Encouraging people to keep

their smartphone longer

Encouraging people to keep their smartphone longer

Encouraging people to keep

their smartphone longer

B2C

Mobile first

User Research

UI

ROLE

Product Designer

YEAR

2023

SCOPE

Discovery to Delivery

TOOLS

Figma, Notion

🔎 About Back Market

Back Market is an online marketplace for refurbished electronic devices. Founded in 2014 and now operating in 16 countries, Back Market is challenging people to rethink their tech consumption in order to reduce electronic waste. Theau Mesnard, Senior Product Designer at Back Market, gave us a brief on a design problem.

✓

+6 millions clients worldwide

✓

3.2 millions refurbished smartphone sold in France

in 2021

🤔 Context of the problem

On average, people change their smartphone every 20 months in France. That's a lot, as producing a new smartphone requires 1000L of water and emits 86 kg of CO2. Even refurbished, buying a new smartphone still has a strong environmental impact.

ROADMAP

Using Design Thinking to come up with solutions

Finding inspiration to build an intuitive solution

Finding inspiration to build an intuitive solution

For this project, we covered the full scope of the design process, from Discovery to Delivery.

For this project, we covered the full scope of the design process, from Discovery to Delivery.

User Research

to collect insights from users

Ideation

to generate

potential solutions

Prototyping

to make our ideas come to life

User tests

to gather feedback

Iteration

to improve the first prototype

  1. User Research

to collect insights

  1. Ideation

to generate potential solutions

  1. Prototyping

to make our ideas come to life

  1. User tests

to gather feedback

  1. Iteration

to improve the first prototype

👩🏻‍💻 About my role

I was involved in every step of the design process, with a particular focus on user research and ideation. I found it particularly interesting to understand people's perceptions and underlying motivations when taking the decision to buy a new smartphone.

I was involved in every step of the design process, with a particular focus on user researc and ideation. I found it particularly interesting to understand people's perceptions and underlying motivations when taking the decision to buy a new smartphone.

BACK MARKET'S PROBLEM

How can we encourage users to extend the lifespan of their smartphone

using the Back Market's app ?

How can we encourage users to extend the lifespan of their smartphone using the Back Market's app ?

How can we encourage users to extend the lifespan of their smartphone using the Back Market's app ?

USER RESEARCH

Understanding users' mindest and habits

Understanding users' mindest and habits

🗓 Methodology

To understand better Back Market's challenges and collect useful insights, we decided to conduct qualitative interviews.

Semi-directed interviews

4 profiles

45-60 minutes

via Google Meet

🎯 Research objectives

  1. Explore

Discover peoples' habits regarding their smartphone and their relationship to refurbished products.

  1. Empathize

Understand the motivations, mental barriers and perceptions around the renewal of their phones.

👤 Profiles

Alice

32 yo, buys refurbished smartphones only

Marie

29 yo, buys new smartphones only

Olivier

35 yo, buys new and refurbished devices

Alexane

28 yo, buys refurbished smartphones only

Alice

32 yo, buys refurbished smartphones only

Marie

29 yo, buys new smartphones only

Olivier

35 yo, buys new and refurbished devices

Alexane

28 yo, buys refurbished smartphones only

⭐️ Key insights
Learning #1 : They perceive that their phone is obsolete even though it's still working
Learning #1 : They perceive that their phone is obsolete even though it's still working
Learning #1 : They perceive that their phone is obsolete even though it's still working
A phone is considered truly obsolete after 4 years, while most people renew it after 2 years. The psychological obsolescence is therefore very strong on this product.
A phone is considered truly obsolete after 4 years, while most people renew it after 2 years. The psychological obsolescence is therefore very strong on this product.
A phone is considered truly obsolete after 4 years, while most people renew it after 2 years. The psychological obsolescence is therefore very strong on this product.

"I use my phone until it's no longer usable, meaning I buy a new one every 2 years, when I feel it's starting to slow down." - Marie

"I use my phone until it's no longer usable, meaning I buy a new one every 2 years, when I feel it's starting to slow down."

- Marie

"I use my phone until it's no longer usable, meaning I buy a new one every 2 years, when I feel it's starting to slow down."

- Marie

2/4 panelists

Learning #2 : They lack information on how to maintain their phones' optimal performance in time
Learning #2 : They lack information on how to maintain their phones' optimal performance in time
Learning #2 : They lack information on how to maintain their phones' optimal performance in time
People would be willing to keep their phone longer, but it stopped working for a technical reason. When digging a bit further, it turns out those issues are due to either a lack of care or a lack of information on good practices.
People would be willing to keep their phone longer, but it stopped working for a technical reason. When digging a bit further, it turns out those issues are due to either a lack of care or a lack of information on good practices.
People would be willing to keep their phone longer, but it stopped working for a technical reason. When digging a bit further, it turns out those issues are due to either a lack of care or a lack of information on good practices.

"I never know how to take care of my phone's battery or system, it always ends up crashing." - Alice

"I never know how to take care of my phone's battery or system, it always ends up crashing."

- Alice

"I never know how to take care of my phone's battery or system, it always ends up crashing."

- Alice

2/4 panelists

Learning #3 : They don't look for repairing solutions when their smartphone breaks
Learning #3 : They don't look for repairing solutions when their smartphone breaks
Learning #3 : They don't look for repairing solutions when their smartphone breaks
Reparation is perceived as complicated, costly and not worth it in the long-term, because they think that the phone will soon become obsolete anyway.
Reparation is perceived as complicated, costly and not worth it in the long-term, because they think that the phone will soon become obsolete anyway.
Reparation is perceived as complicated, costly and not worth it in the long-term, because they think that the phone will soon become obsolete anyway.

"I never try to repair my phone when it breaks because I automatically assume it will cost too much. I think it's more efficient to just change phone."

- Olivier

3/4 panelists

REVISED PROBLEM

How might we convince users to keep their phones longer thanks to content and solutions available on the Back Market's app ?

OBJECTIVES

🗓

Purchase frequency

Frequency

Encourage people to wait more than 20 months before renewing their smartphone

🛠

Repair

Increase the number of users using a repair service instead of buying a new smartphone

IDEATION

Generating as many ideas as possible thanks to tools and workshops

To have a better overview of the problem and guide our ideation, we mapped on a FigJam files the 3 possible outcomes that could occur when a user is on the Back Market's app with the idea to renew their smartphone. We then thought of the motivations behind those outcomes, and matched them with design solutions. The main challenge here was to tackle both the technical and psychological obsolescence.

Using ideation tools such as mindmapping, crazy eights and storyboards, we generated many possible ideas to answer Back Market's challenge. We decided to prototype and test the ones that fitted best with the timeline, the scope and the KPIs of the project.

Ratings of the phone

to reassure users about the quality of their current phone

Diagnostic

to evaluate the technical obsolescence of the phone

Diagnostic

to evaluate the technical obsolescence

of the phone

A reparation chatbot

to easily give access to repair solutions

Scan of the info

An automatic scan and filling of the key information

Care tips

to help users take good care of their current phone

Ecological data

to raise awareness about the impact of buying a new phone

A "green" insurance

to enable users to repair their phones at a cheap cost

Gamification

giving a discount if people keep their phone longer

Phone swap

to encourage exchange against buying new

After that phase of ideation, we decided to pick the ideas that would have the most impact on our project.

🙌 Ideas we kept

Performance indicators

Ecological data

Care tips

Phone swap service

Changes in the purchase flow

🗑 Ideas we dropped

Chatbot for reparation

Gamification

A "green" insurance that would include free yearly reparations

A "green" insurance

A "green" insurance

BENCHMARK

Finding inspiration to build an intuitive solution

Finding inspiration to build an intuitive solution

Finding inspiration to build an intuitive solution

Frandroid

—> Frandroid is a website rating and comparing smartphones to help consumers make their choice. They are giving performance indicators, with a score from 1 to 10, on key criteria such as battery, camera, …

WeFix

—> Easy and intuitive repairing flow, with checkboxes to select the problem encountered and an immediate estimate of the costs of reparation.

PROTOTYPING

Using Figma to make our ideas come to life

Using Figma to make our ideas come to life

We worked with Figma components as much as possible to make the process of iterating much easier.
Here is an extract of our Figma file :

We worked with Figma components as much as possible to make the process of iterating much easier. Here is an extract of our Figma file :

We worked with Figma components as much as possible to make the process of iterating much easier. Here is an extract of our Figma file :

PROTOTYPE V1

Based on our ideation workshop, we selected 3 main ideas to prototype on Figma and test :

A new tab, dedicated to the phone's performance

We designed this page "Entretenir" to act on users' psychological obsolescence by reassuring them on the quality of their current phone. The page also contains tips to help them take care of their phones.

A discount based on lifespan, during the purchase flow

During the purchase funnel, we're encouraging users to wait 5 extra months to renew their phone, by pushing a discount justified ecologically.

An optimized reparation flow

We designed a simple and intuitive reparation process to encourage people to repair before replacing. Also, we offer 3 solutions : reparation by a professional, DIY reparation kits, and phone swapping if the phone is too damaged to be repaired.

USER TESTS

Collecting feedbacks to reduce risk and iterate

Collecting feedbacks to reduce risk and iterate

Collecting feedbacks to reduce risk and iterate

🗓 Methodology

To test our new features and collect feedback, we conducted user tests.  We interviewed 5 people, users and non-users of Back Market.

Semi-directed tests

5 testers

30 minutes

via Google Meet

👤 Profiles

Alice

32 yo, user of Back Market

Damien

38 yo, non-user of Back Market

Hugo

27 yo, user of Back Market

Laurent

53 yo, non-user of Back Market

Sam

27 yo, user of

Back Market

Alice

32 yo, user of Back Market

Damien

38 yo, non-user of Back Market

Laurent

53 yo, non-user of Back Market

Sam

27 yo, user of

Back Market

Hugo

27 yo, user of Back Market

✅ What worked

4/5 understood well the concept of the new page "Entretenir"

This page was designed to give users information about their current phone with quality scores on the main features. We conceived it as a way to reassure them and postpone their next purchase by reconsidering if their phone really is obsolete.

It also contains tips to take care of phones correctly (battery, screen, …) and ecological data about the impact of the production and purchase of a new phone.

This page was designed to give users information about their current phone with quality scores on the main features. We conceived it as a way to reassure them and postpone their next purchase by reconsidering if their phone really is obsolete. It also contains tips to take care of phones correctly (battery, screen, …) and ecological data about the impact of the production and puchase of a new phone.

This page was designed to give users information about their current phone with quality scores on the main features. We conceived it as a way to reassure them and postpone their next purchase by reconsidering if their phone really is obsolete. It also contains tips to take care of phones correctly (battery, screen, …) and ecological data about the impact of the production and puchase of a new phone.

"It makes me rethink about my decision to buy a new phone and it reassured me on the fact that my phone was still efficient."

"I really liked it: it's quick and simple, it's not long to fill in like it can sometimes be on some ticket selling websites."

- Hugo

5/5 find it very useful to have tips and ecological data on the "Entretenir" page

We added useful tips to help users take a better care of their smartphone and therefor extend the lifespan of their device. Most users were not aware of all of them. Also, some where surprised by the ecological impact of buying a new smartphone and found this section interesting and convincing.

"I never remember what are the best practices to keep my battery's autonomy longer so I really enjoyed finding those tips here."

"I really liked it: it's quick and simple, it's not long to fill in like it can sometimes be on some ticket selling websites."

- Damien

4/5 were convinced by the discount based on the lifespan

People said that this discount had a double impact on them: first, they were convinced to wait 5 extra months to benefit from it, and secondly it made them value Back Market even more in term of brand image to see how truly committed they were toward reducing electronic waste.

"It really gives me a good image of Back Market to see they're not pushing me to consume more than needed."

"I really liked it: it's quick and simple, it's not long to fill in like it can sometimes be on some ticket selling websites."

- Sam

🛠 What we reworked

3/5 didn't understand how to get more details about the performances

It wasn't clear to our testers that they could click on the different performance indicators to get more details. Also, they questioned what the score were based on.

"It's interesting but i don't really understand how it is measured."

"I really liked it: it's quick and simple, it's not long to fill in like it can sometimes be on some ticket selling websites."

- Laurent

—> What we changed : we changed the design of this section to make it clearer that users could click to discover more information. We also explained were the score was coming from.

Prototype V2 :

Prototype V2 :

4/5 got confused by the options available at the end of the reparation flow

In the end of our repair flow, we offer 3 options: "Repair yourself", "Have it repaired by a professional", or "Swap it". This third option was not very clear to users.

"I didn't really understand the concept of the phone exchange, are they sending me the same one or a new one ?"

"I really liked it: it's quick and simple, it's not long to fill in like it can sometimes be on some ticket selling websites."

- Alice

-> What we changed : we clarified our concept of the swapping option: they can exchange their current phone for the same model but in perfect state. We also changed the order of the options, to put the "Repair yourself" option at the end because it seemed more unlikely to be chosen. Finally, we updated the prices to make it more realistic.

0/5 saw the card on the search results

We had added in the search results a card "iPhone 12 - 0€" to catch their attention while searching for a new phone and open a pop-up to make them reconsider the necessity of their purchase. However, sadly, no one saw it.

"I didn't really see this card, and i didn't spontaneously associated it with my current phone."

"I really liked it: it's quick and simple, it's not long to fill in like it can sometimes be on some ticket selling websites."

- Damien

—> What we changed : we changed the wording to make it more clear that we were talking about their own phone ("Le moins cher - Mon téléphone").

Prototype V2 :

FINAL PROTOTYPE

Using users feedback to improve our solution

Using users feedback to improve our solution

Using users feedback to improve our solution

FIGMA FILE

It's important to work in an organized Figma space in order to make the team work as easy as possible. It also facilitates greatly the process of iteration. Here is an extract of our Figma file :

NEXT STEPS

Here are a few ideas of how we could push this project further :

🧪

Tests

Conducting more tests on our prototype could enable us to improve it even more.

🧑‍💻

Development

Working with a developer team to implement our solution in the app.

📤

Handoff

Making sure our files are well organized to make it simple for a future team to use.

Making sure our files are well organized for a future team to use.

CONTACT

Héloïse Barrand-Pinto

Product Designer

heloise.barrandpinto@gmail.com

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