E-Auction Mobile App UX Case Study
This case study showcases a project I completed within a tight deadline — just two days to design for a UX interview. The goal was to keep things simple, focusing on usability, intuitiveness, and human interaction with the system.
As UX designers, there’s often a temptation to create something groundbreaking, involving complex technology or flashy features. We tend to chase innovation so much that we sometimes overlook one simple truth: great user experience doesn’t always require huge shifts or cutting-edge technology. In fact, a simple, human-centered design can often make the biggest impact.
The Brief: Simplicity in a Time-Crunched Scenario
The challenge was clear: design a solution that could be quickly developed while ensuring a seamless user experience. With only two days to work, I decided to focus on core principles of usability and ease of use — avoiding the urge to overcomplicate the design. Instead of leveraging trendy technologies, I chose to focus on what really matters to the end-user: intuitive interactions, clear navigation, and a design that speaks to them at a human level.
The Key Decision: Focused Simplicity Over Trendy Innovation
The critical lesson here was resisting the pressure to overcomplicate the design with high-tech solutions or “must-have” features. Many UX designs today are driven by the idea that innovation means using the latest technology or the most advanced UI trends. But sometimes, simplicity in user interaction and experience provides greater value.
I didn’t need a futuristic interface to make a meaningful impact; I needed an interface that felt right — that was easy for users to interact with and understand.
Problem Statement
ABC’s Purchasing Manager, Mr. Buyer has created an eAuction using an online auction application and has invited Supplier X, Supplier Y & Supplier Z to participate in the auction. The eAuction application allows ABC to create an auction online with all the required information. The buyer can see all the offers from his phone and finally decide on the supplier to award.
Summary of primary user tasks
Some questions ahead to think about while designing this…
What is important for the buyer to take a decision? —
- Best bid offer in buyer’s budget.
- Reliable supplier with good records.
- A way to connect with suppliers before finalising bid.
- Savings estimated from offers.
What will allow the suppliers to easily use the tool (without any prior training)?
- Create product catalogue with less manual efforts by using image recognition techniques.
- App designed in a natural language for layman.
- Localisation feature.
- Guided screens with personalised view.
- Customer support / Chatbot giving answers to common questions quickly as needed.
Is your solution scalable and flexible enough if there are many suppliers? (20+)
- App could hide suppliers who seem suspicious/spam.
- Apply filters and see list of suppliers narrowed down.
- App could use recommendations or show suggestions for list of suppliers as per buyers preferences or auction rules.
- Ask for verification and conduct security checks while registering the buyers/suppliers to avoid getting too many people signing up on the app.
What more would the buyer and supplier like to see?
Buyer would like to also see:
- Filter by preferences to get best results on suppliers/bids.
- See suppliers who also provide technical support/supplies products with installation or discounts or extra services which could increase in savings.
- Fraud detection and security.
- AI-driven recommendation systems can suggest products to users based on their past behavior, preferences, and browsing history. Users are more likely to stay engaged, leading to increased participation and sales.
- Bot / Customer support.
Supplier would like to also see:
- AI-driven recommendations or suggestions of auctions more suited to his company/preferences.
- Calculate profit or help with the bid depending on the quantity of products up for sale.
- Engaging long term with recurring buyers.
- Fraud detection and security
- Bot / Customer support.
- AI systems can predict inventory needs and suggest when items should be listed for auction based on market demand, seasons, and historical sales data. This allows sellers to make more informed decisions about what to auction and when.
Information Architecture
- Be clear with the user flows, making it easier for users to access data easily.
- Know how to mitigate risks of making this experience tedious for users to achieve their goals.
Task Flows
Buyer Journey
Note — Points highlighted in red are the steps which helped buyers take appropriate decisions on awarding the suppliers.
Supplier Journey
Note — Points highlighted in red are the steps which helped suppliers take appropriate decisions about bidding or track the auction.
Wireframes
Outcomes / Metrics to measure
- Simple and minimalistic UI helping users focus on critical data points and makes tasks completion faster.
- Personalised view helps users take decisions faster.
- Visual cues, simple navigation and smooth transitions between screens makes the app usable and intuitive.
- App provides a guided view in all steps so that user has minimal learning curve and not much training required.
Though it was a quick turnaround, the usability felt seamless, with users able to complete tasks faster and with less frustration. There are surely more possibilities of extra features and data points for user’s guidance on bidding and selecting supplier. The system felt intuitive and human-centered, with just the right balance of interaction elements that didn’t overwhelm the user.
