Designing for product presentation

Abstract

This thesis report describes the process and the result of a graduation project for the master programme Integrated Product Design at the Delft University of Technology. The project is carried out in collaboration with Marktplaats, a classified advertising service. This project aims to improve amateur product presentation on Marktplaats.

Marktplaats is an online resale service that allows consumers to buy and sell second-hand products. Marktplaats connects buyers and sellers for stimulating a sustainable use of products. However, the way in which users can present their products on Marktplaats’ often generates low quality product presentation and fosters miscommunications of the presented product.

Therefore the goal of this thesis is: Improving the online product presentation of users on Marktplaats: to design for improved visual communication of product aesthetics (appearance), semantics (function) and symbolics (meaning).
Online shopping is linked to high levels of perceived risk because of its intangible nature. Shopping on Marktplaats can be considered even more ‘risky’, since information on these products is often incomplete, and the presentation is usually less salient compared to professional webshops. Consumers respond to a high perceived risk by developing a purchase strategy which is is dependent on the perception and liability of presented product information. .

Due to the absence of a framework in literature, a framework has been created to design for- and measure product understanding. In this model six instruments are presented that help in designing for improved product understanding either through helping the consumer create a better mental model of the product, or by increasing its vividness (medium).

Depending on the nature of the product, a high quality product presentation is one that accurately represents the product at semantic, aesthetic and symbolic level (measure).

With the help of this framework, ideas have been developed and a final concepts have been presented. Validated by qualitative testing, a final concept is presented that more concretely presents semantic, symbolic and aesthetic information, thus increasing the overall quality of product presentations on Marktplaats. The final concept also assists consumers in deciding what valuable information is missing from the listing.

A quantitative study has shown that providing a list of information that is provided and left out by the seller, makes consumers more aware of missing information in a listing. This knowledge influences consumers perception and liability of a listing, aiding them in forming a risk assessment and developing a purchase strategy. This will likely decrease miscommunictions amongst users and lower negative outcomes of Marktplaats service interaction.

This thesis is concluded with and aesthetic representation of the final design, and a roadmap suggesting further improvements on the short- and long term.