John Fallot

October 2019

Squarespace Studio

Contact

Skills

Branding

UX/UI

Product Design

User Research

UX/UI

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Challenge

Problem

The project brief asked us to imagine a service where entrepreneurs book professional photographers to highlight their goods and services; but photographers are averse to getting clients via apps. How might I create a photo booking service that allays their concerns?

Insight

I realized that the mental model for freelancing is fairly consistent across disciplines, and knowing the right mental model can, in a pinch, eliminate a good amount (but not all) of the guesswork for which features should go where.

Solution

I opted for a solution where clients are primed to pay photographers what they're worth, (e.g. when booking it displays median rates for area) and to leverage Squarespace's powerful portfolio tools to let photographers showcase themselves to clients based on client needs.

Process

First, I interviewed photographers to get a sense of their concerns. Then, using sticky notes and a marker, I wrote down the common stages of the client-photographer relationship, the problems for each, and then posed 'how might we' questions for each problem. From there, I did a quick survey of possible competitor apps, like Fiverr and Dribbble, and brainstormed solutions accordingly. With that in mind, I sketched out some preliminary ideas on pencil and paper, identified what I felt were the strongest ideas, and then dove into creating the initial prototype.

Design System

I treated the Squarespace studio as a sub-brand of Squarespace, and tried to keep the design language consistent between the two brands. One alteration was the font in use is Quasimoda, although Squarespace uses a font called 'Clarkson' that was altogether unavailable. I wanted to emphasize the 'tear drop' that's already in use in the Squarespace branding, since it already has an established connection to creating something new with Squarespace. I also explored using orange to highlight information as orange, in most brand contexts, can mean creativity.

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