Design Process

1. About

Cryptomart is an e-commerce application, which allows users to buy and sell products with Ethereum. Seamlessly toggle between buy-mode / sell-mode for alternative user experiences

Cryptomart is an alternative to other popular online marketplaces, especially Etsy and Facebook Marketplace. Sell any product directly from your online store but allow both ETH and USD payments, instead of USD payments only. Also allow all sellers to create vehicle and real estate / rental listings and to sell digital products such as NFTs

2. Context

Cryptomart is an original idea. We were not approached by a client or company to create this application. With cryptocurrency’s increasing poularity, we saw a need for accepting crypto payments in the Web 3.0 marketplace.

3. Challenges

– How will a user establish trust on Cryptomart? Credit score / Karma / reputation / decntralized trust level (de-trust tokens) / soul-bound NFT
– How do we ensure that crypto payments are legitimate and verified?
– How will our tech stack and backend affect website security?
– How can we make the transition between USD and ETH seamless?

– How will an Escrow smart contract work?

– Will it be possible to integrate with other web 3.0 identity mechanisms?

4. Curiosity

– What are your pain points or frustrations when using Facebook Marketplace?
– What are your pain points or frustrations when using Etsy?
– Do you currently know of any ways to buy and sell products using Cryptocurrency?

5. Positioning

Airbnb Superhost

– No more than 2 bad reviews in the last 3 months
– 4.8 overall rating or higher
– 100 total stays or higher
– At least 10 stays in the last 6 months (no going stale)
– How quickly do you respond to customers is a factor Etsy Seller
– Statute of limitations on all reviews
– Only last 12 months of reviews show on their rating
– Etsy Star Seller
– Consistent 5 star reviews
– Shipped orders on time
– Replied quickly to buyers requests IMBD
– Critic reviews separated from user reviews – Most reviews only include a star rating (out of 10)
– Any reviews that include text can be viewed by anyone
– Reviews can be sorted by their star rating or their source (user or critic)

Amazon

– Verified purchases get a special tag
– Reviews can be sorted by rating or by keywords
– Highly reviewed and popular products can get the ‘Amazon choice’ tag in their search results
– Reviews can contain pictures or videos

Amazon Seller
– Anti-competitive / monopolistic behavior
– Massive footprint / shipping waste
– Poor work environment for employees
– Prolonged delivery times – Too expensive – Bad / non-existent customer service – Refuses to take down negative reviews on a seller’s page – Fake reviews to promote bad products – Disturbing content / pop-ups

Etsy Seller
– Too tedious / difficult to list products
– Increased transaction fees
– Products / Stores losing their originality
– Increased suspension of accounts

Facebook Marketplace
– Not sure whether or not the listing is a scam
– Unwanted advertising
– Unwanted spam
– Arranging deliveries if needed

Review
– Design needs to look more modern. Remove the sidebar and explore other navigation options. Are there any other ways to allow for navigation between product categories besides just a hamburger menu?
– There seems to be too much emphasis on the buy and sell toggle. Explore other options for switching between buy and sell mode.
– Consider reducing the number of products per row at desktop – 6 is more than most e-commerce websites. I.e. MidwayUSA (4), Amazon (5), Ebay (4), Etsy (4), Walmart (4) or USD will be handled at checkout with MetaMask. Filters are available in Searhc but are not visible all the time.
– Simplify adding a product in sell mode. Adding a product could be a 3-step process. – Allow dark mode / high contrast mode for best UX practices and accessibility – How else can we display information on buyer / seller profiles? What other information should be included?