Where beauty meets function
Conceptual Design |Responsive website | UX Research | Visual Design|Brand Development Guide | Figma | Adobe Illustrater |Photoshop | InDesign | Feb 2023
The problem: Artists have a difficult time finding a place they can sell their handmade pottery. Many local makers will sell their pottery at farmers markets or seasonal craft fairs, but these don’t happen enough to make a living. Opening a storefront is an investment many can’t make, and affording space at a gallery can be out of reach. Many buyers of handmade products want to feel connected to the artist and know that their purchase is high quality and authentic.
The solution: The Pottery Collective is an online shop that gives artists a place to sell their work. Unlike many online vendors, The Pottery Collective is a highly exclusive, curated site, that gives buyers confidence in craftsmanship, quality, and authenticity.
Research
Meet the Users
User Stories
Competitive Audit
After conducting a competitive audit, I determined there were the following gaps in the market:
A site that gathered a curated selection of pottery, items that are thoroughly vetted for excellent craftsmanship and quality.
A place where multiple makers are featured along with their work, so customers can feel like they are purchasing from someone they know.
A site with full handmade dinnerware sets, vase collections, and other unique sculptural items.
“How Might We”
How might we provide a place that benefits both artists and buyers?
How might we create a place with handmade merchandise that is vetted for quality and craftsmanship?
How might we create a pleasing e-commerce experience for luxury pottery?
How might we make customers feel connected to makers?
How might we make customers feel like they are getting something that is special and one of a kind?
Design
Ideation
I then entered into the ideation phase, keeping in mind everything I had gathered so far - personas, their pain points, and what direct and indirect competitors were offering. I started to sketch some mockups, brainstorming on different layouts and designs for the responsive website. I then decided what I wanted to keep and moved onto my low-fidelity prototype.
Low-fidelity prototype
After sketching out some designs and deciding what to keep, I then moved onto my low-fidelity prototype. I used the progressive enhancement strategy and started with the smallest screen and then moved up in my responsive designs.
High-fidelility mockups
Usability Study: findings
I conducted a usability study with 5 participants between the ages of 24-73. I had them go through a series of prompts to complete the main user flow of the app: browsing pottery, adding item to cart, and completing the checkout process. After compiling my findings, I discovered three insights about the design and user flow:
Users wanted to be able to click on the image to get to specific item. During the study they could only click on text below image.
Users wanted a visual indication that an item was in their cart.
Users wanted to be able to see specific artists work via the “Meet the Artists” page.
Refining the Design
User flow
Based on the findings from my usability study, I decided to slightly adjust my user flow to better fit needs of users. The main change was that I combined the “Meet the Artists” and “Shop by Artist” pages to make a more streamlined user experience.
Refining the prototype
With my insights from the usability study, I then went on to refine my high-fidelity prototype.
Made the image (along with the text) clickable so users had two ways of getting to item.
Added a visual indication that there is an item in cart.
High-fidelity prototype
Visual Design
I wanted the visual design for this app to feel trendy, high-end, and calming. I picked a muted, neutral based color scheme and a clean sans serif font to help create the feeling I wanted to envoke. I also created a custom logo and vase icon in Adobe Illustrator.
Takeaways
The Pottery Collective responsive website was a really, really fun project for me. I did this UX case study in conjunction with a branding development guide I created as part of the CalArts Introduction to Graphic Design course. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and it was an interesting challenge for me to start this project from a visual design perspective. This website has a lot of content and I had to be careful how I organized the material and user flow. I iterated on the user flow several times, with the assistance of my users, and think something useful, intuitive, and beautiful was created!