top of page

MAKER

With a background in fine arts, I’ve built lasting relationships with working artists who often turn to me for support. Over the years, I’ve offered pro-bono help to visual artists, musicians, actors, and others, creating spaces for them to share their work, while gaining insight into the challenges they face. Now working in social media, I’ve seen firsthand the lack of platforms tailored specifically to artists. Spaces that not only professionally showcase their work but also help connect them with opportunities and audiences.

For my capstone project in the MS in User-Centered Design program at Brandeis University, I focused on developing a social platform designed to support creatives. The goal was to create an environment where artists can easily share their work, gain visibility, and find encouragement, especially those who may be struggling to sustain their creative pursuits.

Role

Lead Research, UX and UI Design

Duration

10 Weeks

When

September 2021

What

Capstone project toward the completion of an MS in User Centered Design at Brandeis University 

All X R Models Copy.avif

Goal

Understand the needs of creatives trying to share their work for personal and professional gain

Market

Creatives of all kinds (visual arts, musicians, actors, gallerists, etc) who share their work online

Problem

Creatives lack the resources, skill, or time to create portfolios to display their work and experience

Mission

Create a social product allowing creatives to share, connect, & grow personally & professionally

Surveys & Interviews

The initial phase of research centered on discovery and understanding how existing products are or are not meeting the needs of creative users. I shared a survey within my network and on social platforms to reach creatives from a variety of different fields. With multiple creative fields and demographics represented, I proceeded to interview a number of survey participants and get more specific and in depth needs and requirements.

Affinity Mapping

After interviewing a selection of potential users I did an affinity mapping exercise to find common themes and trends producing the following takeaways:

 

  • Creatives are sharing their work with the goal exposure

  • Creatives share their work with the goal financial gain  

  • Creatives need a way to compete with big influencers 

  • Creatives are struggling to meet the time and effort required to achieve their goals

Competitive Analysis

Based on the surveys and interviews, the top used platforms for creatives are Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube. Using this information I did a competitive analysis to review the creator tools and resources from each pla

Personas

I created two personas reflective of the demographics, needs and wants of the interviewees to keep in mind when beginning design.  

Journey Maps

I created journey maps to accompany the personas and outline a concept for design. Each journey map describes the opportunities that accompany the different paint points and goals of the users

Initial design

The initial designs were created with the intention of a user experiencing a start to finish experience within the Maker app. In order to achieve this they include all stages of registration, onboarding, and exploration of all potential features Below are a selection of screens from initial design.

Final Design & Full Case Study

After usability testing, updates were made to improve the experience and put it into a clickable prototype*.
*ETA, if you're reading this, this 2021 project used Invision to prototype which is no longer, taking along with it the prototype for this project. 

Next Steps

Additional Flows: Create a flow to show the experience of a non creative user or business

- Additional Features: Adding additional desired features like analytics that were left out of the MVP

- Test & Iterate: Continued testing and iteration on new and existing designs

bottom of page