Introduction
Flip.ro the largest trading platform for smartphones in Romania where users can buy and sell refurbished mobile devices.
The product's main focus is to make the process of selling used phones simple, secure, and affordable for everyone. To build trust and improve the user experience, the company identified the need to enhance its existing sell flow for those looking to sell their old devices.
I've worked with Flip as one of Webmarc's clients, contributing to various design tasks such as their website redesign, the 'My Account' flow, and most notably, the sell flow. This use case focuses on my involvement in redesigning the sell flow, with the goal of simplifying and enhancing the user experience for sellers on the platform.
Research and Analysis
To tackle the redesign of Flip's sell flow, I began by diving into competitor analysis. I studied how similar platforms like BackMarket, Swappa, Refurbed and OLX managed their selling process. This helped identify best practices as well as the areas where these platforms fell short.
Alongside the Flip product team, we conducted a thorough review of the existing sell flow, mapping out user journeys to uncover friction points and understand how users navigated through the process. We focused on areas such as device condition assessment, pricing clarity, and the overall length of the process. The data and insights collected revealed the need to simplify interactions and improve transparency to minimize confusion and drop-offs.
Key takeaways:
Overload of information on a single page made the process overwhelming.
Users struggled with the device condition evaluation stage.
Lack of clear next steps led to users abandoning the process mid-way.
Concept Development
Based on the research findings, the solution was to redesign the sell flow into a clear, step-by-step process that focused on simplicity and ease of use. The main objective was to guide users through the selling process by asking one question per step, avoiding overwhelming them with too many details at once.
Key concepts:
Step-by-step structure: Each step was designed to have one focus, such as selecting the device model or evaluating its condition, making it easier for users to proceed without feeling overwhelmed.
Dynamic flow: The process adjusted based on user input, ensuring that only relevant questions and steps were presented. For example, the flow would change depending on the device model or condition.
Clear guidance: By including explanatory text and helpful images (such as visuals for assessing device condition), the flow offered clear guidance on each step.
This approach allowed users to move through the selling process in a more focused manner, reducing the chance of confusion or frustration.
Design
After defining the new sell flow structure, I developed an interactive prototype to test with real users. This prototype simulated the full process and helped gather valuable feedback about usability and clarity.
Final Sell Flow Design:
In the redesigned sell flow, users begin by selecting their device’s brand and model through an intuitive search feature. This focused approach keeps the process simple and allows users to complete this task quickly. Afterward, they assess the condition of the device through a series of questions covering the screen, body, functionality, and battery issues, with helpful visuals and clear language to guide them. Once the condition is confirmed, a dynamic price estimate is provided, clearly explaining how the value is determined. Next, users are presented with shipping options, with free shipping prominently displayed to encourage selection. Finally, a summary page lets users review and confirm all the details, including device information, shipping preferences, and the estimated price.
The user interface followed Flip’s clean and minimalist branding, using their color scheme and layout principles. We focused on making the interface simple but engaging, with large buttons, clear call-to-actions, and a logical flow.
Prototyping allowed the team to test and refine the design iteratively. This ensured that each step felt intuitive and aligned with user expectations. Feedback from these tests led to small but impactful tweaks, such as improving the layout of the condition questions and enhancing the visibility of the price estimate.
Reflections and Learnings
Collaboration is key: Working closely with Flip’s product and development teams was essential. Their insights into the technical and business side of the process helped shape the final product, ensuring alignment with the platform’s goals. Open communication ensured that we could iterate quickly based on user feedback.
Prototyping as a communication tool: High-fidelity prototypes played a crucial role in bringing the concept to life. It wasn’t just about testing designs with users, but also using the prototype to communicate the vision clearly to stakeholders and developers, bridging the gap between design and execution.
Conclusions
Working with Flip.ro to redesign their sell flow was a rewarding experience that highlighted the importance of user-centric design and iterative improvement. The new sell flow delivered a simple, step-by-step process that reduced friction and improved conversion rates by guiding users through each stage of selling their mobile device with ease.
The project demonstrated the power of simplicity in UX, and it’s a valuable example of how understanding user behavior, combined with strategic design, can create impactful results for both the platform and its users.
