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Tools: Figma, Google Suite, Trello
Focus: Design Architecture
The Inccubator
Redesigning a multi-cultural digital publishing and social networking site with a wide variety of content and features
Overview
The Inccubator team has been in the process of creating a social networking platform for urban professionals in underrepresented communities. In my first journey through the site, I realized that there was an inconsistent organization of an overwhelming amount of content and features.
Screenshots of the beta site of The Inccubator - showing the home page (left) and 2 different content pages (right)
How It Worked
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Register for the platform and select a cultural channel to subscribe to.
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On your landing page, you will see the content channel you selected above your feed - where you see content being shared by your connections on the platform (images on the left).
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You can switch between content channels on this page using the main navigation.
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You can navigate away to the content of each cultural channel or explore user content - either blogs or videos (images on the right).
Each facet The Inccubator hopes to implement is done exceptionally well somewhere else on the web, shown through my competitive analysis displayed below.
It was important to deliver an equivalent experience for all of the content, while also highlighting the exclusive cultural content that sets them apart.
Feature analysis of The Inccubator and its counterparts
Research
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9 guided discussions through the site with beta testers
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6 usability tests with new users, verbalizing their thoughts as they moved through the site
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3 personas created to guide the design process:
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​The Content Creator
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The Business Professional
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The Cultural Explorer
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These personas
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Reflect the needs of the users that were interviewed and client's the target audience.
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Guided the design decisions when iterating and developing prototypes.
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Helped communicate the experience being developed to the client.
Synthesis
Users were confused about the structure of the site and how the content was organized. Unsure of where they would find content and losing sight of the social aspect of posting to a feed.
A site map of the beta is shown below.
I decided to focus on the social aspect of the platform and create an experience that would involve the users, their content, and most importantly the exclusive cultural content. This would help users more quickly recognize the site’s identity and purpose.
Problem Statement
Users need a more intuitive way to explore and engage with content on the Inccubator so that they can connect and interact with other users and learn about different peoples and their cultures. By restructuring the information architecture, we will create an easily navigable website with an engaging design.
Site map of the beta version.
Focus
I determined a focus for the site that spoke to both our client's and personas' desires - connection and creation. It was important for users to connect with the people and cultures on the platform as well as create content.
I reorganized and consolidated the main content, as indicated by the diagrams below.
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Home page for a feed showing content shared by users and channels you follow
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A separate page for exploring all of the exclusive cultural content
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Individual pages for all of the content of each cultural channel
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A page for exploring all of the user-created content
Users can now easily navigate through different types of content and recognize the purpose of each page.
Design
I focused on 4 main pages to realign the design with our newly defined purpose:
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the landing page
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the cultural content page
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the user-created content page
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the profile page.
Sketches and medium-fidelity mock-ups used in the discussion about each page's design.
Iteration
I conducted usability tests, focusing on the 4 main pages, with a medium-fidelity prototype (shown below). Working in some of the feedback before conducting another round of usability testing with a colored version of the medium-fidelity prototype.
Confident in what I created I finally produced a high-fidelity prototype and synthesized the research findings into a documentation package for the client to use in a future iteration.
User Landing Page
​Points of concern
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The landing page left users confused as to what they were supposed to do on the site
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There was a lot of content presented to them at once and it was not clear what that content was
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The tone of the site and what kind of content was appropriate to post here was unclear
Proposal
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Relocate the cultural content to it's own page and create a focus of connecting and sharing with others
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Allowing content creators to upload to their channels directly from the landing page - pics, videos, blogs
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Clarify the tone of a post by introducing a more serious kind of casual post - discussions and posts
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Allow easy access to the cultural channels users subscribe to - have it populate the content feed
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Reduce clutter by introducing a 2 column layout
Cultural Content Pages
​Points of concern
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Content channel page is also the content feed and landing page, creating confusion
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Navigating to a different channel brought you to the same landing page with new content, creating confusion
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Navigating to a new page to explore a different content of each channel became tedious
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It was not immediately clear what type of content lived within each category, headings were unclear
Proposal
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Relocate each cultural channel to it's own page and provide a single space for all of the types content to be explored by a user
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Create a distinction between the channels that is visually appealing and exciting
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Clarify the types of content
User Content Page
​Points of concern
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Users do not typically explore content by medium, but rather by topic
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Neither the creator or the content was presented in an interesting way
Proposal
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Create a single space for all types of user created content for users to explore
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Highlight creators and user created content to promote interaction within the platform
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Profile Page
​Points of concern
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The profile page was boring and had a lot of sections that could be left empty, taking up space
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The profile page did not create an easy way to manage the content the user has created
Proposal
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Condense the profile information into one section with tabs to filter through the content
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Condense the users created or posted content into one section with tabs to filter by type
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Create a visually appealing page to invite other users to learn about you and explore your content
Prototype Walkthrough
Thinking Ahead
Thinking ahead for The Inccubator, I would think about the following:
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Designing the rest of the pages for the website to match the visual interest we've created in the prototype and to ensure there is no more clutter or confusion
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How the user is exposed to the cultural content created internally by The Inccubator is important for highlighting one of the main features that makes the site unique. We've proposed to have it posted in your feed as if The Inccubator is one of the people you follow
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There is more to be discussed about the points of interaction between users and the content they are sharing or viewing on the site
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Does each cultural channel have a discussion forum of some kind?
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Is it appropriate for users to post memes?
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What kind of comment threading should be available?
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There are several aspects of the site that could use gamification to entice user interaction
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Badges to show your involvement in sponsoring creators​
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Badges to show your involvement on the website
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Badges to show your involvement in your community​
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