Arth | Venture Design
A platform for pre-loved furniture
Project Summary | This venture design project was developed as a part of our Sustainable Business Models course at Parsons School of Design. The course focused on the development of design innovation, business modeling, and execution design capabilities in the areas of sustainability and service design
The Team | Anwesha Sengupta, Dhairya Sathvara, Madhura Redij, Noopur Ambre, Radhika Kale
My Role | Design research, Customer Insights, Business Model Development, UI/UX
Duration | 7 Weeks
Tools Used | Miro, Illustrator, Figma
The Story Behind the Project
Starting this project from a ‘sustainability -first’ approach, the team started looking at possible solutions for sustainable living, especially when buying and disposing of furniture. The target group we wanted to focus on were people who had just moved to a new place. On conducting further research with our potential users, we established that there is an uptake in thrifting of furniture. Yet, people hesitate when it comes to the hygiene of pre-used furniture and also its transportation. That is where Arth comes in – a unified and curated platform that would ensure hygiene and transport for buyers and let sellers dispose of their furniture in a sustainable manner.
Stage 1 | Customer Discovery
After establishing the furniture market as the area of intervention, we kicked off the project with customer discovery. After outlining the research plan and interview questionnaire, we conducted our first set of interviews. The following pain points were established.
Based on these pain points, we conducted further interviews to test these hypotheses:
However, from our interviews, we noticed that there was not enough interest in a subscription model. Instead, there was interest in thrifting. The hesitation however was related to hygiene, verification, and transportation of the furniture. Here is a brief snapshot of some of the observations we made during the various rounds of interviews.
Sensemaking
Synthesizing all the data from our interviews here are the key observations:
Furthermore, from our interviews, we noticed that there is a shift towards a thrifting mindset in people
Delving deeper into the thrifting model, here are the key problems that our interviewees faced :
Stage 2 | Outlining the Target Group
The research synthesis helped us understand potential users - people who want to source low-cost furniture and people who want to let go of their furniture in a sustainable manner. This enabled us to outline the following journey maps that helped guide the venture design process.
Furthermore, the Iceberg Canvas was a helpful tool to understand the underlying mental models in the existing furniture economy - both around buying/ thrifting and selling of furniture.
Stage 3 | The Value Proposition
Using the Value Proposition Canvas, we identified the consumer needs which were crucial for the next step in product development.
Synthesizing all the research led us to the conclusion that there is a need for a curated marketplace platform service that enables sellers to connect with buyers and mitigates the logistics and hygiene friction points in the pre-loved furniture market, promoting circularity and sustainability. The platform will not only ensure ease of access when it comes to thrifting furniture but also reduce furniture waste that is caused by curbside dumping of usable furniture. The long-term goal we wish to achieve with Arth is to promote a slow furniture economy and circularity where the buyer can eventually become the seller when they need to let go of their furniture.
Stage 4 | Developing the Business Model
Once we zeroed in on the value proposition, the next stage was to outline the business model. that would help us further understand the requirements of the product.
To determine the impact of the product on various stakeholders, we used the flourishing business canvas. It helped build the understanding of interconnections of the product and services with its communities and the world: Economically, Socially, Environmentally. It enabled a broader, deeper and richer conversations about all aspects of value co-creation.
Stage 5 | Developing the Product
Branding
ar·th /ˈearth'/noun • having meaning
Wireframes
The first set of wireframes was designed to set the flow of the app. The aim was to make the onboarding, buying, or selling process to be clear but simple and quick. The Buyer’s end of the app was separated out from the Seller’s end of the app.
The high-fidelity wireframes were designed to achieve a very minimal UI wherein the users are able to quickly focus on the most important features.
Onboarding and Account Setup: The onboarding flow slowly guides the user towards account creation. The illustrations in the onboarding bring a sense of lightness and set the tone for the rest of the app.
The Buying Process was designed to be simple and easy with curated recommendations and easy discoverability for the buyers. On selecting the furniture, a detailed definition of the furniture with original valuation and furniture details is made visible. The descriptive text is given a short narrative spin to bring forth the ‘pre-loved’ element of the venture.
The Selling Process involves a simple form for uploading the furniture details, followed by specific instructions to photograph the piece they want to sell.
Stage 6 | The Pitch
With the value proposition, business model, and prototype of the app in place, it was time to design the pitch.
Stage 7 | Reflections
The journey started off with the desire to make living in a big city sustainable. This stemmed from a very personal space for all the team members, shaped by our own experiences and struggles of moving to NYC and having to hunt for apartments and furniture.
However, it was the in-depth interviews that we conducted over the course of 7 weeks that truly gave us an insight into what the intervention should be. It was important for us to keep iterating and testing our hypotheses over and over to zero in on the pain points that really need solving.
Personally, for me, the groundwork for this project was set by Joel Bakan’s description of companies in his book The New Corporation: ‘if we assume that the ways corporations have changed, though real and significant, are not fundamental. Making money for themselves and their shareholders remains their top priority, as it always has been. So while they might care about social and environmental values, they care only to the point such caring might cut into profits. Then they stop caring.’ In a landscape where companies follow the mental model of ‘sustainability-as-usual’, it was important to learn to account for all three – people, planet, and profit – at the same time instead of focusing only on one aspect.
My biggest learning came from designing the pitch deck, where I understood the importance of delivering a single problem statement followed by a single value proposition with clarity.