A digital marketplace for artisans dedicated to their handmade craft

About the Project:

Formakers is looking to create a new digital marketplace as an alternative from existing lead products. It seeks to create a marketplace that is more in tune with the needs of crafts people, being one that truly supports crafts people in a time where AI can be used to remove the human made aspect from arts and crafts.

Role : UX, UI, Branding and Research

Tools : Figma, Adobe Suite

Duration: 6 weeks

Process:

To better understand the pain points of users when selling their crafts on digital platforms, we conducted 25 user interviews, collected 40 user surveys, competitive anaylsis and usability testings on two major existing platforms. We then gathered the information to synthesize several core issues and develop potential solutions.

It just doesn’t feel like they care about what we do

– user feedback in interview

Some key findings:

• 85% crafters don’t want to commit to existing craft-focused platforms because of a lack of integrity to the handmade arts, and neither platform’s ethics and focus feels truly supportive of users’ handmade process e.g. seeing the lack of handmade products and seeing drop-shipping products on one existing platform even if they claim it is for
  handmade”
• 90 % users expressing disengaging from competition signup screens due to a lack of interest in the visual design and brand voice of current platforms, since it doesn’t represent their creative identity as makers. e.g. on boarding screen can be very “dry” and “dull”
• 65 % users expressing a lack of specific features for their demographic as hand makers.

Our research show that existing platforms also support drop shipped goods versus supporting a handmade culture, which turns majority of users away and attract the wrong demographic of customers who may not value the worth of users’ handmade goods = loss of sales for users, wrong demographic means the platform is unable to function for its core purpose of supporting handmade business owners.

Our team also found that there is a lack of the stories of the people who made the products, and most platforms focus more on the products and lacks the narrative of each crafter’s individual stories, which is a key selling point of crafts people.

Prioritization of issues:

Based on the problems identified, we centered our key decisions around:

• Building trust between users and platform by making decisions centering on celebrating hand-makers and handmade culture
• Showcasing the people behind the products, their stories, processes, and journeys
• Communicate the emphasis on the value of the humans behind the handmade process through branding
• Inclusion of specific features for the target user demographic
• Developing a platform that is not only driven by financial numbers – one where engagement and cultural education and awareness is also integral between users and their customers are more than consumers – and more of a larger community where the value of handmade is respected and valued

Design Focus:

To connect target users to the new platform, our team incorporated the below focus and elements into the new design system for the platform:

Human : Showcase the people and their stories behind their craft – emphasis of pictures of users, user reviews, bios, and depictions of users’ studio spaces

Creative + Passionate

Process :

Wireframing with the design considerations in mind :

Final designs :

Hero Section
Hero Section – Clear message about Atelier’s purpose and value to users with a simple call-to-action (CTA) and easy to use navigation

Search A search section for target users to see samples of existing shops and envision their own storefront.

Testimonials
A section where target users can read testimonials of existing users benefitting from the platform. Also a space where the personal stories behind a user’s craft business is showcased to show Atelier’s alliance to hand-makers.

Sign up page
A simple sign up page that allow users to either log in or create a new account using email, Linkedin and Google.

Mobile :

Impact

– more trust and loyalty to brand and platform

• increase in interest to join platform by 60% compared to existing platforms

– differentiation from competition : brand voice dedicated to celebrating the user’s craft

• users reported more interest in new platform compared to existing platforms

– enhanced focus on the hand made and humanity aspect of crafts

– increased visual style to communicate core values users desperately seek = increased value to potential users

Atelier takeaways :

• Not enough to just rebrand / work on the UI going beyond commerce : platform can greatly benefit from inclusion of educational programs and workshops, like courses run by users to foster an even more engaged and dedicated community + add value to the platform that will increase appreciation for the crafts = higher cultural impact and more holistic user satisfaction
• Visual design may need further testing to ensure accessibility needs are fully considered
• Analysis of existing competition platforms proven to be very integral in understanding user pain points and in establishing the direction of new platform
• Project can benefit from further testing of user’s journey and experience in selling their craft and their efforts to build community through Atelier to further optimize user’s experience