This document provides an overview of a senior project for a web application called Designity. It discusses the current Designity platform, areas of focus for improving the user experience and interface, initial research questions, methodology, and field research conducted including interviews. The goal of the project is to improve the usability and design of Designity to make it suitable for public launch. Areas of investigation include user research, competitors, and user experience design. Research tools will include focus groups, interviews, prototyping and precedent analysis of similar platforms.

1. Final deliverable
Senior project 1 capstone
ESIGNITY
SARAH LEE SY

2. WHAT IS DESIGNITY?
CURRENT PLATFORM
Introduction

3. What is it?
• Incubated by E-Lab at SDS's MS SDM program
• 1,400 members and returning users
• Technology startup
• Networking site for designers / artists
• Design / freelancing platform
• Portfolio website
• Project management
• Competitors: Upwork,
99 designs, Behance,
Linkedin
Design Technology

6. AREA OF FOCUS
THESIS TOPIC
Thesis proposal

7. Area of focus
User experience / user interface (UX/UI) à
Front-end development
In this class: research

8. Thesis topic
My work will explore user experience
design on the web application
www.designity.com

9. INITIAL QUESTIONS FOR INQUIRY
FOCUSED GUIDING QUESTIONS
Guiding questions

10. Initial questions for inquiry
• How can the platform’s usability be improved?
• What features do users want?
• Which features should be most accessible?
• How should images, icons or visuals be used?
• How can marketing pages be better designed?
• How can the dashboard’s interface be better
designed?
• How can we improve the business model?
• How can we market the product in the best way?

11. Focused guiding questions
• How do we improve the most popular existing
features?
• Which features are needed but missing from the
platform?
• How can we improve the overall look and feel of
the platform?
• Can we design new tools to help designers and
employers collaborate better?

12. IMPACT STATEMENT
AREAS OF INVESTIGATION
RESEARCH TOOLS
Methodology

13. Impact statement / statement of intention
My goal would be to improve the current
beta interface of the designity site,
designing a product that is suitable for
public launch.

14. Areas of investigation
• User research (people) – including
designers, artists, employers, faculty, etc.
• Competitors – other networking sites,
other freelancing sites, other portfolio sites
• User experience design components – wire
framing, front-end design, functionality of
current technology, programming
languages

15. Research tools
• Focus groups
• A/B testing
• Interviews with users
• Conversations with developers (front-end,
back-end), managers, founder & CEO
• Prototyping / wire framing
• Secondary research on competitors
• Secondary research on front-end design

16. FIELD RESEARCH
PRECEDENT ANALYSIS:
COMPETITORS
ECOSYSTEM MAPS
Research
INTERVIEWS
EXPERIENCE MAP
RESEARCH ARGUMENT
DIAGRAM

17. Field research
• Date/time: 09/15/16 1pm @ Eugene Lang building 12th
Street 6th Avenue
• Interview questions:
• Do you have a portfolio? If so, is your portfolio
online?
• What platforms do you use to connect with other
designers and artists? How much do you pay for it?
• Do you use any networking sites to find work or
projects?
• Do you work online or offline?
• Do you work in the city that you live in?

18. Field research: document the ecosystem
• The design ecosystem is made up of more than just students and
employers, they include freelancers, faculty, etc.
• Most designers have their own website or use social media as their
online portfolio
• Designers value networking as a priority
• College is also a networking opportunity for designers and artists
• Designers said the look and feel (aesthetics and usability) of a
portfolio/networking site would affect if they chose to use and re-
visit the site
• Designers are skeptical about the limitations of a portfolio site in
terms of ability to showcase graphics and customization tools
• Most designers work in the city they live in due to the need for in-
person communication

19. Precedent analysis: competitors
Competitor Strengths Weaknesses
Linkedin Large user base
Massive professional network
Messaging system
Comprehensive resume system
Job postings available
Blog / good SEO
Lack of exclusivity
No collaboration tools
Non-design specific portfolios
Busy homepage design
Upwork Comprehensive freelancing base
Online payment system
Collaboration tools
Messaging system
Design portfolio
Superior user experience
No full-time job postings tool
Lack of feedback system
Non-design specific
Smaller professional network
Lack of jobs for inexperienced designers
99 designs Exclusive to designers
Focused on graphic design
Competition based system
Freelancing system
High quality results for clients
Smaller professional network
Competition based system creates a waste and
inconsistency in pay for designers
Medium to high cost for services ($600 for logo
and brand identity pack)
Lack of jobs for inexperienced designers
Behance Exclusive to designers
Portfolio focused
Superior professional network in design
industry
Liking and view count system
Diverse design categories
Inferior job postings system
Lack of freelancing and collaboration system,
cannot be paid online

20. Precedent analysis: competitors
Competitor Strengths Weaknesses
Freelancer All freelance categories
Superior SEO
Large user database
Superior freelancing and collaboration tools
Lack of full time job postings
Lack of jobs for inexperienced designers
Inferior user experience design
Design crowd Design specific
Low cost
Smaller professional network
Inferior user experience design
Inferior example products or portfolios
Lack of full-time job postings
Guru Sleek and professional portfolios
Skills tracking system
Per hour payment system
Feedback and rating system
Lack of users and SEO
Inferior user experience design
Working nomads Includes full-time to part-time jobs
Focus on remote jobs
Narrow segment of remote jobs
Low number of users and job postings
No other features apart from job postings
(freelancing and collaboration tools, etc.)
Coroflot Superior visual portfolio system
Job postings system
Messaging system
Lack of users and SEO
No freelancing or collaboration tools
Cannot be paid online
Envato studio Freelancing and collaboration tools
Feedback and messaging system
Online payments
Lack of users and SEO
Inferior user experience design
Lack of tools and landing pages for designers

21. Venn diagram
Networking and collaboration
Freelancing and paymentsUser experience design and aesthetics
X Linkedin
X Working nomads
X Behance
X Coroflot X Guru
X Upwork
X 99 Designs
X Freelancer
X Envato
Biggest
competitor

22. Value web
Faculty / teachers
Employers
Society / culture / consumers
Professional designers
Students
Influences
design choices
Influences what
products to make
Values
Which values
to teach
students
Teach
Become
Design products for
$ Pay
$ Get paid byWork for
Produce
products for
$ Buy products

23. Semantic profile
Students Professional designers Employers Faculty
Price sensi<vity
Availability of features
User experience design
& aesthe<cs
Networking &
collabora<on tools

24. Shahrouz Varshabi
CEO / Founder
Designity
Doris Lee
Fashion Designer
Parsons BFA
Ronnie Younts
Principle / Design Director
Younts Design
Interviews

25. Interview questions
• What are your overarching concerns and
needs with the business or application?
• What are some of the existing features
that serve your needs best?
• Do you have any requests or ideas for new
features to help serve your needs?
• How does social media relate to your
productivity?

26. Interview with Shahrouz
Concerns:
• I need to be able to generate revenue from the business in
order to attract investors and financing. We are at the stage of
the business where funding is necessary in order to further build
and support the platform
Best features:
• The job postings platform because of its ability to generate
sales from charging flat rates for each freelance job post. We are
priced competitively from other sites like Upwork and 99 designs
so we have an advantage
New features:
• Eventually after receiving more funding and hiring more
developers and sales people to develop better finance pages
and secure payment systems
Social media:
• Very important for marketing and publicity. We have blog posts
every week shared on social media and Linkedin to attract traffic
to our domain
Shahrouz Varshabi
CEO / Founder
Designity

27. Interview with Doris
Doris Lee
Fashion Designer
Parsons BFA
Concerns:
• Does this site actually generate enough traffic or jobs to support my
freelance career? Can I at least find a job that is full-time through the
platform? It would be great if I could support myself fully just through
freelancing and I could keep re-using the site’s services
Best features:
• The portfolio page is pretty well designed and showcases my work
elegantly. However, it can still be improved
• I also like the members page, it’s more transparent than a lot of other
sites that hide their members. It is important to me as a designer that
I can see other artists’ and employer profiles
New features:
• Definitely new and better tools for collaborating, better messaging
systems to send high quality images and sketches. Most of the time I
resort to other ways of communicating after getting connections from
job sites
Social media:
• I have a Facebook page, Instagram and website to showcase my work
and for my own personal use. As a designer, social media presence is
essential nowadays, so much so that I have separate accounts for my
portfolio work as a designer

28. Interview with Ronnie
Concerns:
• Is this site going to drive up costs for me? I work with a lot of freelancers
and require constant hiring, thus have to think about agency and recruiting
fees
• On the other hand, am I going to find the right designers for my project at
the right price?
Best features:
• The members page is the most unique thing about the platform, because I
can view all users and filter designers I am looking for by skill type and
experience level. It is, however, a downfall that most users haven’t filled in
complete information or uploaded their portfolios
New features:
• I would like to see better interviewing and communication tools for hiring,
specifically integrating a video chat feature
• Also, the site needs better tools for tracking approvals and contracts
before payments to ensure greater confidence and security
Social media:
• If I could find designers through my social network somehow that would be
great
• I don’t really use social media personally to reach out to designers, but I do
use professional networking sites like Linkedin before making a hire
Ronnie Younts
Principle / Design Director
Younts Design

29. Interview conclusions
• Significant advantages can be made by
improving these areas:
– Redesign the finance page for secure
payment systems
– Redesign the messaging page (integrating
video chat and document transferring
functions)
– Integrate social media links into member
profiles, also allow connections to be made
via mutual networks

30. Experience map
Platform discovery Job completion & rating system Re-application / re-hiringWork processesPosting / applying for jobsProfile completionSign up process
Clear information on packages,
prices or income per project
Free project evaluations via
consultation pages create confidence
Feeling of connectedness through
the discovery of other members
Ease of signing up via social
media / email
Lack of confidence
Tedious due to time and effort
to complete profile & portfolio
Fear of giving out information
Transparency to browse,
compare and select
candidates at a competitive
price and skill level
Finding appropriate and
consistent freelance work
for free (networking)
Fear of not being selected
Time gap between application
and selection periods
Organization and
communication
difficulties especially
working remotely
Difficulty to manage,
monitor and track
activities of entire team
Gap between project
completion and
receiving payment /
income
Rating system provides
motivation leading to
quality work
Rating system also creates fear
of having a permanent bad
review on one’s profile and thus
discontinued use of the platform
Permanent connections made and
visibly recorded, company may
re-hire designer for future projects
through the platform
Benefits and ease of adding
completed projects with ratings to
one’s portfolio in order to apply to
next jobs or freelance projects

31. Research argument diagram
Teamworking is the
most important aspect
of the Designity
platform
The platform is the
most efficient and
competitive service
in the freelancing
market
Freealancers will choose the
platform over competitors
and/or offline freelancing
Interview research with
designers (students and
professional designers)
Acknowledgements and responses:
Q: What about other aspects that have to be considered to make
the site successful (for example, portfolio, marketing, aesthetics,
etc.)?
A: I have decided to focus on the teamworking scope during the
semester because of its ability to add the most value in the shortest
amount of time to the platform. This is also due to the time and
resource constraints of the single semester as an individual student.
because of based on
ESIGNITY RESEARCH ARGUMENT DIAGRAM SARAH LEE SY

32. INSIGHTS TO OPPORTUNITIES
NEXT STEPS
Analysis

33. Insights Principles Individual
opportunities
System opportunities Strategy
opportunities
- Most designers
do not trust
networking sites
- Most designers
have their own
portfolios
showcased
using their own
choice of media
- Most designers
have a social
media page
- Most designers
work in the city
that they live in
- Designers often
need to
communicate
face to face
when working in
teams
- The platform must put
networking as a a
priority and allow
designers and
employers to find
each other and
connect seamlessly
- The platform’s
portfolio feature must
be flexible and
customizable in order
to present graphical
works elegantly
- The platform should
allow designers to
connect with social
media
- The platform should
have tools to connect
online and offline
activities
- The platform should
have efficient
communication tools
- For designers: a
platform to find
opportunities,
freelance and earn
income
- For students: a
platform for
academics to work
on real world
projects for extra
cash
- For employers: a
way to find the
most suitable
designer for their
project
- For faculty: a
platform to
improve academic
credibility and to
reach out to
students
- A way to shift the
design community
online
- Changing the
design industry as a
whole
- Allowing ‘anyone’
to be a designer /
creating
opportunities for
new designers
- Revolutionizing
how stakeholders
of the design field
connect
- Changing
designers’ place in
society
- Making human
capital more
accessible
- Focusing on the
networking feature
of the platform
when building
pages
- Creating new and
innovative tools for
designers to
collaborate and/or
work with
employers
(teamwork)
- Creating a way to
take the ‘offline’
experience online
- Focus on
integrating social
media into the
platform through
sharing buttons /
signing up through
social media
Insights to opportunities

34. Next steps
q Redesigning networking pages
q Think of new and innovative tools for
designers and employers to collaborate
online (research on Upwork’s platform)
q Thinking of new ways to integrate social
media into the platform
How? Prototyping & wire-framing à user
research, user interviews à final prototype

35. PROTOTYPE FOCUS
GUIDING QUESTIONS
COMPETITORS
Prototyping
LO-FI PROTOTYPE
HI-FI PROTOTYPE

36. Prototype focus
• Area of focus: messaging page or system

37. Guiding questions
• What are the features that are most
needed?
• How can we make the messaging app
competitive and therefore of choice for
teamwork?
• What are some unexplored tools we can
create to add to the app?

38. Prototype focus
• Features and functions to include:
– Project filter
– Contact filter / search
– Video call / calling feature
– Group call / chat
– Sending files / screen sharing
– Profile pictures
– Email / phone number integration
– To-do list

39. Competitors
Skype
Canvas

40. Competitors
Whatsapp
Gmail

41. Messaging app: low fidelity wireframe

42. Prototype focus
• After talking to the CEO Shahrouz
Varshabi
• In developments: the tool for employers
to select multiple candidates for a
freelance job
• Redefine thesis topic
• To improve the existing features or create
new features to enhance the team working
capabilities of the platform

43. Prototype focus
• Area of focus: application page or system

44. Applicant page: low fidelity wireframe

45. Applicant page: low fidelity wireframe

46. Applicant page: low fidelity wireframe

47. Applicant page: low fidelity wireframe

48. Applicant page: high fidelity wireframe

49. Next steps
• Any other pages to re-design
• Getting input via user testing and
interviews
• Building high-fidelity wireframes
• Building interactive prototypes with
Invision
• More user testing…
• Refining look & feel

50. Poster
INTRODUCTION
Fresh graduates and professional designers struggle to find consistent and
quality work, and therefore a sustainable source of income. The design industry
operates in a way that forces a decrease in the benefits to designers due to the
high costs of recruitment and other uncessary costs. Our freelancing platform
aims to address this problem, which makes the freelancing process more
effective. The aim is to improve through the platform with a better and more
comprehensive user-experience design.
DESIGNITY’S UX DESIGN IMPROVEMENTS
Re-designing or creating specific tools and features for the platform to improve the user
experience design of the platform
Keywords: User Experience, Usability, Functionality, Teamworking, Sustainability, Cost-efficency
PROJECT PROPOSAL
Project opportunity: designing a competitive and profitable
platform
Main goals: identifying most important features, identifying
the best features to improve, identifying the best new tools
and features to add to the platform. Focus on teamworking
aspect of the platform.
Operational context: online platform, hired UX/UI designers,
front-end and back-end development
Partnerships: the design industry including academic
institutions, agencies and professional freelancers
APPROACH
The first steps were to identify which pages of the platform
had to be re-desinged: the messaging and application page
-- which would add the greatest value to its teamworking
functionalities. The following steps include making a relevant
list of features to include (via interviews and research
methods), making lo-fi and hi-fi wireframes, before final
development.
Value web of relevant stakeholders
Lo-fi wireframe of the messaging application
EARLY FINDINGS
The platform must put networking as a a priority and allow
designers and employers to find each other and connect
seamlessly
The platform should allow designers to connect with
social media
The platform should have tools to connect online and
offline activities
The platform should have efficient communication tools
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Getting input via user testing and interviews
Building high-fidelity wireframes
Building interactive prototypes with Invision
Strategic Design & Management
BBA
Senior project 1 capstone
Fall 2016
Sarah Lee Shan Yun
SUMMARY OF
SENIOR PROJECT 1
CAPSTONE