Overview
Photography Networking website is a collaborative space for photographers who are looking forward to work together, especially for the rising photographers who would struggle a lot to get photography projects. Building up network takes long time and it is also expensive if you want to hire marketing people to work for you. But we would solve many of such problem for you.
Project Duration
November 2021- September 2021
Role
UX designer leading the Photographers Networking website design
Understand
The Problem
Getting work for photographers is not so easy all the times. Sometime you can get a project which you cannot handle it on your own and the other time you may not get the project itself.
There are many who ends up losing a lot as they are not having a good network in photography community. As a result, many rising yet promising photographers are just quitting as they haven’t had the good network even though they are extremely good at photographic skills.
The Goal
It is like a community centre for the photographers where you can easily find out the list of photographers all around the world. It is great to know and work with fellow photographers who are as passionate as you.
You can straight away look for the fellow photographers to support you.You can track all your collaborations and payments here. You can also effortlessly navigate to the shoot location using this.
Target Audience
-
Photographers who are looking to collaborate.
-
Photographers who are struggling to get work.
-
Photographers who need a second shooter.
-
Ideally all photographers out there.
Research
Summary
I conducted user interviews, which I then turned into empathy maps to better understand the target user and their needs. I discovered that many target users are struggling a lot to get photography projects.However, building up network takes a long time and is also expensive if you want to hire one to work for you. But this website would solve many of such problems for you. This website is like a community where you can search, find and collaborate with your favourite photographers who are as passionate as you.
Key Constraints & Challenges
-
Could not build my network as I rarely go out.
-
Could not explore new things as I work most of my time from home.
-
Could not find any online platform which suites my requirements.
Analyze
Persona
These are created using all of the information that has been gathered during the research process, which are surveys and 1:1 interviews, to analyze and distill the most important elements.
Design
Paper Wireframes
Website Design
Mobile Design
Digital Wireframes
Moving from paper to digital wireframes made it easy to understand how the redesign could help address user pain points and improve the user experience.
Prioritizing useful button locations and visual element placement on the home page was a key part of my strategy.
Screen Size Variations
Usability Test Results
Findings
To start testing the designs, I created a low-fidelity prototype which you can view here. This prototype was used in an unmoderated usability study with 5 participants. Here are the main findings uncovered by the usability study:
CTA Placement
Users are unable to find the ‘request to collab’ button above the fold.
Logo Navigation
Users are unable to navigate to homepage by clicking logo.
Way to HomePage
Once, the request is sent users are unable to navigate to homepage.
Before Usability Study
After Usability Study
Accessibility Considerations
-
I used headings with different sized text for clear visual hierarchy
-
I used landmarks to help users navigate the site, including users who rely on assistive technologies
-
I designed the site with the bright colors and large buttons that can help the people to identify text of CTA’s easily
Mock-ups
Conclusion
Impact
Our target users shared that the design was intuitive to navigate through, more engaging with the images, and demonstrated a clear visual hierarchy.
What I learned
I learned that even a small design change can have a huge impact on the user experience. The most important takeaway for me is to always focus on the real needs of the user when coming up with design ideas and solutions.
Next Steps
Testing
Conduct follow-up usability testing on the new website
Features
Identify any additional areas of need and ideate on new features
Accessibility
To focus more on the accessibility features