Timeline
3 months
Role
Sole designer & researcher
Tools
Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro, Google Forms
Skills
Interaction Design, Prototyping, System Thinking, UX Research
Problem Overview
College students frequently rely on informal platforms like Facebook Marketplace or group chats to exchange appliances. While convenient, these channels often introduce friction around safety, coordination, and reliability - from unclear listings to awkward pickup logistics. As a result, many students default to purchasing new items despite the availability of reusable alternatives.
Problem Statement
Solution Overview
ToolTrade is a campus-based mobile marketplace designed to help college students buy, sell, and rent appliances within their local student community. The experience centers on verified access, clear coordination tools, and simple flows to reduce friction in secondhand exchanges and encourage reuse over buying new.
Scope & Focus
Rather than designing a general resale platform, I focused on three constraints that shaped the solution:
Campus-Bound Exchanges:
Reduces uncertainty and improve saccountability
Short Term Ownership:
Supporting renting as well as buying and selling
Coordination-First Design:
Prioritizing scheduling and logistics over discovery
These decisions narrowed the scope to what students struggle with most:
finding items is easy -
coordinating the exchange is not.
Research Highlights
To ground the design in real student behavior, I conducted a survey with 25 college students and reviewed peer-to-peer marketplaces commonly used on campus.
Key patterns that emerged were:
Appliance sharing is already common among students
Logistics (pickup timing, transport, scheduling) are the primary pain points
Students prefer transacting within their own college community
Renting is appealing for temporary or seasonal needs
These insights shifted the focus away from pricing optimization and toward coordination, clarity, and community boundaries.
Design Decisions
Restrict access to verified students
Limiting participation to .edu credentials reduces ambiguity and removes the need for complex reputation systems.
Design for coordination, not just discovery
Filtering by distance and availability supports real-world planning rather than endless browsing.
Support multiple exchange types without complexity
Buying, selling, and renting share a single flow structure to reduce cognitive load.
Final Design
Onboarding & verification
Restricting access to verified students establishes a shared baseline and lightweight trust.
Browsing & Filtering
Filters prioritize proximity and timing to support real-world coordination.
In-app Messaging
Messaging stays within the platform to keep exchanges focused on logistics without requiring personal contact details.
Listing Creation
Buy, sell, and rent options share the same structure to maintain consistency across exchange types.
Reflection & next steps
This project highlighted how perceived safety and ease emerge from multiple small decisions rather than a single feature. While verification and messaging provide a strong foundation, future iterations could explore campus moderators, peer badges, or optional delivery coordination.
Designing for flexibility without overwhelming users reinforced the value of structure as a way to support users, not constrain them.