AzardokhtHaghighat

What is eTinda?
eTinda is an innovative e-commerce platform designed specifically for the Philippines, with the goal of empowering marginalized producers, small businesses, and early-stage startups by giving them direct access to consumers.

The platform enables the sale of eco-friendly, wellness-based, and fair trade products, operating under the principles of the People’s Economy, which emphasize solidarity, inclusivity, and sustainability. By reducing intermediaries and promoting ethical commerce, eTinda helps local sellers grow their businesses while allowing consumers to make more conscious purchasing decisions.
We should also take this into consideration that Sellers may not have access to phones or laptops. Sellers will initially operate under PGX (Marketplace Manager). PGX will input and manage seller store information, products, and possibly orders. Sellers will have to learn and if/when they eventually have enough money to hire an assistant to manage their own shop by themselves. Long-term vision: sellers may eventually manage their own shops.

The project consists of two main product experiences:

A Seller Dashboard, designed to help vendors manage products, orders, and store updates with minimal digital friction.
A Buyer Mobile Application, focused on creating a simple, trustworthy, and accessible shopping experience.

- To begin, I needed to gather and fully identify the concerns, challenges, and pain points users had mentioned (Discover)
- So I could uncover the root cause of the problem (Define).
- After that, I explored and reviewed potential solutions and selected the most effective ones (Develop).
- Finally, I created and presented the proposed final model (Deliver).
Therefore, I believe the approach I should have taken was similar to the Double Diamond UX framework.

Phase 1: Project Review & Requirement Clarification

The first phase focused on developing a deep understanding of the project scope and requirements. We conducted a thorough review of the project documentation provided by the stakeholders and held multiple discussion sessions to analyze the proposed features and functionalities.

During these sessions, we worked closely with the team to:

Clarify ambiguous requirements
Align on the core goals of the platform
Define the functional boundaries of both the seller dashboard and the buyer application
Identify assumptions, constraints, and open questions early in the process

Phase 1: Project Review & Requirement Clarification

During these sessions, we worked closely with the team to:

Clarify ambiguous requirements
Align on the core goals of the platform
Define the functional boundaries of both the seller dashboard and the buyer application
Identify assumptions, constraints, and open questions early in the process

Phase 2: Competitive Analysis & Benchmarking

In the second phase, we analyzed global platforms with similar business models and values. The goal was not to replicate existing solutions, but to understand established interaction patterns, usability standards, and gaps in current market offerings.

This phase included:

Identifying comparable international platforms
Benchmarking key flows and features
Collecting qualitative insights on strengths and weaknesses
Evaluating how well existing products support small sellers and ethical commerce

The findings from this analysis helped inform design decisions, highlight opportunities for differentiation, and avoid common usability pitfalls observed in comparable products.

Phase 2: Competitive Analysis & Benchmarking

This phase included:

Identifying comparable international platforms
Benchmarking key flows and features
Collecting qualitative insights on strengths and weaknesses
Evaluating how well existing products support small sellers and ethical commerce

The findings from this analysis helped inform design decisions, highlight opportunities for differentiation, and avoid common usability pitfalls observed in comparable products.

Part of the benchmark results:

Phase 3: Survey

We designed two surveys: one to accurately identify the needs of Filipino sellers, and another for Filipino buyers. After thoroughly reviewing the business requirements and analyzing the structure of similar marketplace websites, we created these surveys to better clarify user needs. Throughout several iterations, we refined the survey questions — revising wording, restructuring them, and in some cases merging multiple questions into a more focused and goal-oriented one. We also leveraged AI tools to help optimize and validate the quality of the questions. Ultimately, we finalized two survey questionnaires.

- Link to the Buyer Survey (Google Forms): Klick here
- Link to the Seller Survey (Google Forms): Klick here

However, since our primary goal was to uncover the real needs of local Filipino sellers, this is where our first and most significant challenge began.

Phase 3: Survey

However, since our primary goal was to uncover the real needs of local Filipino sellers, this is where our first and most significant challenge began.

The most significant challenge!

One of the major challenges in this project was limited access to Filipino users. Since our primary target audience was the Philippines, it was essential to collect insights directly from Filipino sellers and buyers to ensure that the research accurately reflected their real needs, behaviors, and pain points. From the beginning, we were aware that the needs of Filipino users could significantly differ from those of users in other regions, making direct access to this audience a critical requirement for the project.

What we did?

To reach this user group, we explored multiple recruitment channels. We attempted to connect with Filipino professionals on LinkedIn and asked for their support in reaching local sellers, distributing questionnaires, or participating in interviews. In parallel, we actively searched for and engaged with Filipino communities through Facebook groups based in the Philippines, as well as Instagram outreach. Additionally, we contacted relevant websites and organizations via email in an effort to identify potential participants.

This phase of the project was particularly time-consuming and challenging. Despite sending numerous messages across different platforms, the response rate was very low, and many outreach attempts went unanswered. However, rather than abandoning the research, we remained persistent and continued our efforts across channels.

Ultimately, due to these constraints, we were only able to conduct interviews with a very limited number of Filipino sellers.

After considerable effort..

Given the project timeline and resource limitations, we decided to proceed with the available insights and use them as the foundation for the initial MVP. Our goal was to validate these assumptions through real-world usage after launch, allowing us to uncover additional needs, challenges, and edge cases. These findings would then inform iterative improvements and be addressed in future versions of the product.

Data Analysis and Insight Synthesis

All collected responses were documented in Miro, where we began by organizing and clustering the raw data. As an initial step, we categorized all responses to identify recurring themes and patterns. We then separated the data provided specifically by Filipino users and analyzed their responses independently to better understand their unique needs and priorities.

After this segmentation, we reviewed the insights from a broader, holistic perspective. Each identified need and pain point—derived directly from real user responses—was labeled based on its primary impact: whether it was more relevant to business strategy and decision-making, or whether it needed to be directly addressed within the information architecture, page structure, and user flow design.

All Buyers’ Responses

Data Segmentation: SE Asia Users vs. Other Regions

To validate our findings, we conducted a two-step categorization process. First, we grouped all responses regardless of geography. Then, we isolated Filipino users’ responses and compared them with those from users in other regions. This comparison revealed several meaningful differences. For example, transportation and logistics emerged as a recurring and high-priority concern among Filipino users—an issue that was mentioned far more frequently than by users from other parts of the world.

All Sellers’ Responses

In addition to the questionnaire results, we leveraged AI as a complementary research tool. Based on the project’s scope, structure, and target audience, we asked AI to generate a comprehensive list of considerations and recommendations. These insights supported both business-level thinking and user experience design decisions, helping us ensure that no critical aspects were overlooked during the early stages of the project.

Persona - User Journey Map

Ultimately, to gain a deeper understanding of user needs, we developed personas. For each persona, we then created a user journey map to explore their experiences more thoroughly. This helped us uncover deeper, more authentic needs and identify potential gaps or pain points that we might have otherwise overlooked.

User Flows

After synthesizing the collected data, prioritizing critical user and business needs, and benchmarking similar flows in comparable platforms, we defined and mapped the core user flows to establish clarity and strategic alignment.

Lo-fi Wireframes

Pages and sections that I was responsible for designing as a member of the team:

Product Management
Add New Product
Orders
Order Details
Notifications

Hi-fi Wireframes and Prototypes

Product Management page Features:

The product management table is categorized into three separate tabs:
Active Products, Inactive Products, Drafts

Search: Ability to search through products.
Filters: for more precise searches within the product table
Sorting: Display products by newest or oldest
Delete or deactivate multiple products at once
4our summary cards displaying Out of Stock, Low Stock, Best-Selling Product, and Poor-Selling Product: This cards are crucial for alerting sellers and helps sellers identify which items are most popular among customers or analyze which items may require promotional strategies, bundling, price adjustments, or even removal from the catalog.

Add new product page:

Ability to View Product Page in Store App
Ability to Save as Draft
Ability to add new parameter

Order Page Features:

All orders are displayed in a table view along with their details.

The order table is categorized into six separate tabs, allowing the seller to easily switch between them to view and manage New, Shipped, Delivered orders, Canceled, and Return Requests.
Search: Ability to search through orders based on order number, customer name, etc.
Filters: for more precise searches within the order table
Sorting: Display orders by newest or oldest
By selecting a custom start and end date, you can also view all orders within the chosen time range.
Bulk Enter Tracking numbers: Instead of manually opening each shipped order page and entering the tracking number, you can quickly and easily enter the tracking numbers for all shipped orders from this section, either manually or using a barcode scanner.
Print Invoice: Ability to directly print order invoices
Important Customer Notes: Quick and immediate access to important notes provided by the customer alongside their order

Order details page Features:

Utilize a visual timeline to clearly illustrate the progress of each order.

Send messages to customers.
Estimated Delivery Date:
You can send a message to the customer from this section.
View estimated Delivery Date and the number of days remaining until the order is delivered to the customer.

Notifications page Features:

4 separate tabs to help users easily view relevant notifications.

Show more details about each notification through the "Show Details" button.
All Notifications
Product Notifications:  Notifications related to low stock or out-of-stock products, product deactivation, newly added products to the store, and more.
Order Notifications:  Notifications related to new orders, order delivery to the customer, product return requests, and more.
Promos & Alerts:  Notifications related to store promotions and discounts, store announcements, app updates, and settings-related alerts.

Inspiration

Focusing on themes of sustainability, eco-consciousness, organic products, and natural lifestyles, we thought these colors aligned well for eTinda.
We draw from the artistry of crafts and culture, earthly elements, seamlessly blending them with our color palette to reflect a deep connection to nature and a commitment to quality.