FSU Tech Connect
Researching student needs for a P2P tech marketplace.
Project Overview
For many students, buying and selling used electronics is a risky and frustrating experience. FSU students currently rely on impersonal, inconvenient, and often unsafe platforms like Facebook Marketplace or eBay. These marketplaces lack community trust, making it difficult to trade gear with confidence.
This research project explored the viability of a university-exclusive mobile app—"FSU Tech Connect"—designed to foster safety through an FSU-verified network and streamline the entire trading process.
My Role & Methods
As a UX Researcher, my responsibilities were to conduct all user research, synthesize the findings, and develop a set of data-driven feature recommendations.
A mixed-methods study was chosen to get a complete picture. I needed to benchmark current student sentiments against existing solutions.
- User Survey (N=16): Deployed to quickly identify and validate core frustrations and test the "trust" hypothesis around an @fsu.edu verification.
- Qualitative Interviews: Conducted to add context and empathy to the survey data, allowing me to understand the stories behind the frustrations.
- Persona Development & Journey Mapping: Used to synthesize the data into actionable artifacts that defined the user and their primary pain points.
The goal is to understand student pain points in P2P transactions and identify the core features that would make an app a safe, convenient, and trusted alternative.
Research Summary: The Data-Driven Pivot
User Survey
My initial hypothesis was that safety was the primary concern for students. The quantitative survey data validated this: 87.6% of respondents (14 out of 16) rated "Safety/Trust" as a 4 or 5 (out of 5) in importance. Furthermore, 81.3% said an @fsu.edu email verification would increase their trust.
However, the interviews and survey free-responses revealed a more universal and immediate pain point: high friction . Safety was a major factor, but the significant cognitive load of the process was the daily frustration. This discovery served as the Data-Driven Pivot for the project's product strategy.
Users expressed deep frustration with pricing uncertainty, tedious listing processes, and the fear of being "ghosted" by unreliable buyers/sellers. This led to a strategic pivot, expanding the project's goals from just "safety" to also include "efficiency and convenience."
User Interviews
The qualitative interviews provided rich context to the survey data. Students shared stories of failed transactions, wasted time, and anxiety around meetups. Several recurring themes emerged, highlighting the multifaceted nature of the pain points.
Key Pain Points
- Lack of Trust & Safety: Students hesitate to engage in transactions due to the high risk of scams and the anxiety of meeting strangers from unverified platforms.
- High Friction & Wasted Time: The process of listing an item—determining a price, taking photos, writing a good description, and communicating—is seen as tedious and frustrating.
- Inconvenient Meetup Logistics: Coordinating a safe and convenient on-campus meetup is a significant challenge for busy students, many of whom may not have a car.
- Accessibility Barriers: For students with mobility impairments, the lack of information about accessible meetup locations creates a major barrier to participation.
Personas
From the research, I synthesized several personas to represent the core user base. The primary persona, "Joe," guided the feature recommendations by focusing on the most common and frustrating pain points.
Other Key Personas
- Rebecca, The Urgent Buyer: Needs a fast, trustworthy way to find a replacement for a broken device.
- Erica, The Motivated Mover: Needs an efficient process and reliable buyers to sell items before moving out.
- Brenda, The Accessibility Advocate: Needs a way to easily identify and coordinate accessible meetup locations.
User Journey Mapping
I also created a user journey map for Joe, outlining his typical experience trying to sell a used Steam Deck. This map was critical for visualizing the impact of cognitive load on the user's emotional state throughout the process.
This journey map was instrumental in visualizing where the app could intervene to reduce friction and improve the overall user experience, informing the final Data-Driven Product Strategy.
Actionable Recommendations
Synthesizing the user pain points, the survey data, and the primary persona (Joe), I developed a set of actionable recommendations. These strategic proposals are focused on maximizing efficiency and trust.
- Mandatory @fsu.edu Verification: This is the top priority to establish a baseline of trust and safety (quantifiable success: 81.3% of users confirmed this would increase trust).
- AI Price Suggestion Tool: To combat Joe's "pricing uncertainty," a feature that suggests a fair market price would drastically reduce listing friction and cognitive load.
- Preset "Meetup Zones": To solve the logistical nightmare of meetups, the app should feature a map of pre-defined, safe, and well-lit public locations on campus.
- Accessibility-Labeled Meetups: A simple but critical feature. Meetup Zones should be tagged with accessibility information (e.g., "Wheelchair Accessible") to serve users like Brenda.
- User Rating & Reporting System: To build long-term community trust and weed out "ghosters," a simple rating system and a robust reporting feature are essential.
Reflection
This project was a fantastic exercise in mixed-methods research. The most valuable insight was the Data-Driven Pivot from my initial "safety-first" hypothesis. While safety was critical, the qualitative interviews revealed that convenience and efficiency were the more immediate blockers for users. This finding completely reshaped the feature recommendations toward a data-driven product strategy designed to reduce mental effort.