Shaar

Design lead for a freelance marketplace connecting organizations and freelancers in the faith based sector in North America

Overview

In this project, I led the UX team for a marketplace connecting organizations and freelancers in the faith based sector in North America.

My role

To conduct and oversee UX research and UX/UI design and implementation.

Research

Research components

Secondary research

Competitor analysis

User personas

Surveys

User interviews

Research goals

Identify/learn about Shaar’s target demographic

Identify and analyze Shaar’s competitors

Gain a better understanding of the freelance- marketplace industry

Uncover gaps among the existing platforms

Discover how freelancers find gigs

Discover how employers find freelancers

Understand pain points and frustrations of both users have in attaining their goals

Competitor analysis

I conducted some competitor research of active products to gauge a better understanding of features.

Survey & interview Findings

Freelancers seek to have a simple way to organize and refer to their ongoing projects and deadlines

Preference of returning clients

Freelancers face the challenge of lack of guarantee of work

Uncover gaps among the existing platforms

Discover how freelancers find gigs

Discover how employers find freelancers

Understand pain points and frustrations of both users have in attaining their goals

Filters and categories are sometimes inaccurate or present a cognitive overload

Freelancers reported that the offers on platforms often undervalue their skill and don't justify the work, for this reason people often find work through their own networks.

Employers/clients face the challenge of finding professionals who can respect the values and goals of their company, despite not being permanent employees.

Both freelancers and employers face the challenges of communication

Define

I developed several user personas to represent the different things learned during the research phase. Referring back to these personas throughout the design process helped me stay aligned with our user goals.

Design

I worked closely with the Creative Director to ensure that the existing color palette worked well for their web app, keeping accessibility and UI elements in mind. I then led and managed the creation of a design system.