End-to-End Design | Solo student project for UC Berkeley UX/UI Bootcamp

My Role

Timeline

November - December 2022 (9 weeks)

Skills

Product Design | Interaction Design | Visual Design | UX Research

Design Toolkit

Figma | Adobe Photoshop

CHALLENGE

Crafters with limited crafting exposure, need mentors and a community to learn and grow. Crafting can be very challenging and online resources are overwhelming for these new crafters to keep pace with.

SOLUTION

  1. With mentors

  2. In-person or virtually

  3. Based on your preferred crafting technique, location and date

Schedule group/individual classes

  1. Applicable only to group classes

  2. In-person or virtually

  3. Based on your preferred crafting technique, location and date

Discover popular classes around you

Along with

  1. Ratings and reviews

  2. Class session duration, address and available slots

  3. Photos and FAQs

Watch preview before scheduling a class

PROCESS OVERVIEW

Research

  1. Problem Discovery

  2. White-paper research

  3. Competitive Analysis

Empathize

  1. Quantitative Survey

  2. User Interviews

  3. Insights & Analysis

  4. User Persona

  5. How might we?

Ideate

  1. Mobile Sitemap

  2. Sketches

  3. Low-Fidelity Prototype

  4. User Tests

Design

  1. Inspiration

  2. UI Elements

  3. Hi-Fidelity Prototype

Test

  1. User Test

  2. Improve Features

  3. More Tests

  4. Key Learnings

Research

INITIAL PROBLEM DISCOVERY

  1. Aspiring crafters need personalized attention from the experienced ones.

  2. Aspiring crafters are unable to assess their learning trajectory through online resources. 

THE GOAL

Our goal is to connect crafters with mentors and other local community members who share similar interests.

WHITE PAPER RESEARCH

To kickstart the project, I started with white paper research on the crafting industry and discovered an insightful figure from the Association for Creative Industries.

of US households participate in crafting hobbies

62%

crafters participate in 2-4 crafts

39%

crafters participate in 5 + creative hobbies

45%

Next, I started with research on learning, motivation, and achievement and discovered an insightful figure from the American Society of Training and Development.

“...people are 65% more likely to achieve a goal through peer networks. When they schedule regular check-ins with their mentors/peers to assess their progress, their chances of success increase to 95%.”

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS + THE GAP

The competition had little or no mentorship feature to assist creative hobbyists in learning new crafting techniques.

To understand what worked well in the market, I studied the features of the top four companies that sold products similar to mine.

HOBIFY

CREATIVEBUG

MEETUP

PANION

Empathize

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH + SURVEY DISCOVERY

I conducted a research study using a Google survey with 10 questions that received more than 40 responses from people who enjoy hobbies. The survey results show that most participants are not part of a local community but want to find one for their hobby. Here are the findings:

would like to be mentored by an experienced specialist

45%

like to practice their hobby individually or in-person

50%

are interested in finding a local community for their hobby

70%

USER INTERVIEWS + INSIGHTS

To gather qualitative data, I interviewed 5 craft enthusiasts through Zoom. I asked them questions to understand the problems they face while pursuing their hobby. Here are some of the questions:

  • How often do you practice your hobby? When you do, what is your motivation for doing so? 
  • Do you currently partake in your hobby alone or with others?
  • Are you looking to expand your social circle in person/online with others who share your hobby?
  • IF A BEGINNER: Would you like to have a mentor for your hobby?
  • IF ADVANCED: Are you open to mentoring someone with the same hobby? Or did you have a mentor for your hobby when you were starting out?
  • If you are not open to mentoring, why is that?

1.

After finishing my interviews, I gained valuable information about what a potential user would require and anticipate from the product. I discovered three important findings by conducting user interviews, analyzing my notes, and summarizing the data.

Hobbyists are more likely to stay motivated when they are surrounded by fellow creative enthusiasts.

2.

Guidance from experienced enthusiasts can help aspiring artists/crafters evaluate their progress.

3.

Interacting with young crafters would give experienced crafters fresh perspectives and new ideas.

PERSONAS

I created two User Personas based on the qualitative and some quantitative user research conducted in the previous process.

  • Persona - 1

    wishes to learn from experienced enthusiasts to evaluate her progress.

  • Persona - 2

    wishes to interact with young crafters to gain fresh perspective and new ideas.

HOW MIGHT WE

… help Clara in finding a mentor/community to grow her crafting skills and abilities, as well as build a community of crafters around her?

HOW MIGHT WE

… help Joseph connect with other young crafters so that he can teach his own craft while also expanding his skills and knowledge base?

Ideate

PRODUCT STRUCTURE

CONCEPT SKETCHES

  • Splash screen

    Splash screen

  • Explore the app

    Explore the app

  • Homepage

    Homepage

  • Details

    Details

  • Videos

    Videos

  • Profile

    Profile

  • Mentor match

    Mentor match

  • Enter details

    Enter details

  • Mentor list

    Mentor list

  • About mentor

    About mentor

  • Community forum

  • Forum details

  • Join forum

  • Posts in forum

LOW-FI PROTOTYPE - FLOWS

Onboarding

Homescreens

Mentor Screens

Community Screens

TESTING + IMPROVEMENTS

I tested my design with 5 users and got feedback from them and my mentor. Then, I used their input to make my low-fidelity design better. In the end, I made three important changes that greatly enhanced my final product.

Simplified class selection process by allowing users to select their classes based on mentor or class information instead of social media posts.

Removed Craft Posts

Improved user experience by consolidating relevant classes and mentors on the homepage, eliminating the need for separate tabs.

Eliminated the Community Tab

Based on mentor feedback, letting the user flow to other parts of the app seemed a better fit. For e.g. Bottom navigation is not needed when checking out a mentor profile or booking a session.

Removed Bottom Navigation

Design

Visual Language

Anatomy of the app’s card design

Anatomy of the class detail page

THE FINAL PRODUCT

Onboarding

Classes with Mentors

Group Classes

Reflections

How did I feel when working on the design challenge?

This project is unique because the product can make people more comfortable and self-assured when starting to learn handcrafts. I deeply value breaking barriers to learning new skills due to my background of limited resources.

What would I have done differently?

I only worked on the part for mentees, but I wish I could have also worked on how mentors would use the platform. Given more time, I would find it valuable to create profiles and preferences for mentors on the app.

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