Bridging the Gaps Between Influencers, Brands, and Their Followers With influenced
Project Overview
Client
A marketing professional who is an active social media user and online shopper.
Problem
As brands begin to rely on social media influencers for product promotion and consumers turn to online shopping, there is a need for an online shopping experience that bridges the gaps between brands, influencers, and consumers.
Solution
influenced, a seamless shopping experience built around influencer-promoted products personalized and tailored to each individual consumer based on their demographics, interests, and social media influencers they follow.
Role
Interaction Designer
Translated contextual findings into deliverables while ensuring that all screens and prototype assets were visually consistent in their look and feel.
Client Brief
The client I worked with for this project is a marketing professional who is also an active social media user and online shopper. She noticed gaps within social media channels like Instagram that made it challenging for brands and influencers to connect with followers about products and wanted to bridge them through an application.
Design Team
In a team with seven other UX/UI designers and researchers, affectionately known as the “Agents of Design,” we collaborated for three weeks to bring our client’s vision to life. Well, not quite to life, but in the form of a low-fidelity prototype.
While all of us were involved in the process of creating a prototype for our client, we had different responsibilities. As the craft lead, I focused on translating our contextual findings into deliverables while ensuring that all screens and prototype assets were visually consistent in their look and feel. I worked closely with the interaction and accessibility leads to accomplish this.
Constraints
Because we only had three weeks to produce a low-fi prototype for our client, we needed to quickly decide on a target audience as a team. Initially, we decided to design from the perspective of a social media influencer but ended up shifting our focus to followers/consumers after learning there was a stronger need for an improved social media-influenced shopping experience.
Discovery and Research
To learn more about the target audience, as well as the connection between brands, influencers and their followers, we conducted user surveys via Google Forms. We asked participants about their social media usage and their thoughts on influencers.
Persona Development
Using the insights gained from conducting user surveys as well as the information presented to us by our client, we came up with the user persona of @moodymoonlight.
@moodymoonlight is a 21-year-old student from Boston who follows influencers on social media for product recommendations and referrals. She’s an avid online shopper and wants to see personalized and verified reviews about products before she purchases them.
We also created journey and empathy maps that helped to uncover possible pain points experienced by our persona.
We then used the pain points to develop and ideate upon design solutions for our final prototype by conducting a “How Might We” exercise.
Information Architecture
We created user flows for and designed the prototype from the perspective of an influencer, but shifted our focus to followers/consumers once we learned there was a demand for an improved social media-influenced shopping experience.
Switching up the Flow
Once we shifted our focus, we designed user flows around the primary actions that followers/consumers would take while on the app: finding and following an influencer & finding a post and affiliate link.
Sketching for Solutions
Though we looked to applications like Instagram and Pinterest for design inspiration, we also sketched possible design solutions for the final prototype. Many elements from our sketches, such as the “What I’m Wearing” screen, made it into the wireframe and prototype.
Wireframe Iterations
Upon receiving feedback from our client, we iterated upon the wireframes so that they were more unique in their appearance although being primarily inspired by Instagram and Pinterest.
On Accessibility
As we designed the prototype for our client, we designed with accessibility in mind by incorporating large buttons and high contrast color combinations and by keeping the text simple when possible.
Usability Testing
After several rounds of iterating on my wireframes, I was able to create a prototype that I tested for usability with four social-media savvy participants using Maze.
Goals
See how the app would be perceived by potential users
See what can be improved upon before delivering final product to client
Findings
Personalization is key
People want to shop and discover without interruption
People respond well to what is already familiar to them
Next Steps
Another round of prototyping with a focus on addressing issues such as
Confusing icons
Adjusting size of texts and buttons
Minimum age for app
Second round of user testing
Low-Fi Prototype
Check out the final version of the low-fi prototype below!
Project Takeaways (Rose, Bud, Thorn style)
Roses
What Went Well
Produced and delivered a low-fi prototype on time
Client enjoyed prototype and wants to continue working with the team
Connected with teammates on a deeper level
Buds
What I Learned
How to work in an agile setting
How to work with a client requiring NDAs
How to quickly pivot to a new idea/direction
Thorns
What Could Be Improved
Team Size
Working in an eight person team on a three week long project can be a lot!
Clearer expectations from instructors and graders