Whatnot
Re-imagine the social marketplace experience beyond the phone
Whatnot is a live-stream shopping platform where sellers auction collectibles and everyday goods in real time. The challenge was to imagine how the experience could transcend the phone into something more shared, ambient, and social.
We were given six weeks to go from research to a high-fidelity prototype, working in a cross-functional team of three designers.
This project was an industry engagement with Whatnot through my master's program, USC's Iovine and Young Academy.
Whatnot Universe
An online TV shopping experience that fosters a light social environment among friends, replicating the experience of shopping at a real-life mall in an online setting.
Discern through research
The team and I began by brainstorming 5 potential core user groups to conduct qualitative and quantitative research with. My contribution included conducting a survey and 10 interviews with one of our top stakeholder groups.
Core user
Young professionals living alone
Core insights
1. TV playing in the background to avoid feelings of loneliness
2. Desire to watch "real" content
3. Preference for "low effort" watching
Shopping Mall Experience?
Our research showed that users already engage in behaviors that align with what Whatnot offers on mobile.
These insights suggest a direction toward a "shopping‑mall" experience that requires no physical travel.
Users prefer reality storytelling over fiction.
Users prefer content that is easy to follow and doesn't require mental energy
Turning the TV viewing into a shared Whatnot experience.
Create an engaging and social watching experience that doesn't require high effort?
Join, chat, raid, repeat.
One tap mobile –– TV connectivity
We chose a one‑tap mobile‑to‑TV connectivity experience that eliminates friction.
Private & public chats
Once users enter a watch party, they have the option to choose a private chat for active engagement or a public chat for passive participation.
Vote to raid together
Users engaged in "raiding," leaving one live‑stream together to join another auction as a group.
Lean on existing behavior, don't reinvent it.
Users already treated mobile livestream auctions like background reality TV. The design work was routing the existing mobile behavior onto the existing TV habit.