Sam Patterson from the OpenBazaar core team released a user interface demo prototype this week with configurations, customizations and samples. The software itself is still incomplete, but the browser based UI is almost finalized, with new improvements in the chatting system and store/item display.

Upon its launch, users will be asked to configure basic data and preferences, such as currency, country and a bitcoin address for refunds.

Payment

Users may choose from two payment options:

OB1 Moderated: OB1 acts as a trusted moderator to safely transfer funds between the buyer and the merchant. Direct: Buyer can send funds directly to the vendor.

Customization

The Open Bazaar platform features a search bar with a function that allows users to search for stores directly using an at sign (@). For example, to search for a store named Wolf, users can search for @Wolf and will see:

Merchants are given the ability to fully customize their stores – from header colors, text colors, background images to color themes.

Item Descriptions

Similar to most e-commerce platforms, users are allowed to upload multiple photos and descriptions of their products, shipping fees, conditions, reviews, etc.

Purchases & Chat

The design of Open Bazaar platform has been changed completely since the walkthrough demonstration of Open Bazaar Beta 5. On the most recent OpenBazaar user interface release, users can chat with other vendors and buyers to discuss the products and resolve related issues, (e.g. shipping, damages, etc...)

Few weeks ago, the Open Bazaar core team and OB1 announced the official date of launch for Open Bazaar, and promised the users that the platform will be ready by Thanksgiving, in November.

Brian Hoffman, core developer of Open Bazaar said in an interview with Jason Calacanis: “I think the last time I saw there was a satisfaction survey for eBay 79% of people were happy. So that’s a huge number of people that are unhappy selling on eBay.”

Through continuous changes and improvements in the user interface and experience, the Open Bazaar team hopes to target the 21% of people that are unhappy with current e-commerce platforms.