Illustrohub
Personal Projects
Illustration is a creative industry employing a huge number of freelancers. As an experienced UK-based international illustrator, I have observed the workflow challenges faced by my peers and myself. A specialized commission management tool tailored to this niche market could redefine the way freelancers in illustration manage projects, protect their intellectual property, and successfully deliver tasks.
My Role
UX Designer
UI Designer
I performed user research and competitive analysis and created user flow, wireframes and prototypes in a 4-month sprint.
Date
Oct 2023-Feb 2024
User
Global freelancing illustrators 21-35 years old taking the UK commissions.
UX Challenges
There is no management tool designed explicitly to illustrate this niche market. In developing a unique management tool for illustrators, the key UX challenges include integrating multiple functionalities, ensuring customisation, facilitating collaboration, and maintaining robust security, all within an intuitive, user-centred design.
UX Goals
To create an app that streamlines freelancers' workflows by offering commission management, IP protection and contract review services. Success metrics will be measured by the number of contracts reviewed, saving illustrators' energy and focus on their creative work.
Emphathise
Design Toolkit:
Photoshop Figma Miro
Design Strategy
In this project, I utilized the 5-stage Design Thinking model proposed by the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford (the 'd. school'). This process involved progressing through the stages of Empathise, Define, Ideate, and Prototype. The first thing we focused on was our research strategy. In order to emphasise with my users, specify their unique working flows, preference and delving into their challenges.
Research Method:
Interviews
Thematic analysis
Empathy map
Competitive analysis
Interview
I conducted interviews with illustrators with diverse background who have taken UK commissions between 21-35 years old. This approach enabled me to gather insights into common issues diverse illustrators face.
Interview Plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EBHZ1tSNlxhTQviTog_yU08hBvnJpwGjPcUA8eDW5X4/edit?usp=sharing
Interview questions:
Empathy Map: After interview, I used an empathy map, which enabled us to step into the user's shoes.
Key barriers and challenges identified
-
Networking and Visibility
-
Access to Opportunities
-
Pricing and Contract Negotiations
-
Time Management and Workload Balance
-
Payment and Financial Security
-
Communication and Cultural Considerations
-
Legal and Copyright Concerns
Thematic analysis
Insights
Illustrators need enhanced tools for managing projects, commission taking, clear guidance on contract, and support for handling the complexities of cross cultural communications. Addressing these needs can significantly improve their work experience and success in securing and managing remote commissions.
Define
Qualitative personas
Based on the previews research, three audience group profiles were defined yo represent different user types and to help keeping design decision aligned with the user in mind,
Competitive analysis:
I conducted an analysis on three apps with similar product offerings to Illustrohub. These were: ClickUp, Bonsai, Zoho Projects and Notion.
Based on the research, these management tools focus broadly on project and task management but lack features tailored to the freelancing illustrator's needs. My focus will be on creating features tailored for the creative workflow:
Simplified Workflow
Freelancers often require more straightforward workflows.
Invoicing Integration
Freelancers to manage their finances and billing efficiently.
Single User Focus
Emphasising personal productivity and task management,
Client Management
Managing client information, interactions, and history.
Flexible Scheduling
Multiple projects requiring flexible scheduling features.
Contract and Legal
contract management and understanding legal terms
Insights
Based on the competitive analysis, it is clear that there is a significant opportunity to fill a niche in the current market for task management products. These features will address the gaps in the current illustrator project management market offerings.
Ideate& Design
Brainstorming
In the brainstorming stage, potential users and I employed the 'How might we' method to foster idea generation. We marked the most interesting and actionable ideas with stars for emphasis. Following this, we evaluated and prioritised our ideas.
Sketch
Exploratory sketches were created with pen and paper to generate ideas quickly. The result was turned to a low- fidelity digital prototype.
Wireframe
Lo-Fi Prototype
AI-Powered Contract Assistant
This innovative tool simplifies the management of contracts by allowing illustrators to upload their agreements directly into the app. Once uploaded, the AI assistant meticulously analyses the contract, extracting and highlighting all crucial dates—such as project deadlines, payment schedules, and review periods.
Automated Notification and Calendar Integration
Following the AI-powered extraction of important dates from your uploaded contracts, this feature automatically schedules notifications for these critical milestones and displays them directly on your integrated calendar.
Customised Invoice Generator
Our app now features an Integrated Invoice Generator that works seamlessly with the dates extracted by our AI Contract Assistant., directly linking it to the critical dates identified in their contracts.
Technical research
Before moving into the next stage, I consultant UX developing expertise and gained the insights of technical points I need, challenges with actionable solutions. Many features we need might already be built and shared by others. Developers can simply use these existing tools and focus on integrating them into our project, saving time and effort.
Technology
Natural Language Processing
Backend Technologies
Machine Learning
Frontend Technologies
Document Parsing
Template Engines
“ There can be a very large number of dates mentioned in the contract, Some dates may require cleaning due to irrelevance or ambiguity. Furthermore, it's crucial to contextualize each date to determine its significance, distinguishing between deadlines, meeting dates, or other types of commitments.The natural language processing part of this task is the hardest part.”
Reflection
Iteration is crucial, not just technically but also in deepening my understanding of UX design within the industry. Initially, I rigidly adhered to design thinking strategies without a profound grasp of UX design's core principles when constructing my first case study. However, through involvement in launched projects and interactions across teams, including project managers and developers, I've gained insights into the business and technical perspectives. This experience has allowed me to ground this hypothetical project in reality, integrating a holistic awareness that bridges various viewpoints.
Future Steps
The project is still in progress. I 'am planning to conduct user test since click tests are quick and always great for speeding up the decision-making process with very little investment. Besides the appealing hi-fi wireframe and prototype design, more advanced feature like legal recourse integration will follow. On top of that, if there is a chance the product hit the market I would run A/B test.