As the lead designer for a new feature called Collections, I aimed to help organizations easily share selected listings through customizable landing pages. This feature was developed to make it simple for people that aren’t yet on Rheaply's marketplace platform to view available listings without navigating through typical privacy settings.
Problem Statement
Rheaply's marketplace growth team was burdened with a tedious matchmaking process. On behalf of enterprise clientele, they struggled to share VIP listings with potential donation partners, many who were not yet users in the Rheaply Marketplace platform.
Staff were manually manipulating the product to filter the organization's storefront to display a subset of listings, then adding screenshots of the product in a PDF document attached to an email. This time-consuming and inefficient process for this team was especially cumbersome when potential users from organizations not yet on the platform would view the static document with limited info and unclear route back to the platform.
Rheaply needed a quicker and easier way for potential donation organizations to view these listings and sign up to claim items.
Design Process
Research and Ideation
I began the design process by meeting with Rheaply's Sr. Product Manager and a Frontend Software Engineer to review the requests from key stakeholders in Rheaply's marketplace growth team to review what they were trying to achieve and to understand the key elements that would be involved in potential solutions. These discussions formed the foundation of my brainstorming sessions, where I explored various approaches to address the problem.
After understanding the objectives, I took a moment to jot down any ideas that could be a route forward. Then I created basic wireframe concepts to illustrate these different solutions. These wireframes served as a visual tool to convey my ideas and explore their feasibility, before creating high-fidelity wireframes.
@kiley, june 26
Can we package an area of the platform as a reuse marketplace or a private portal? What amount of platform information we want to share with org leads that are not in platform?
I’m starting to wander back to the idea of best method of getting the lead on platform. Maybe they are enticed by the idea that there are items to claim now, but also to join the “network” by signing up to be the first to see new donation event listings.. less redundancy on the team's part, but we’d yes need to nurture them via customer marketing and solid notifications
on-platform concepts
on-platform mockups
Some ideas for how 'collections' could be brought into the storefronts.
not-on-platform concepts
not-on-platform mockup
My hypothesis was that Rheaply needed a straightforward way for platform admins to share their listings with non-users.
@kiley, july 2
my sense is that there's a higher priority for us to solve for the "Not on platform" org scenario, however i'm interested to chat about the public collections together. The solutions for orgs already on-platform seem more straightforward and I'm more comfortable saying they're possible, but the collections thing has my mind wandering for both
@kiley, july 10
@pm something to chat through this morning with prod squad
"We just wrapped all the ideation/design work and are beginning development. Usually I feel like I shout out once a project is complete, but I really wanted to say that the ideation and collaboration on this project has been such a joy to witness and be a part of. These three folks bounce ideas off of one another so so so well. There are so many initial ideas we started with on sticky notes, low fidelity wireframes, all the way up to solid mockups. And, Kiley + Nick got so much feedback along the way from the rest of the team. The hype is real around this project and it's no surprise why! We'll be able to build a lot of cool things that stem from it, too."
- Rachel Zolotarsky, Sr. Product Manager at Rheaply
@kiley, july 10
Its hard to do just the minimum, but here's a higher fidelity example of what the LP / listing preview portal concept could be like! Would love to see some notes from you all. There's definitely a version with less we can do for V1 if need be
Its hard to do just the minimum, but here's a higher fidelity example of what the LP / listing preview portal concept could be like! Would love to see some notes from you all. There's definitely a version with less we can do for V1 if need be
@pm, july 10
prod review went well, we got some good notes and no push back!
prod review went well, we got some good notes and no push back!
Collaboration and Design Day
With these wireframes in hand, I gathered key stakeholders, Rheaply engineers, and product squad for a dedicated design day. During this session, I pitched the concept of an easily sharable, lead-converting landing page which displayed *just enough* listing information, that anyone with the link could browse unrestricted prior to signing up as users.
Our discussion delved into the technical limitations and requirements of the approaches I presented. This collaboration was crucial in reaching consensus on the best path forward.
@kiley, july 11
Here's the latest version of what we're thinking of doing for market Preferred Network listings
Here's the latest version of what we're thinking of doing for market Preferred Network listings
We also engaged in strategic discussions about the scope of the project. While the focus was on delivering a solution that met immediate needs, we were mindful of ensuring that the design could be built upon for future roadmap work.
This meant balancing the immediate functionality with the potential for future enhancements, ensuring that the feature could grow and adapt as needed.
These conversations helped focus my work toward delivering a solution which alleviates the burden on Rheaply's sales team in acquiring new organizations to the platform.
With this clarification, I bookmarked any deeper exploration into the on-platform feature solution and freed up the process for me to design a flow to get new users onto the platform, where the current in-app functionality already exists to deliver relevant listings to users.
@kiley, july 18
Everything is tidy and ready in the Final page - lmk if you see any issues or errors
Everything is tidy and ready in the Final page - lmk if you see any issues or errors
Solution
The Collections feature I designed allows admins to create landing pages that include:
・ A title and description that they can customize.
・ Listing cards that show key details such as title, condition, quantity, and location, with a limit on the number of listings to ensure the page remains responsive.
・ Quick previews that provide additional information when a listing is clicked, including multiple photos and descriptions.
・ A sign-up prompt that recognizes if a user already has an account, streamlining the onboarding process.
To maintain performance and responsiveness, we limited the number of listings displayed on the landing page. Additionally, the feature was designed to dynamically update as listings are added, changed, or become unavailable, ensuring that viewers only see current listings that meet the search filter criteria.
Admins can create a collection preview by setting specific filters, such as location and tags. Once the preview is created, they see an automatically-generated, URL that can be shared externally, allowing anyone with the link to view the listings. If users sign up through the link, their request is automatically connected to the relevant organization, simplifying the onboarding process.
Final deliverable: Must-have's
Final deliverable: Nice-to-have's
Impact
The Collections feature has significantly reduced the workload for Rheaply's Sustainability Team by eliminating the need for manually created PDFs. It also provides a smoother experience for external users, who can now easily access and browse relevant listings.
Initial feedback has been positive, with users appreciating the feature’s ease of use and the ability to share listings externally without compromising privacy.
By making it easier to share listings and attract new organizations to the platform, the Collections feature is expected to contribute to the company’s growth and enhance its ability to meet the needs of its users.
Retrospective notes
Conclusion
Designing the Collections feature reinforced the importance of understanding user needs and being adaptable in the design process. It’s been rewarding to see how well the feature has been received and how it has effectively addressed real-world problems. I’m already considering future enhancements, such as adding options for private links and improving the user experience for those who already have accounts on the platform. Stay tuned!
Future Considerations
Consider the on-platform experience for existing users.
Dig into how it works as a tool within the product.
Evaluate location of this feature and overlap with any similar existing features.
Team
Rachel Zolotarsky, Senior Product Manager
Kiley Kielland, Product Designer
Nick Harris, Frontend Software Engineer
Sasha Myloserdova, Quality Assurance
