ToySwap

INTRO
UI EXPERIENCE
BUSINESS
Main UI
Branding

Inspiration 🔮

While brainstorming an idea for this project, we looked around our room and spotted our stuffed animals, toys, and games that we didn’t use as much as we did when we were younger.

Realizing this, we could’ve just donated it to Goodwill or some other second-hand or another thrift store? How can we make sure our loved toys will definitely be handed to another kid that could use it more than we do?

Then our group realized… We love Roblox! (No joke!). What if kids could swap/trade toys to make sure both kids can enjoy a new toy while ensuring their old toy will be enjoyed by another kid. The same way you can trade items on Roblox?

This was when we decided to create something that could help reduce toy waste, expand access to these toys, and help ensure that even more heartwarming memories get created by letting users swap, share, or donate their toys to someone else!

What it does 🧸

ToySwap has a sleek, easy-to-use, and aesthetic interface that allows users to scroll through a catalog and select toys they want to swap/trade, put up their own toys for swapping/trading, and even participate in toy donation drives for kids that don't have access to toys. ToySwap has both an app and a website, as well as a convenient profile/account system that puts a user behind these swaps instead of a corporation!

How we built it 🌱

Seeun: I used Figma to design the UI of the entire app and website. To make the Prototype interactive for an accessible demo, I used ProtoPie!

Alan: I used Figma's Idea Board and also the Atomic UX Research framework to run user testing and feedback for our interface design. Users will start with a warm introduction and the ability to sign up or log in. The app was coded through Swift UI, along with using MongoDB and Node.JS for a login/account creation system. We used Node.JS and Express.JS for our payment system powered by Strip. Html, CSS, and JS was used to create the website.

Challenges we ran into 😅

One of the main hurdles we've run into has been the time constraints to finish such a complex design. Our app has a wide variety of pages and features that we needed to design and plan out carefully. Furthermore, our team wanted to create the best interface possible so we challenged ourselves by doing extensive research on different mobile shopping apps, specifically focused on their interface and how we can improve on it.

Accomplishments that we're proud of 📍

Seeun: Creating and discussing all of the graphics/design options in a limited amount of time was definitely a challenge, especially since I self learned an entirely new application for doing 3D modeling. I'm proud of how quickly my team and I were able to produce work with strong feedback and ideas.

Alan: I am proud of using the UX Planning Framework (Atomic-UX) and building my skills by taking feedback from user-testing and improving ToySwap’s interface in conjunction with our Graphic Designer Seeun.

The Team: Besides finishing this project on such short notice, we are happy that we were able to build something that has a real and positive impact on the world. Not only does ToySwap heighten consumer sustainability, but it spreads the joy of toys to everyone around the world. Creating something with a tangible impact is the highlight of our product!

What we learned 📖

Seeun: I learned how to to build innovative and sleek interfaces for ToySwap. It was extremely fun to experiment! I also learned how to quickly make decisions surrounding our specific design choices and implementing them swiftly. I also improved my speed with using Figma, as well as improving my ability to adapt and respond to user feedback effectively.

Alan: This Atomix UX research canvas had very stringent and meticulous steps that took a while to get used to, but I now come out of this hackathon knowing how to use this Framework to plan the best customer-friendly interface possible!

What's next for ToySwap 🧸

With our time constraints and large aspirations, we weren’t able to accomplish every single thing we wanted to implement for ToySwap. For our next steps, we plan to use this UI and actually develop it with code, so it can be published onto the App Store and the Google Play Store.

Another thing we planned to add was a payment system to pay any trader fees within our app.

The most important thing ToySwap wanted to do moving forward was start a charity or nonprofit to fight child poverty or partner with other existing organizations or even governments to create accessibility to Toys in more impoverished areas of the world.