Duration
August 2021
Role
Product Designer
Category
Product Design
Context
2021 was the first cohort of Product Splash, a product design and UX intensive by Design Buddies and Adobe XD that united a global community of designers to address the biggest challenge of that year: Healing from the Pandemic. We had four weeks to deliver a prototype in XD and a research presentation, and I formed an all-female team with two other designers and one PM. With three different time zones to juggle across the UAE, India, and the West Coast we coordinated our work and research aims in design sprints over Zoom.
Problem
The COVID-19 pandemic changed everyone's routines and was an opportunity for many to explore their creative side with new hobbies. How can we keep that passion for learning and creativity going as the world reopens? How might we encourage messy exploration when so many platforms prefer finished, polished work?
Research
We conducted 10 interviews with hobbyists and with teachers, and we launched a survey with more than 30 respondents about how they learned new skills. We found in our study of hobbies during 2020:
1) 30% of study participants picked up a new hobby while in lockdown, and 77% of their learning took place through creators on YouTube. Structured Zoom classes and courses like on Udemy were less common.
2) Online classes lacked the kind of one-on-one interactions that in-person classes make possible.
3) When learning a new skill, it's stressful to share your beginner projects in the same place where professionals also share work (Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube).
4) People used these hobbies to fill time but also, crucially, to deal with the uncertainty and stress of that year.
Screens & Prototype
We began exploring layouts for a video-learning platform that also stressed mindfulness and self-care as part of creative practice. Classes needed to sit alongside journaling and mood tracking features. I personally was responsible for deciding on our app's top-level navigation structure as well as the layout for class pages and the notification system.
We were inspired by Skillshare's written video transcription and the video-first page design of fitness apps like FitOn. We envisioned both guided live classes and prerecorded courses so that someone could learn at their own pace. Mood tracking and journaling remind the user that crafting and hobbies can be meditative.
As far as monetization we envisioned a premium subscription that would offer priority placement in live classes. To increase engagement and adoption we imagined solo/team creative challenges like maintaining a meditation habit or a group creative writing project.
Concluding Thoughts
As a knitter I see how the pressure to create perfect finished objects to show online or sell makes it harder to appreciate the slow building of skills that comes with crafting. I think having a platform intended for amateur hobbyists that prioritizes messy exploration and the healing power of art still seems unique in the market! There's value in process and making art for the sake of it.
I would love to have spent more time refining the visual style and branding of the app; the bubble motif and colors split the difference between a calm, meditation-centered app and a creative learning platform. From a product standpoint I'd focus on really nailing the class structure and flow for the MVP and then build from there toward addressing mental health challenges.