Background
ArtisanCrafts looks at the future of craftspeople. It seeks to answer the question: how might we build an adaptive future for traditional crafts?
Leveraging knowledge of culture and environment, the platform aims to help elementary schools and companies to book workshops hosted by artisans.
Outcome
ArtisanCrafts provides adaptive solutions for crafts empowerment, facilitating workshop booking between craftspeople and other institutions. The final result includes platform interface design and business strategy.
↑ Product Video for artisanCrafts (Sounds On)
Breakdown of Issues
The story started with a trip to Philadelphia: I noticed a significant lack of visibility for local African artists in the tourism industry. As a tourist, I struggled to find information about minority-owned businesses online. This raised a question: in the digital age, how can we better protect and preserve cultural diversity?
Crafts preservation is a big term, so we sought for the definitions and the associations of craft-making. With our preparatory research, we kicked off the project by identifying keywords related to crafts preservation. We realised that crafts and craft making are not just about the physical object itself, but denote a particular approach to connect with the cultural heritage and the environment.
Functionality List
Having decided to focus on the contextual meaning of crafts, we listed our core values for our project:
Build understanding about cultural stories and the environment;
Allocate information of un-spotlighted artisans, and put them on the digital platform;
Inspire artists and teachers with adaptive solutions of preserving traditional art forms;
Provide extra income for artisans and craftspeople.
My Role
The project was a collaborative effort with Sahil Balani. Together, we developed wireframes, interaction flows, UI/UX mockups, and conducted user research and usability testing.
In addition to these shared responsibilities, I took the lead on literary research and strategy, identifying challenges in craft preservation and proposing design improvements. I also designed the logo, identity systems, and packaging for the platform.
Research Process
After identifying our priority list, we mapped out our stakeholders central to the platform. We then conducted 12 interviews and market audits, identifying current methods and problems of preserving crafts with design and technology. We then located the design and business opportunity of artisanCrafts, a platform that facilitates workshop booking, and developed it to connect crafts people with elementary school teachers.
Interview and research results were sythesised into user personas and journey mappings. According to the user journey, we identified key touch points/pain points that provide opportunities to design our platform.
Design Highlights
Ideation and Brainstorming
We sketched out some UIs and interaction flow as a team and conducted usability testing with 20+ people. Our team placed a high priority on making the platform user-friendly and accessible. After user testing, I conducted follow-up interviews with artisans and educators with school teaching experience to understand how they communicate with teachers. I discovered that teachers typically reach out to artisans 3–12 months in advance.
Design Iteration and Feedbacks
After consulting the testers’ opinions on the usability of our platform, we decided to focus on two ways to keep more artists and teachers on board.
Leave space for an explore page before users sign up for the platform: the explore page will display use cases of the craftspeople workshop and positive feedback on the workshops.
Create 1-on-1 customer service to facilitate the registration process for artisans.
Strategy Highlights
Additionally, we explored potential future developments for the platform, with a focus on integrating physical and digital spaces to enhance the user experience. I analysed the user journey of various stakeholders, including artists, school teachers, corporations, and museums, and mapped out their interactions within the ArtisanCrafts platform.
Looking towards the platform's future, we identified two key parameters:
Strengthening collaboration with the government as ArtisanCrafts attracts more craftspeople;
Hosting offline stores and pop-up events to continue inspiring the adoption of traditional crafts activities.
Results and Reflections
Over eight weeks, I collaborated with a teammate to address crafter empowerment, sharing a mutual commitment to bringing crafts closer to people. While initially uncertain about how to approach such a broad topic, we conducted interviews to refine our understanding of craft preservation. Through this process, I also developed a philosophical understanding of the relationship between physical and digital worlds. Although I wished to develop more tailored content for school teachers with additional time, the experience of learning about stakeholders' expectations, including those of the state council, was invaluable to grow my user-centred design skills.
Government // Team Work // UX Research // Business Goals // UX Design