Putting a fresh spin on street teams
DESKTOP, MOBILE | B2B and B2C SAAS PLATFORM
PROJECT OVERVIEW
METHODS
Research
Wireframing
Prototyping
User Testing
TIMELINE
1 Month (July 2021)
ROLE
Solo Product Designer
DEVICE
Web
Mobile
CHALLENGE
CrowdLink is a digital marketing platform built to foster content creators-to-fans engagement through a gamified social sharing and rewards program. I had 4 weeks as the sole product designer to create an investor pitch-ready prototype for both content creators and fans.
RESULTS
User-tested prototypes ready for CrowdLink to demonstrate value to investors in under 4 weeks.
CHALLENGE
Create a platform that motivates fans to promote artist content
“Affiliate marketing meets street team” was the name of the game for the founders of CrowdLink. The founding duo, both active in the entertainment industry, saw an opportunity for content creators and artists to generate a unique, trackable link for fans to share with their personal network in exchange for exclusive rewards. They needed help defining the appropriate business model and a working MVP in 4 weeks.
SOLUTION
A prototype that demonstrates value to creators, fans, and investors, too
In a 4-week sprint, the team’s strategist and I brought the founders’ vision one step closer to reality. After conducting extensive research, we delivered a pitch deck plus working prototypes for content creators (for web) and fans (for mobile) to show to potential investors.
CONTENT CREATORS | WEB
Fan engagement at your fingertips
Artists or social media managers can easily use the platform to track fan engagement, content, and reward fulfillment.
Easily manage posts and point systems
When an artist creates a CrowdLink, they can post their content on multiple social media platforms at once, control the messaging, and even how many points are awarded per click.
Get insights on how content is disseminated
Each piece of content published through CrowdLink can track user behavior such as top referral channels, location of shares, and top sharers.
FAN | MOBILE
Generate links directly from the source
There’s no need to switch platforms to grab your unique link. Artists will link their content to a page where fans can generate their own affiliate link.
Get rewarded for sharing your favorites
Fans can see how much they’re earning and work towards prizes they care about.
Discover artists through the app
CrowdLink is also a source for discovering fresh new content, further encouraging fans to share and engage with the app.
DISCOVERY
We are compelled to share things we emotionally connect with
User Interviews
Together with our team’s strategist, we interviewed 4 music fans and 4 creators/music marketers. We also surveyed 104 musical fans about their artist discovery and music sharing behaviors. An affinity diagram helped to organize findings.
Content Creator Insights
Needs a platform to get everything out and immediately
“Contests feel icky…we don’t want that. Random winners don’t award the fan that really worked.”
Shares need to be 1) Informational 2) Inspirational 3) Funny and Relatable
Fan Insights
Fans want a connection, not a transaction when sharing artist content
Competitor Analysis
In addition to understanding users, my team did a deep dive into direct and indirect competitors. We graphed them on a 2-dimensional matrix, measuring how transactional vs emotional the artist sharing experience is, and how far it reaches into the fan’s social network.
DESIGN PROCESS
How we got from a single concept to an MVP in 4 weeks
I worked closely with the strategist in the design process, as each step was crucial for validating the founder’s business idea.
1. User Journey
With multiple stakeholders at play, a user journey helped define the process from when an artist shares content to when a fan disseminates that link to their social network.
2. Information Architecture
An information architecture map was useful in defining the content and type of metrics that needed to be gathered in each flow.
3. User Flows
Taking the information architecture map a step further, I created user flows for sign-up and content creation. We were able to validate the steps with one of the founders, who is a recording artist himself.
4. Lo Fi & Hi Fi Usability Testing
I conducted several usability tests at the low fidelity and high fidelity design stages. I tested them with 4 content creators and 4 fans and ended up with 2 lo fi iterations and 2 hi fi iterations.
Content Creator | Web
Add new content and share link
Between Lo Fi V1 and V2, I reduced the number of steps needed to create a new piece of content to share. Details such as the post preview and reward setup were found to be less relevant.
Lo Fi Version 1
Lo Fi Version 2
Once in high fidelity design, I was able to focus the user on key actions through the use of color and contrast. I also reduced overwhelm by only revealing the next section once the previous step was complete.
Hi Fi Final Version
Dashboard
One test participant, a digital marketer for musical artists, shed light on important metrics that should be shown upfront. I found that tracking the location of fan engagement, as well as the impact of affiliate links were key in the dashboard.
Lo Fi Version 1
Lo Fi Version 2
In the final version, I added primary colors to CTAs to help focus the user on main actions. Green and red also help the user understand user engagement metrics quickly. Additionally, I simplified the visuals of the CrowdLink Impact section and enlarged the numbers.
Hi Fi Final Version
Fan | Mobile
Rewards Page
Instead of hiding each artist’s reward options, I showed them upfront to show value to the user. I also added a dedicated creator rewards page with a progress bar to motivate further engagement.
Lo Fi Version 1
Lo Fi Version 2
The CrowdLink founders wanted a greater sense of urgency to motivate users to share creator links. One small yet impactful tweak I made was adding progress bars for each reward to show quantities left.
Hi Fi Final Version
Your CrowdLinks
After realizing the potential for varying degrees of fan engagement, I realized that better organization of shared links was needed. I grouped shared links by content creator for users to easily find what they needed. I replaced the caret (which would lead to details of the link) and prioritized a share icon instead since shares and clicks are the main drivers for points.
Lo Fi Version 1
Lo Fi Version 2
No changes were needed after testing the high fidelity version of this screen. Users understood how this page and its CTAs worked. Success!
Hi Fi Final Version
FUTURE STATE
Listening to the crowd: fresh ideas for next time
Since the company was still finding product-market-fit, the team’s strategist and I uncovered interesting features during testing that, if we had more time, could be interesting to explore. Some of those ideas include:
Create an analytics page for highly motivated fans
Allow fans to connect with their friends within the CrowdLink app
Enable partnerships between artists and brands for even more exciting rewards
RESULTS AND RETROSPECTIVE
For early-stage startups, rapid prototyping is a powerful tool
“We use their prototypes on a daily basis as part of our investor pitch process. They delivered on all fronts. The final design was elegant and was exactly what we were looking for.”
This project stretched me as a former business strategist turned product designer. Since the company was still finding product-market-fit, our user research and numerous user testings would not only reveal UX-related challenges, but valuable features that my team quickly wanted to incorporate within the 4-week sprint. This was a highly iterative design process that highlighted just how valuable prototyping is for early-stage start-ups.