Community Shopping Advice
Design a product discussion community where shoppers compare offers and firsthand experience without hidden promotion or review manipulation.
The brief
Understand the problem
Background
Shopping forums can surface practical knowledge that product pages omit. They can also attract affiliate spam, counterfeit deals, brigading, and reviews from people who never used the item.
User context
Felix is comparing two budget espresso grinders. He wants advice from owners with small kitchens and needs to know which links earn commission for the poster.
Product problem
The platform must make evidence, commercial relationships, product variants, and moderation visible without requiring every useful contributor to reveal their real identity.
Objective
Create product discussion, experience labeling, deal sharing, and moderation for a shopping community.
What to design
Define the experience
Required experience
- Product topic discovery
- Structured question and replies
- Verified experience context
- Deal submission and review
Screens and states
- Community feed
- Product discussion
- Reply composer
- Deal detail
- Moderation state
Core user flow
Follow the critical path
- 01
Felix finds a grinder comparison thread
- 02
He filters replies by verified ownership and kitchen size
- 03
He asks a specific cleaning question
- 04
He saves a deal after checking price history and affiliate disclosure
Product rules
Requirements and constraints
Requirements
- Label ownership evidence and its limits
- Require affiliate and sponsorship disclosure
- Tie discussion to exact product variants
- Show deal verification time and price history
- Provide report reasons for scams and manipulation
Constraints
- Purchase verification is optional
- Prices vary by region
- Community identity may be pseudonymous
- Moderation cannot verify every claim instantly
Reality check
States worth considering
Ready-to-use content
Mock data
Use this content to test hierarchy and realistic data states. You can expand it when the concept needs more depth.
Grinder discussion
- 24 owner replies
- 8 replies from kitchens under 8 square meters
- Latest verified deal: $118, checked 35 minutes ago
- Affiliate links: 2, clearly disclosed
Finish line
What to deliver
- Five responsive screens
- A disclosure and evidence system for replies and deals
If you want more
Optional extensions
Optional direction
Visual resources
Use these as a starting constraint if you want one. They are not part of the required solution.
Sacramento & Montserrat Light
Clear interface writing gives people the confidence to understand what changed and decide what to do next.
Sacramento & Montserrat Light
Clear interface writing gives people the confidence to understand what changed and decide what to do next.