Artlet

Problem

‘Crafting’ as a discipline is hard to quantify. With a seemingly endless list of mediums, and a demographic ranging from hobbyists to professional artists, finding a community of crafters can feel intimidating. Social media provides excellent outreach potential, but the environment can often feel superficial and judgemental. So, crafters need a place to learn from and connect with others who share their interests, regardless of background or experience level.

Solution & Value

By creating an app that’s designed specifically for crafters, we can promote a safe environment for crafters to connect and thrive and minimize outside judgement.

My Role

UX/UI Designer

Tools Used

Figma, Google Drive, Zoom, Canva

Timeline

July 10 – 27th 2023

Contributors

Danielle Clifford, Emma Duda, Andy Lonning, Mikaela Pauser, Callie Walseth

Making our way through the design cycle, from user research to user testing, we kept users in mind throughout the app’s creation.

Empathize

Who are our users?

We began by speaking directly with avid crafters. By conducting five user interviews and 30 surveys, we compiled data regarding the current crafting-related social media landscape, any pain points related to online sharing of work, and the current collaboration habits of our target audience.

What do our users want?

By sorting our data into an affinity diagram, we found a few themes common to most participants, and we used these insights to create a user persona that accurately represented our target audience. Our findings highlighted just how broad a spectrum we needed to accommodate in our design.

Define

Refining our goal

Understanding that our users wanted to feel comfortable sharing their art, find others who share their interests, and collaborate with others in a supportive environment, we asked ourselves: “How might we create a safe environment that promotes growth, empowerment, and better connections for all types of crafters?”

What features should be included?

To ensure Artlet’s capabilities in accommodating a variety of crafting mediums, we knew we wanted to provide a personalizable experience, and we began by brainstorming app features. We also created a competitor analysis of current crafting-related platforms to make note of the features and capabilities of competitor products. We then listed all of our ideas and sorted them into a feature prioritization matrix to help us visualize the direction we should pursue.

Ideate

Creating a Paper Prototype

With our list of desired features in mind, we began by creating a paper prototype to begin brainstorming the app’s layout. Each group member made their own set of sketches, and we then met to discuss and combine our favorite components of each.

Prototype

Using our sketches as a references, we then created a low-fidelity wireframe and prototype. By making the prototype clickable, we were able to test the flow of our app without being overly focused on content. From there, after getting user feedback, we created mid- and high-fidelity versions.

Test

By consistently testing our designs through each stage of creation, we were able to establish a design that remained user-focused. We tested our low-fidelity prototype to detect any major issues with layout and navigation, and ultimately simplified the sign-up and on-boarding experience to reduce friction prior to reaching the homepage. Testing of our mid-fidelity prototype allowed us to assess the appeal of our color and typographic choices, and our high-fidelity testing helped us determine the effectiveness of the app’s content. We then iterated on the final design to resolve any remaining issues.

In the the end, we designed an app that catered to the large variety of crafters, and created an all-in-one solution to the pain points of current crafting-related social media use. With Artlet, users can personalize their experience by sharing and connecting with other crafters to ultimately build their own community of like-minded individuals.

Designing Artlet from the ground-up, with no parameters on content or design, challenged me to think more creatively and work more efficiently. Finding a workflow that balanced each step of the process, without lingering on certain components, was key to reaching completion in the three-week timeframe, providing us with the opportunity to design a enjoyable and fulfilling app experience for all crafters.