SIYU.live
The start-up SIYU.live aims to combine e-commerce and social media. The idea: similar to teleshopping, products are presented and sold in live streams. Friends can shop together, while influencers build and monetise their community at the same time.
The two founders commissioned the development of an MVP. Based on a new brand design (logo & primary colour), I developed a design system and defined the user journey. I was solely responsible for the entire UX design process, which resulted in a Figma prototype with the essential user flows. Despite a small budget, this created a scalable foundation that is currently in development.
Timeline
2023/2024 – 8 weeks
Services
Desk Research, Design System, Mobile App Design, Web Design
Problem statement
The platform aims to position itself in the live stream shopping and dropshipping sector in an already crowded market alongside established providers. Without an intuitive UX and genuine added value, SIYU merely offers users a familiar shopping experience that does not generate long-term engagement.
Desk Research
Potential despite big players in the German market
Live commerce is booming in China, with a projected value of US $ 281.2 billion in 2023, driven by the impact of COVID-19 and moderation by influencers and celebrities – the credibility of product presentation is crucial. Even teleshopping in the 1990s and 2000s was based on the strong bond between presenter and viewer, as well as storytelling.
Insights
USPs
Opportunities through social commerce and market fragmentation
As an independent provider, SIYU offers users a wide variety of products from different brands on a single platform. In contrast, many live shopping solutions are limited to one sector. This market fragmentation presents an opportunity for SIYU.
The combination of social media and e-commerce creates direct interaction between users and presenters/creators – without the need for a lavish studio. The app functions primarily as a point of sale and secondarily as a social media platform, offering an inspiring, user-centred shopping experience without disruptive advertising.
Comprehensive product variety
Advertising is the experience and not a disturbance
Merger of product recommendation and point of sale
Live clips as immersive product reviews
Feature Scope
Vision for the MVP with limited resources
Insights into the competition and the founding idea were used to derive ‘How might we’ questions. Due to limited time, an MVP was implemented, while a backlog collected potentially useful but dispensable features.
How might we merge the purchasing process with the live stream as smoothly as possible?
How might we create added value from past live streams for users in order to maintain user engagement even after recording?
How might we encourage interaction among users for a shared shopping experience?
How can we combine the classic 60+ minute teleshopping show with short-form content on social media platforms?
User Flows
Prioritization based on complexity, degree of innovation, and impact
The MVP features were formulated as user stories and organised into user flows. Simple flows went directly into the high-fidelity prototype, while key functions such as purchasing during a live show were designed in detail using wireframes and usability testing.
User Stories
Design System
Harmony between functionality and branding
The design system is based on the corporate design with two fonts, a logo and the primary colour neon yellow. The biggest challenge was to balance neutrality and brand presence.
In the commerce-focused user flows, the product is in the foreground and the brand takes a back seat. The system uses a reduced dual colour palette and specifically uses the brand colour as an interaction indicator.
The UI design was implemented in Figma as responsive, customisable components with variants for light and dark mode. One focus was on scalability in order to cover both the app and the website. The WCAG were taken into account, e.g. for at least AA-level contrasts.
Protoyping
No choice paralysis when selecting a live show
Interaction in a live show is central to the user experience. Many ‘How might we’ questions were solved with inspiration from the Chinese sales model, fast-paced social media content and classic teleshopping.
The original idea of a video platform with an overview page was discarded to avoid decision paralysis. Instead, the app starts directly in a live show – similar to television or TikTok. Content from the creators you follow and repeats run continuously, and fixed streaming times do not interfere with shopping.
Originally, the founders planned a tile view similar to YouTube or Netflix, but this was rejected in favour of a more compact app experience.
An overlay on the live video allows users to interact in the chat or add products to their shopping basket. After the show, short, relevant clips are embedded on the product detail pages to ensure the presentation has a lasting impact.
Iteration with AI
UI check with AI tool
AI tools offer a cost-effective way to optimise the UI without extensive testing. The product detail view, which is crucial for conversion, has been redesigned using gaze plots and heat maps: titles and prices are now visually grouped, and an overlay shows only the two most important CTA buttons.
Before
After
Website
Beta launch with MVP e-commerce website
Before completing the app development, an MVP website was planned as a beta launch to gather initial user feedback. The features were limited to live streaming with chat, checkout, and a CTA to recruit new influencers.
