EcoMart

Inspiration

The inspiration for our project, EcoMart, came from observing the growing need for sustainable practices among college students and community members. With rising concerns about climate change and waste, we wanted to create a platform that not only facilitates the exchange of second-hand items but also promotes a sense of community and collaboration. We recognized that many students struggle with limited budgets while wanting to make environmentally conscious choices, which led us to develop an application focused on trading food, appliances, and other household goods.

What it does

EcoMart is a community-driven application that allows users to trade second-hand items, including food, appliances, clothing, and more. Users can list items they no longer need, browse available listings, and communicate directly with others to negotiate trades. The app fosters a sustainable lifestyle by encouraging users to exchange goods rather than purchase new items, thereby reducing waste and promoting a circular economy. Users are also able to see their positive impact by viewing how much CO2e they saved.

How we built it

We built it by first doing lots of research. We interviewed people and also conducted a survey. We found that 86.7% of our respondents are aged 18-24 years old, with 10% aged 25-34 and 3.3% aged 35-44. Additionally, 70% of our participants identified as students, while 10% are full-time workers. This information guided our marketing strategies and feature development. Using the information we gathered we then created a user flow using Miro. On Figma, we prototyped the app.

Challenges we ran into

Some challenges we ran into was figuring out the point system for the amount of carbon saved. We also had some difficulty figuring out the user flow of the app, deciding how to connect all the features together.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that we were able to implement a variety of features into our app, like map view, inbox, points, badges, trading, events, and more.

What we learned

We learned more about the design process and all the aspects that come with it, whether it be research or branding. We believe that this project makes us more prepared for future UX projects.

What's next for EcoMart

For EcoMart, we want to showcase sustainable and local businesses because we believe buying from small local businesses is important.

Built With

• figma
• miro