Switching to Marketplace after years of Craigslist loyalty.
I don’t like how Marketplace’s main goal seems to be pushing ads in my face. However, I’ve sucked it up because Marketplace is where all the good stuff is being listed now.
Let’s dive into what’s great about the Marketplace website and what’s not by using LEMErS.
Nope, not lemurs.
LEMErS is short for Learnability, Efficiency, Memorability, Errors, and Satisfaction, the five guidelines user experience designers apply to assess the usability of a digital interface.
Learnability
How easy is it to learn how to use Marketplace?
Visibility & Feedback
Marketplace does a great job clarifying to the user what it’s currently doing. A loading icon appears anytime a clicked on feature takes some time to load, such as when clicking on the search bar.
Mapping
The notification on/off toggle is mapped to the function of notifications being turned on or off like a light switch.
Affordances
Marketplace labels many of it functions. Instead of just using a search icon, the search field says “Search marketplace”. If you hover over any of the navigation icons at the top of the page, a text box will pop up indicating what webpage icon will bring the user to.
Constraints
Marketplace does a great job with this actually. It guides the user so that they aren’t presented with options that they can’t use. For example, any product page listing a “sold” item a user might have bookmarked has no way for the user to message the seller in order to buy the item. You can’t type any alphanumeric numbers in the ‘Price” fields.
Consistency
Another place Marketplace excels is keeping elements like icons, font sizes, and pictures consistent. A four-column grid system lays out all products evenly on the Marketplace homepage.
Help
The page doesn’t actually have a lot of help options, which is a good thing.
“As much as possible, [design] should operate without instructions or labels. Any necessary instruction or training should be needed only once.”
— Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things
My only complaint is that their giant, distracting COVID-19 rules of conduct at the top of the screen takes up a lot of real estate without serving a purposed outside of the first time I read it. And it is listed there every single time I go on to marketplace.
Efficiency
This is where Marketplace both fall short in comparison to Craigslist and excels.
Unlike Craigslist, Marketplace allows you to use Facebook messenger to connect with other users safely and quickly.
However, the Marketplace sorting and filtering system doesn’t seem to be consistent. My friend once found a cute lamp that should have cropped up in my search parameters as well but failed to do so.
If I just want to just browse by new local listings near me, there’s no way for me to save those preferences. Every time I type out a new search word, I have to change those preferences. Again and again.
It’s maddening.
Look at the image below. What button would you have to click to get back to viewing all products? After a few clicks around I realized I needed to click the marketplace icon at the top.
Memorability
On a positive note, Facebook’s flatter navigation system, doesn’t require the user to remember where they are on the site. The “Marketplace” icon and the “Electronics” icon are both highlighted the same blue color. The tags under “Shop by Category” indicate what type of electronics the user is filtering for.
Errors
Marketplace is pretty idiot proof in terms of allowing users to make mistakes without repercussion. When a user starts a new listing to sell one of their items, if they click on the X button, this notification will appear.
Satisfaction
This is the hardest usability heuristic to judge because it’s so objective, but there are a few functions that make the experience delightful. For example, you can see where a seller is generally located on a map, which allows you to estimate how long it would take for you to get there.
Marketplace could take it a step further and show your location in relation to the seller’s location and actually list out how many minutes it may take to get to the seller’s location.
Is Facebook Marketplace usable?
Learnability, efficiency, and user satisfaction could be improved but are good enough. Its memorability and error prevention are on point.
Despite my gripes, Facebook Marketplace ultimately is an extremely usable site.
