Design an Online Shopping App From Scratch for Completely Blind Users

Design an online shopping app for people who are completely blind. Treat it as a brand-new product built from scratch rather than an improvement to an existing app. Budget is not a constraint, so be as creative as you like. Walk through whom you would build for, where shopping breaks down for them today, what the first version would include and how you would know it is working. ```hint Find where independence breaks Follow a blind shopper from realizing they need something to unpacking the delivery. At which steps would they have to stop and ask a sighted person for help, and what information is missing at that moment? ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Can the design rely on hearing, or should it also work for users who have some hearing loss? - Is the builder an established retailer with its own catalog, stores and delivery, or a standalone marketplace that has to source products from others? - Which market launches first, and should the first version cover the whole catalog or start with everyday needs such as groceries and household goods? - Does "no budget limit" extend to dedicated hardware and a staffed human assistance service, or only to software? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A segmentation of blind shoppers (for example by when they lost their sight and how fluent they are with screen readers), a justified focus segment, and the role of sighted companions. - The journey from need to delivery, with the specific steps where visual information such as images, layouts, labels and forms blocks the user. - Creative solutions that use the open budget, prioritized into a first version, with trade-offs such as voice versus screen-reader control and automated versus human help. - Success metrics centered on purchases completed independently and correctly, with guardrails for description accuracy, wrong-item orders and payment safety. - Risks such as misleading product information, privacy when audio is used in public, and the cost of keeping a separate app in step with the main store. ### Follow-up Questions - With an unlimited budget, would you build dedicated hardware? What would have to be true for it to beat the phone the user already carries? - How would you make sure automatically generated product descriptions never mislead a user about allergens, size or color? - Should this be a separate app at all, or should the effort go into making the main shopping app fully accessible? Defend your choice.