Cataloggr
Cataloguing Collections Made Easy
Collecting various items is a hobby many enjoy, but some aspects can be troubling. Collectors often struggle to keep track of collected items, organize photos and videos of each item, keep track of items they wish to collect, and share what they have collected with friends.
Cataloggr is designed to tackle these struggles while providing additional features. Cataloggr uses a wide database of existing items to allow users to quickly and easily add new items to their collection. Cataloggr also enables users to add additional information to each item, collaborate on collections with other users, create lists of items, and find new additions to their collections through the Cataloggr marketplace.
Background
Competitive Analysis
Several existing apps for tracking and cataloguing collections include Collectr, iCollect Everything, Price Charting, Classifier, and Collectibles.com. Except for Collectr and a few others designed for cards, all apps are designed to suit collections of several types. iCollect is the most versatile; it contains many pre-made collection categories and the ability to create custom categories. Each category has many fields that can be filled out for the item, such as brand, model, color, type, release year, purchase price, whether the item is for sale, etc.
Many of these collection apps have overlapping features. Still, the most notable features are the ability to have several collections, pre-made categories for various items, the ability to create custom categories, the ability to share collections and wish lists, cloud sync to access lists on several devices, ability to scan UPC barcodes on item packaging, and the ability to take a picture of the item for an image search.
User research
I have reached out to several peers who collect things to get insight on what they collect, what they would want to catalogue within an app, and what fields they would need for the items they collect. Items include music boxes, paintings, tapestries, cologne, sneakers, videogames, videogame consoles, and Skylander figures. Music boxes stood out to me as a more niche item not included in the other apps, so I decided to use that as a basis for development.
I have created two simplified user personas based on peers I’ve discussed with.
Design
Exploration Sketches
Based on my previous research, I sketched out many potential features for the app. I mostly went by must-have features in existing apps, potential convenience features, and general fun features.
System Sketches
The Advanced Image Search feature provides several methods for finding an item from a collection, within the database, or from the marketplace.
When sketching, I considered how this feature is implemented in several existing apps: Amazon Shopping, eBay, and Best Buy.
I’m happy with the interface concepts for inputting the search criteria. However, I must also explore ways to separate the different search options (“My Items”, app database, marketplace, users, etc.)
The Collaborative Collections feature allows users to collaborate with others with an account to build a shared collection.
While sketching, I took a bit of inspiration from Spotify and how they handle their collaborative playlists.
Home Screen Elements and Sketches
I sketched out icons for the app and did a set of exploration sketches for the home page.
I tried to make collections, lists, and a general overview easily accessible from the home menu. I also decided to keep the social parts of the app in their dedicated section accessible via the bottom navigation bar.
Final Thoughts
Next Steps
Now that the basic concepts for the app are planned out, the next step would be to create proper wireframes and conduct a series of paper prototype tests from those wireframes.
I want to be sure to test the following tasks:
- Sign up and log in
- Create a collection
- Add item to collection
Once the initial wireframes are tested and refined, I can continue to explore more detailed design elements.
Conclusion
This project is going very well, and I’m happy with my design so far. Ideally, I would love to have this become a fully developed app. If not for the benefit of others, then at least for my benefit of getting the experience working with a database and UI design.
