## 3 Methodology
### Usability Testing  
The prototype was prepared for testing with all the flows and interactions required to complete the use cases. Different pathways were created so users would not feel stuck during a task. These scenarios were created so the mediator could observe how the users perform each task in a realistic scenario [52].  
At the beginning of the session, the mediator explained the purpose of the project and usability testing, using a friendly approach in order to let the participants feel more comfortable in sharing their opinions. A Typeform link was shared with the sample, and each user had to answer a pre-test  
Figure 9: Sellers: Dashboard. Self-source, 2020.  
questionnaire that, in the case of buyers, helped evaluate their familiarity with online shopping and interest in purchasing national handmade products; in turn, regarding sellers, the purpose was to understand their levels of digital literacy and their current selling and marketing strategies. This was necessary as the level of digital literacy could easily influence the way users interact with the prototype, as it was perceived during the tests: Users that were not familiar with online shopping were taking longer times to complete certain tasks than a user that was.  
Upon fulfilling this questionnaire, each user was provided with access to a link with the prototype, where they were invited to complete the tasks indicated in Typeform. After completing a task, a pop-up message appeared in the prototype, inviting the user to click on \"Done\", thus moving to the following task. However, just before moving forward, the user had to rate, on a SEQ Likert-scale, the level of difficulty in completing the previous action. The Typeform had logic jumps for cases where the users rated their experience below four. In those situations, the questionnaire would jump to a question where users could comment about their experience.  
The mediator never interrupted or intervened in the thought process of the users. In these tests, the Concurrent Think Aloud (CTA) method was employed: Users are encouraged to comment on their experience during the test, so the mediator can register their behaviors. If a user gets stuck in a task, the mediator can solve the conflict by sharing clues or exact steps, depending on the case in question.  
In the seller scenario, some tasks did not have many interactive elements on the prototype, such as the pages \"Analytics\" and \"Finances\". In these cases, the tasks were replaced with questions, so the user had to consult the answer in the prototype and choose the correct option in Typeform. For example, one of the questions was about the revenue of the previous month; this implied a filtering of data by \"previous month\" in the prototype in order to get the correct answer.  
Afterwards, each user had to rate their experience and opinions of the project and features through a System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire. The user could also share further feedback before submitting their form. Before closing the usability session, the mediator took notes throughout an open discussion where users further spoke about their experience and suggested improvements.