How to redesign dashboard sites to better satisfy the designer and employer's needs?
JUNE-AUGUST 2016
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Designity is an online design platform to help students, designers, and employers to match job opportunities based on their skills, interests.
I spent the summer of 2016 as a UX Design intern at Designity, New York. My job was primarily to help redesign dashboard sites to simplify user flow and improve user experience on the website. Over the summer, I delivered 14 wireframes for the dashboard sites' redesign from interviewing the stakeholder, conducting user research, personas, affinity mapping, user flow, sitemaps and swim lanes.
Key Takeaway
According to user research, designers are concerned with starting a freelance project, building a reliable client base, and managing expectations, whereas employers have very different needs. Employers spend a lot of time learning about designers' biographies and design processes. Because this is a very time consuming process, there is a great demand for a user experience to make this process as efficient and seamless as possible. They often worry that designers can't deliver the project on time. Based on the research, I designed two dashboard to accommodate two parties' needs, designed two different user flows, and built wireframes.
PROJECT DETAILS:
Scope: 2 months
Key tools and deliverables: Stakeholder interview, Sketching, OmniGraffle, UI Stencils, Whiteboards, Usability test, Middle-fidelity wireframes
CHALLENGE
I worked as a UX Designer in a solo team.
In a short amount time, I worked on multiple projects which included redesigning dashboard for the Desiginity's platform from both consumer and enterprise sides, other design relevant works and 12 email notification designs.
DISCOVER
To start the project, I conducted the stakeholder interview to understand the business goal and baseline usability tests to see if the current dashboard sites are worked as intended. I found there are two parts that needed redesign: one is the user dashboard for designers and the other is for business and employers. In addition, I conducted the competitors' research to find out the current trends and compare the Designity job platform with its competitors to find out the areas of opportunity.
The design process listed is focused on the consumers' needs on the Designity job matching platform.
Working on affinity mapping
Clustering and defining opportunities
DEFINE
To communicate better with the Stakeholder about design solutions, I created three types of designers' personas, which represented the user I spoke with .
Personas
MVP Feature
Designity has a simple and seamless process for on boarding experience compared with different competitors’ websites. However, in order to get an accurate match for designer's qualifications, the system requires more information from users, such as work experience in design, the type of job they are interested in, the skills they have, what type of employment (full time, part time, or internship, freelance), location, time zone, USA work authorization.
To make important was to make others feel they were part of the design decision making. I held a design thinking workshop where the stakeholder, the front-end developer and video producers collborated on potential design solutions.
Design studio
The wireframes outlined the main views and functionality determined for the launch product. The priorities were addressed for each flow.
