“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
~Ferdinand August Bebel

What is Garage Mapper?

In a world driven by individualism and consumer capitalism, where new products are just a click away, we've lost touch with the value of sustainability and the second-hand economy. Programmed obsolescence has made replacing items easier than repairing or reusing them, fuelling a culture of constant consumption. While quick online purchases and next-day deliveries have replaced the need to engage locally, stripping us of in-person connections and the appreciation for the longevity of well-made, pre-loved goods.

Garage Mapper challenges this by reconnecting people with their communities and promoting a more sustainable way of living. By making it easy to buy and sell second-hand items, we offer an alternative to the throwaway culture. Here, people can discover unique finds, extend the life of useful goods, and reduce waste—all while fostering real connections in their neighbourhoods. Sustainability and community aren’t just ideals; they’re a way forward.

Garage Mapper is an app that locates garage sales and second hand items for sale in your neighbourhood and fosters connections with sustainably minded people in your local community.

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
~Ferdinand August Bebel

What is Garage Mapper?

Problem Statement

Potential customers need a quick and reliable way to locate and list garage sales in their local area because they want to contribute to the second hand economy while fostering relationships with like minded people in their community.

I kept this problem statement at the forefront of the design process to ensure there was no deviation from the main design goal.

Research

As this was a passion project aimed at up-skilling in the areas of user flows, user Interface design and design systems, I opted to create Proto-Personas. These were created using information gathered from speaking with friends and acquaintances and analysing data from Reddit groups, Facebook Groups and Chat GPT.

User Personas

After gathering data from in person conversation, Reddit Groups, Facebook Groups and Chat GPT, I created Proto Personas for both the lister and finder of garage sales.

Michael Rodriguez - The Lister
Alice Browne - The Finder

Goal: To keep the users goal’s and frustration’s at the forefront ensuring they inform any design decisions.

User Flows

Goal: To visually map out the steps required for users to complete their task.

The Lister: Sign up, create a profile, create a new garage sale listing.

The Finder: Search for item/sale, message seller directly.
    
        

Goal: To visually map out the steps required for users to complete their task.

The Lister: Sign up, create a profile, create a new garage sale listing.

The Finder: Search for item/sale, message seller directly.
    
        

Goal: To visually map out the steps required for users to complete their task.

The Lister: Sign up, create a profile, create a new garage sale listing.

The Finder: Search for item/sale, message seller directly.
    
        

Wireframes

Taking both user persona and user flow information I began sketching out the main Dashboard of the app before going on to incrementally add more levels of detail and create a fully colourised mockup.    

For the dashboard I opted to create a tab menu of Sales and Items giving the user quick and flexible choice between the two.     

For uploading an item I chose to include 4 main search parameters for each Item uploaded. Category, Condition, Brand and price.  
    
        

Wireframes

Prototype

After finalising the High-fidelity mockups, a Prototype was made to walk through the flows of sign up, create a profile, create a new garage sale listing for 'the Lister' and Search for item/sale, message seller directly for 'the Finder'.

Experience Prototype

Final Thoughts

Overall I was pleased with the outcome of this project. Although I had only intended to focus more on the User Flows and User Interface design I feel the project could have benefited from a round of user testing, specifically relating to uploading an item and whether there was a quicker and more streamlined way to manage this task.