is massively important, because this changes the whole direction of how the product is both built and experienced.
In order to prove our ability to deliver quickly to stakeholders we knew we had to make trade-offs. As an essential feature of the app, we chose to move fast and go with an out-of-the-box integration from Arianee.
Selling experience
We came together to figure out the content and direction of the selling experience. Educating the user on what there DPP is and how it will eventually need to be attached to the sale of their item. due to these DPP's possibly having perks and benefits only applicable to the owner of the watch.
This became the biggest and hardest part of the selling experience, we want to make this as easy and quick to understand, possibly never even mentioning the use of NFT's
Buying experience
I went back to the drawing board and started off by workshopping some user flows with the team to understand how the new buying integration would work. A few changes were made in the following iterations based on the need to both educate users and to make it massively clear to our users that there are extra trust markers on specific items.
Future of the product
More brands using DPP's allows us to create a larger circular economy, which means we can enrich more listings through our platform with more knowledge and guarantee that users are selling authentic items.
The use of NFT's and blockchain technology also means that we can make some very interesting tech based decisions, which in the future can be used to reach out to users and give them some amazing experiences.
Takeaways
As someone who had never worked in web3 before, and had little to no knowledge on the subject. Through out the process I had to constantly learn about everything web3. this was particularly difficult because It is a massive and very complicated subject. Tech being something that slowed us down a lot through out the process, this was a massive barrier for us, but it never stopped me from trying something new and gauging the reaction from the team and stake holders.
I learned that the importance of a team is massively critical in projects like these, especially members that are educated in spaces that you lack (web3 tech). This is perfect for design feedback, where my professional opinion is still heard but I can understand that this is a new space and essentially may need to pivot on certain directions.
This is only a small glimpse into a massive project that span over multiple months.
Thank You