Dragon Trade Off (DTO)
Dragon Trade Off (DTO) is an e-commerce platform created for university students to showcase, promote, and manage their ventures. It allows easy access for buyers and supports both digital and in-person transactions.
Tech stack: React, TypeScript/JavaScript, HTML5, CSS, MongoDB; deployed on Heroku.
Project Objectives
Purpose
- Create an accessible marketplace for student ventures.
- Encourage entrepreneurship and collaboration among students.
- Promote local innovation through an educational platform.
Research
- Identify pain points in promoting student-run businesses.
- Study usability patterns for simple and secure transactions.
- Analyze visual hierarchy and trust factors in e-commerce interfaces.
Impact
- Facilitate economic activity and visibility among students.
- Empower student entrepreneurs through digital presence.
- Provide real-world experience in managing online sales.
Design Process
Research
Key Findings
- Students needed an easy way to showcase products online.
- Payment and communication options had to be flexible.
- Trust and usability were critical for engagement.
Methodology
Surveys, Competitive Analysis & Prototyping
25+
Student responses
15+
Test users for usability validation
8
Iterations before final launch
Definition
The Project
- E-commerce web app built for student entrepreneurs.
- Provides direct communication between buyers and sellers.
- Features a responsive interface with category-based filtering.
Ideation
User Experience & Flow
- Designed simple navigation emphasizing discoverability.
- Created a visual hierarchy highlighting user products.
Design
- In the design phase, I translated the defined concepts into visual and functional solutions through wireframes and an interactive prototype.
Wireframe
Home Page
Login Page
About Us Page
Commerce Page
Form Page
Results
DTO successfully connected students and local buyers through an intuitive digital platform, empowering them to manage their businesses independently.
- Functional online marketplace prototype.
- Integration with MongoDB for user and product management.
- Improved usability and trust metrics based on feedback.
Challenges and Learnings
Creating an e-commerce platform from scratch required balancing UI design, backend connections, and responsive functionality. The project strengthened my skills in database integration, UX validation, and iterative design.
- Designing a modern and intuitive product display layout.
- Ensuring responsiveness across devices and browsers.
- Managing dynamic data from MongoDB effectively.
Next Steps
- Add integrated payment gateways (PayPal, Stripe).
- Implement secure authentication and user dashboards.
- Deploy a production-ready version with full backend support.