Tenten Product Design Internship
I spent Summer 2020 at Taipei’s leading design agency Tenten, working on a data-driven sneaker marketplace app.
Role
I worked as a Product Design Intern at Tenten cross-functionally to create a mobile experience for Taiwan’s top sneaker e-commerce KNCKFF.
Duration
2 months (Jul. 2020 - Aug. 2020)
Overview
With 2 product managers, 2 designers, and KNCKFF’s in-house engineering team, I was tasked to create the end-to-end design of a centralized sneaker buy/sell platform. This app aimed to offer a trustworthy and stress-free shopping experience for Asia’s streetstyle enthusiasts.
The app is in the process of getting shipped, please reach out to me if you are interested in learning more about the development status.
Team
Product Managers: Teddy Be, Erik Chen
UI/UX Designers: Dul Zorigoo, Rainie Chen
Tools
Figma, Jira, Zeplin
Scope
UI/UX, Wireframing, Rapid Prototyping, User Testing, Strategy
TRANSLATING WEB TO MOBILE
Creating a seamless purchasing & selling experience
Tenten’s client KNCKFF is a web e-commerce platform for collectors and enthusiasts to buy and sell high value authentic sneakers in Asia. The startup hired Tenten to design its mobile experience from scratch. In the span of 9 weeks, I worked to craft a trustworthy shopping experience through in-depth research, prototyping, branding, and usability testing.
After reviewing and finalizing the hi-fidelity prototype with the design team and KNCKFF’s product team, I worked on quality assurance with engineers and PMs to ensure the screens are scaled correctly across varying devices.
Kickoff
The available sneaker reselling experience in Asia is ambiguous and troublesome. Most Taiwanese sneaker collectors rely on Facebook Marketplace, Shopee, and Yahoo! Auction to buy and sell merchandise manually. For sneaker enthusiasts, buying rare shoes online is a risky move filled with liabilities such as inaccurate pricing, lack of privacy, and inauthentic product.
While others resort to American-based trading apps such as GOAT and StockX, most find the high international commission fees and steep learning curve unbearable.
The existing sneaker reselling platforms are cognitively complex, distracting, and overbearing.
Unique Solution
KNCKFF leverages a point-reward system and valuable inventory management tool to attract sneakerheads. Differing from other platforms, KNCKFF aims to bridge the sneaker resell markets of Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia with clean UI, user-friendly seller dashboard, and efficient Calendar drop features.
Design Opportunity
As the leading streetwear platform in Taiwan, KNCKFF has the potential of becoming a key player in the Asian authentic sneaker resell market. While there is a large MAU for KNCKFF’s existing website, there is a disconnect with the changing shopping habits of the Gen-Z and Millennials.
Tenten’s design team hypothesized that KNCKFF should go beyond its web-only experience and create an e-commerce app that is centered around delivering up-to-date streetstyle trends and building a sneakerhead community.
Research
Identifying the key stakeholders, I drafted series of survey and in-person user interview questions.
Exploring the Space
To get to know the user’s buy and sell experience, my team conducted 25 in-person interviews. The questions provided a framework for our research, competitive analysis, and user testings. We asked the participants questions such as:
Feedback Transcripts
My team interviewed both buyers and sellers who have been using the KNCKFF platform for at least 3 months.
“There's a limitation to KNCKFF’s price selector when it comes to listing an item. Sometimes a shoe can be sold for better deal, but KNCKFF restricts the highest market price. I wish the platform can have input boxes with hints of market fluctuations.”
- Seller #2
“I am not an impulsive buyer when it comes to trendy items, but I find the Calendar feature useful. It would be really nice if the app can push notifications when a pair of sneakers drop.”
- Buyer #5
“I want to get notified when a client makes an order. Notification is super important, so I can start the shipping process quick. Currently, I can’t manage my inventory easily - it would be great if I can have handy search and edit features.”
- Seller #9
User interview responses are blurred for confidentiality
Themes
The team created an affinity diagram to identify the scope of the app. This exercise helped us decide on the design direction and the four key areas we should work on based off the user interview results.
Actionable Insights
I synthesized qualitative data into actionable insights through journey mapping and competitive analysis.
Meet The Users
Stakeholder Meeting
After three meetings with KNCKFF’s key decision makers, our team did a feature prioritization vote on what would be the most valuable.
Information Architecture
Ideation and Brainstorming
The design team clarified the user flows and took out our sketchbooks to draw out various iterations of the homescreen. We experimented and compared with different blueprints, grouping the vital elements in the most intuitive ways possible.
A/B Testing
The team experimented with the most efficient ways of grouping the top functionalities, based on the user’s browsing habits. We ran a A/B testing on the home screen to discover which option users prefer the most: quick snapshots of the new releases or a horizontal scroll section of trending items.
HI-FI PROTOTYPE
The Solution
Efficient Purchasing Flow
Designed for a speedy shopping experience with fast checkout and convenient edit options in cart, creating the thrill of purchasing sneakers right after the drop.
Data-driven Selling Experience
KNCKFF fetches real-time market data to create a transparent buying and selling experience. Sellers can list an item or sell at the highest bid within seconds.
Visual Identity
Passion Project
Throughout my internship, I wanted to hone not only my UI/UX skills, but also my visual design senses. I took on a solo project helping out the product manager in creating web and print campaigns for KNCKFF. I was ecstatic for the opportunity and took the time to craft different visual explorations based on KNCKFF’s high-contrast brand guidelines.
The Dream Team
Big thanks to these kind and caring mentors who helped me every step of the way. I have grown immensely as an empathetic designer through the two months at Tenten and I am grateful for the support from the wonderful team.
Retrospective
Problem-solving on a strict timeline
This challenging internship taught me how to prioritize features and empathize with users under time constraints. With stakeholder meetings taking place every week, the expedited sprints gave me the opportunity to practice and present my prototyping and UI skills.
Proactive team player
Instead of creating pixel-perfect screens, I learned to speak with engineers and follow their needs through rounds of iterations. With the help of product managers and senior designers, I created scalable designs that resolved user paint points and edge cases.
