Web 2.0 Service: Craigslist Remixed

This new redesign mockup of Craigslist by Ryan Sims presented at SXSW and my own frustration with forum classifieds got me thinking. Craigslist hasn't changed much since its founding in 1999. Not that it's necessarily bad, but I feel it might be up for a nice tuneup - not only aesthetically but also functionality. A counter-movement has been arising in response to the globalization of many services. With the advent of social networks, there are users taking shelter in smaller communities, such as forums. Essentially small networks, they would benefit greatly from scalable classified systems. While Craigslist's scope is much larger, it would be great to adapt it to forum classifieds.

Eight years is a long time. There has been much change since its founding, but there are a few relevant behaviors that will essentially guarantee its success or failture. Shopping has grown to become extremely visual, primarily shown by eBay's thumbnails and Etsy's galleries. Thus, it is essential to have an intuitive shop-by-sight design. Though Listpic has implemented a great visual hack for Craigslist, only around 5% of all of classifieds include pictures. Furthermore, people have been spoiled with the ease of online payment such as Paypal and Escrow. So add a few payment options, but also leave room for bartering (probably a separate system of offers/trades). Adding all types of filtering, searching, recommending, and sorting will add greatly to its functionality. Remember the anti-institutionalized movement I mentioned earlier? Try to avoid overt globalization and pushing logos and obtrusive advertisements. Make everything customizable, with only the carefully camouflaged ad (paid to the service) standard.

Checklist:
- Scalable system
- Include API so it can interface with common forum systems, open-source or otherwise
- Make it easy to post (drag-and-drop form, browser plugin)
- Shop by gallery (Require pictures)
- Customizable everything
- Add built in payment options
- Add filtering, searching, recommending and sorting

Feel free to add/comment.