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What if... Zalo Chat becomes our neighborhood ‘s trusted Community Marketplace
Minh Nguyen
TIMELINE Oct 2024 - Jan 2025
SKILLS UX Research, Usability Testing, Wireframing
MY ROLE UX/UI Designer in Training

Overview

Supported by Mirr Design, my teammate and I successfully completed the a 3-month project to research and develop a new solution for Zalo Chat, targeting apartment residents in Vietnam who want to buy, sell, and exchange goods.

In this project, we applied design thinking to focus on UX research, studying Zalo users in particular and social commerce/community marketplace platforms in general. We then created hi-fi wireframes to conduct usability testing and improve the UI design.
iPhone 16 Pro

The Challenge

With 70+ million users, Zalo presents immense opportunities for shop owners, local communities, and small businesses to connect and exchange. Yet, a significant challenge remains: managing community interactions. Thousands of users struggle to navigate the sheer volume of their daily group messages, messy images and photos, and often lacking a robust system for follow-up. This UX challenge highlights a critical area for improvement within the Zalo community experience.
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Our Mission

How can we revolutionize the way people in residential areas buy and sell goods, creating a seamless and intuitive peer-to-peer experience within their trusted Zalo Comminity Chatting Groups?

The Process Took

+3 Months

Oct 2024 Nov 2024 Dec 2024 W1/Jan 2025 W2/Jan 2025 W3/Jan 2025
Generative research
Interviewing
Defining Persona & Real problems
Wireframe & Prototyping
Testing
Ideation & Userflow

Generative Research

SOME FIRST RESEARCH PAPER FINDINGS
82% Vietnamese users voted Zalo as their most preferred social network for messaging, calling, and using utilities. (*)
5B USD is the projected value of Vietnam's secondhand/clearance market in 2026 (a significant increase from the current value of $1.1 billion) (**)
30% is the minimum amount of savings that people can typically expect when buying secondhand items, even those that are 99% new. (***)
(*) The Connected Consumer”, Decision Lab, Q1/2024
(**) ““Bùng nổ” xu hướng: Năm mới tiêu dùng đồ cũ ”, VNEconomy, 2024
(***) “Ưu điểm và nhược điểm khi mua đồ nội thất thanh lý”, chononithatthanhly.vn
RESEARCH GOALS & FOCUS
Research Goals
Understand user behavior and pain points Evaluate existing features and user experience Define requirements for new features
Research Focus
User research and interviews with individuals who have bought or sold items within Zalo Groups/ Facebook Groups and any other P2P activities.
Research Questions
Based on insights from focus groups and research findings, our team developed over 50 interview questions exploring user behaviors and attitudes across various platforms. We then conducted interviews with 8 users to gather deeper insights.
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Target Audiences

Young Professionals
  • Aged 25-35 with middle to high income.
  • Early adopters of technology, value convenience, and seek community.
  • Actively engage in social media, shop online, and rely heavily on mobile devices.
Busy Parents
  • Aged 30-45, with middle to high income.
  • Time-constrained, family-oriented, and value convenience.
  • Frequently shop online and rely on mobile devices for information seeking.
Small Business Owner
  • Aged 25-50, with varying income levels.
  • Entrepreneurial, time-constrained, and value networking.
  • Active online presence, frequently use social media for business purposes.

We start to ask user questions

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Affinity Diagram

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Key insights derived
from the interviews

  • Zalo groups are primarily used for residential updates and announcements.
  • Users are having a difficult time to find what they need on Zalo chat.
  • Users express a lack of trust in the quality of products and sellers on Zalo.
  • The current Zalo interface is not optimized for buying and selling.
  • There is a strong potential for Zalo to become a successful internal marketplace.
  • Users also emphasize the need for seller ratings, transparent payment method, tracking system and reviews, as well as secure handling of personal information.

Persona Talks

persona 2
Thùy Nhiên
Hi! I am Nhiên, a 28-year-old office worker in a busy apartment complex. I love finding hidden gems and great deals, and relies on online platforms for convenience.

My building's Zalo group is meant to be a hub for community news, but it's become a chaotic free-for-all. When a neighbor advertised his secondhand item, I was excited – until 1 hour later, I tried to find the post again. Scrolling endlessly through the Zalo chat, I am overwhelmed and frustrated.

What I need is a way to transform Zalo's chat from a source of anxiety into a streamlined marketplace, connecting me with neighbors and simplifying the buying and selling experience.

User Journey Map

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Problem Statement

"I'm tired of scrolling through countless messages and messy images on Zalo groups just to find the items I need. As a savvy consumer, I want a simple, reliable online shopping experience right within my community. I want to find the items I love at a fair price and confidently enjoy my purchases without worrying about any risks."
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Card Sorting

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Main userflows

Flow 1. Users search for products via messages or Zalo group's marketplace
Flow 2a. Users buy any product
Flow 2b. Users make a payment
Flow 3. Users create or view thread messages
Flow 4a. Users view seller’s profile
Flow 4b. Users chat with seller
Flow 5. Users review & rating purchased order

Our First Lo-Fi Wireframe

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However, this version is not hi-fi enough to do the usability testing. Yes, we need more improvements during wireframing & testing phase

Our Final
HI-FI WIREFRAME

With our user flows and lo-fi wireframes in place, we were ready to bring our vision to life. We meticulously crafted hi-fi wireframes, closely mirroring Zalo's UI and incorporating its signature color palette. We then added vibrant, real-life imagery to ensure our designs were ready for user testing.

Below are 4 key screen flows showcasing our solution's most impactful features.
iPhone-15

Interact with seller
in Thread chat

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xem thread 1

Smart search for any product you need

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Search 1

Buy P2P products
within 3 clicks

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Mua hàng

Track you orders and give trusted reviews

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Xem đơn hàng & Đánh giá

Usability Testing

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Suggestions from users

Enhanced Trust and Security:
  • Implement robust user protection policies to address security concerns.
  • Design a trustworthy interface that inspires confidence, especially for buying and selling activities.
Streamlined Product Information:
  • Add a "Call" button to the product details page for easy seller contact. Take Chợ Tốt as a great example.
  • Re-evaluate the filtering options to ensure they are user-friendly and not overwhelming.
Intuitive Interface:
  • Consider alternative icons for the "Buy" action, as the current shopping cart icon may not be universally familiar.
  • Ensure visual consistency in elements like star ratings to avoid confusion.
Clear and Friendly Content:
  • Review all in-app content to ensure it is easy to understand, welcoming, and avoids any potential legal issues related to shipping responsibilities.

Key Takeaways

  • Gained practical, hands-on knowledge and skills including planning and conducting user research, especially with community marketplace users.
  • Benefited from the opportunity to connect with experienced mentors (Mr. Quân Lã and Mr. Việt Lê) and learn from their valuable insights.
  • Developed a deeper understanding of UX principles, recognizing that it encompasses the entire user journey, not just screen design.
  • Honed crucial skills in user research, interviewing, usability testing, and storytelling – all vital for a successful UX career.
  • Enhanced teamwork abilities through collaboration with a team member (Mr. Kha).
  • Received valuable guidance on portfolio development and real-world case studies to prepare for a UX career.

Our journey doesn't end here. We're excited to continue exploring, learning, and refining our approach. We believe in the potential of this project and are passionate about bringing it to its fullest expression.

Thank you for watching!

Hope you enjoyed learning about my design and thought process. ;)

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