Based on user interviews, ethnographic research and market studies, the ideal or most common users pathways were mapped out to form user journeys and building the larger ecosystem that they exist in.

1. Enthusiasts like to follow Instagram pages but often don't end up going out to get the things they see because they lack real-time information.

2. Enthusiasts would like to know if there's anything nearby when they're already on the go.

3. There's a certain entertainment factor to this. Users enjoy seeing other people's success and imagining what they could have potentially experienced themselves.

After creating a frustration map based on insights from user interviews and surveys, it became clear what the gap in the market 
was. This helped to define the opportunities.

Problem Insight: 
Users had issues on conveying the dimensions and weight of an object through a shared image. Numeric metrics was not a good option for them to understand the shape and height

Solution:
After some ethnographic research, we found that users used gestures to refer to how big objects were. 

So to solve for this, we used references that are common and easy to visualize, such as city-specific landmarks and everyday objects. 

Phrases like "as wide as a microwave", "as tall as a refrigerator", and "as heavy as a gallon of milk"  helped people understand scale and weight more easily than numbers.

Problem Insight:
Another issue with existing platforms was the lack of search-ability and reminders. Users also wanted to receive notifications of interesting finds nearby while they were out and about.

Solution:
With Stooper, we wondered: 
What if users could receive specific notifications for categories they want to “watch out” for such as 'green chair'

Therefore, location-based notifications were added to let them know quickly if there was something nearby to check out.

To ensure that the app is both enjoyable and easy to use, we planned the onboarding experience and posting process to be engaging and youthful, while also being efficient and effective.

Insight:
There's a certain entertainment factor to this. Users enjoy seeing other people's success and imagining what they could have potentially experienced themselves.

Audience Behaviour Insight:
Stoopers as a community are always looking to be surprised. They are surprised by what they find, which is why they take it home with them.

Solution:
1. We emulated the happy, surprise emotion stoopers feel on the street with a “Surprise Me” feature!

2. Added a “Just Missed” section so stoopers can feel entertained by what unusual stuff they could have encountered.

Find a balance between strict rules and fool proof user experience to allow community rules to govern platform etiquette.

Integrate machine learning and AI 
to enable image detection and automatic self-description for effortless posting.

Place greater emphasis on location data privacy.

Learnings

1. Conducting ethnographic research leads to very interesting insights. It allows the researcher to observe body language and pick up on non verbal signs. 

2. The easiest way is to add every feature you can think of but its harder to strip it down, combine features to create the essential core of the product