Overview
Project Goal
A two-week journey to transform the rental process on Lightyshare, France’s premier peer-to-peer marketplace for renting professional audiovisual equipment, developing a new system to enable users to search for multiple items simultaneously and access the most efficient rental solutions, minimizing the need for users to navigate multiple vendors.
Problem
Freelance filmmakers looking to lease several equipment from Lightyshare need a more streamlined search procedure. At present, they're obligated to enter each item one by one, a task which grows more laborious as their project requirements expand. Moreover, they must verify that all rented articles are situated within a manageable travel distance for easy pick-up and drop-off.
Solution
The new Lightyshare's search system uses a more prominent search bar with implemented filters. It allows users to insert a list of items and search through categories. It then highlights vendors based on their distance and their catalog, taking into account the number of search items they hold.
Filmmaking relies on collaboration and specialized equipment to realize cinematic visions. Yet, acquiring professional gear has been a barrier for many.
Enter Lightyshare, France's leading peer-to-peer marketplace for renting audiovisual equipment. Launched in 2016, it boasts over 23,000 users and 16,000 equipment listings. However, navigating the platform for extensive equipment can be challenging. As part of our UX/UI Bootcamp project, we aimed to improve Lightyshare's rental process with a new search system for easier browsing.
Researching Lightyshare's main users involved extensive user interviews (9) and a comprehensive survey (165 responses), leading to the development of a primary persona named David, a freelance videographer in Paris. David seeks a user-friendly platform for quick equipment searches, an organized catalog, transparent pricing, and dependable equipment meeting professional standards. Despite Lightyshare's benefits, David faces challenges navigating the platform, conducting efficient searches, and sourcing equipment, often resulting in delays and logistical complications.
The user journey revealed that many users, like David, rent multiple items but struggle to find everything in one place, leading to reliance on traditional rental houses. Additionally, a significant portion of users occasionally or regularly rent equipment outside of Lightyshare due to availability issues and difficulties managing lengthy item lists.
Through multiple iterations and 11 user tests, we concentrated on refining the search bar and results to better match user needs. We drew inspiration from various websites, including those in the audiovisual equipment niche and peer-to-peer platforms like Airbnb. Enhancements to the search bar included adding filters like location and rental duration and enabling users to search for multiple items simultaneously, a feature not previously available. We experimented with representing multiple items as "pellets" but ultimately settled on a list format with visual feedback indicators for usability.
In the search results, we prioritized displaying relevant listings with horizontally stacked cards, allowing users to easily navigate through offers and view detailed information without leaving the results page. Users can sort results by distance or by optimized sorting, which highlights owners with all or the majority of the requested items. Additionally, users have the option to explore alternatives for specific products, enhancing their rental experience.
Current Lightyshare's home page.
Current Lightyshare's search page.
Searchbar - Original "Pellet" system - (Low-Fidelity)
Searchbar - List format (Mid-Fidelity)
Horizontal stack system and offer overlay in Mid-Fidelity.
For the final prototype, I focused on creating UI components following an atomic approach, adhering to Lightyshare's brand identity while incorporating user feedback. High-fidelity screens were designed in 1440px width to match stakeholder desktop assets. New features were also added late during the process, including the ability to isolate specific items by clicking on pellets and an accessible basket overview for managing added items and viewing pricing information.
But you can witness it all in action here :
If we had more time, our next steps would have included:
Conducting additional tests, including Usability and Desirability Testing.
Expanding our prototype to include more researched items, demonstrating how the search bar could handle an “overload.” We envisioned pellets appearing in containers, with one displayed for each category of requested items, but the two-week timeframe was too short to implement this feature fully.
Developing a dedicated mobile application to enhance the user experience and facilitate communication between renters and owners, as 66.7% of the users indicated that communication with the owner was a primary reason for accessing Lightyshare on their phones.