Planning Evaluation and Responsible Design

Having completed the implementation of the main pages and some key features, the next step is to consider how to evaluate the platform. For this second-hand resource-sharing platform for international students, the mere fact that the pages load correctly is merely a basic requirement; what is more important is whether users can understand the purpose of the various features and successfully complete real-world tasks.

I believe future usability testing should focus on several core scenarios. For example, if a user simply wants to buy a stool, would they naturally choose ‘Browse Listings’? If a user wishes to purchase multiple bedroom and kitchen items in one go, would they understand that the ‘Community Board’ is better suited for viewing bundle deals, moving-out posts and bulk requests? If a user navigates to a listing detail page, would they be able to locate the price, condition, collection details and the option to contact the seller? These tasks can help us determine whether the homepage navigation, browsing flow and detail page design are clear.

Accessibility is also a crucial part of the subsequent evaluation. As the brief requires compliance with AA accessibility standards or higher, we need to check the page’s colour contrast, heading hierarchy, keyboard navigation, focus state, image alt text and form labels. Both the homepage and the Community Board contain a significant amount of imagery and card-based content; therefore, the visual hierarchy must be sufficiently clear and must not rely solely on colour or images to convey key information. Decorative images must also be designed to avoid causing interference for screen readers.

In terms of responsibility, as this platform involves connections between students and in-person collection, privacy and security must be taken into account. The current prototype does not prioritise the implementation of a real payment or order system, as payment functionality would introduce higher risks regarding privacy, finance and liability. Instead, at this stage, it is recommended that users collect items on campus or in public areas, refrain from disclosing sensitive personal information, and provide accurate descriptions of the items’ condition.

Future features should also be expanded gradually around the goal of creating a community hub, rather than blindly adding complex functions. Valuable directions include: post type filtering on the Community Board, campus-based filtering, saved posts, reporting inappropriate content, seller profiles, and a moving-out bundle template. These features can continue to support resource sharing and mutual assistance among international students.

Overall, the focus of future evaluations should not be on the number of features the platform offers, but rather on whether users can safely, clearly and efficiently discover resources, post requests and contact other students. This approach will also help us maintain the project’s positioning as a community hub, rather than allowing it to gradually evolve into a complex e-commerce system.