initial Challenge
How might we simplify marketing campaign workflows for micro-influencer and SMBs to better collaborate in marketing campaigns?
/ solution brief
01
Visualize Schedule For
Campaigns
02
Finalize Contract Faster and more organized
03
Accelerate Content
Review Process
04
Measure Campaign ROl and influencers’ performance more easily
/ success metrics
🔑 Engagement rate
How many users use the new filtering solution on Biz Insights?
✅ Retention rate
How many users will keep using the filters after the first and second month of feature launching?
✅ Overall satisfaction rate in Product Quality Assessment (PQA)
How satisfied are people with the new filtering solutions when they perform certain tasks during PQA?
✅ Overall satisfaction rate in usability testing
How satisfied are business users with the new filtering solutions?
Discover + Define
/ COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Existing platforms are typically designed for large corporations and specifically focused on the early stages of influencer marketing
While keeping the above statistic in mind, we looked into a few popular platforms/apps focusing on influencer marketing. We found that almost none of them are targeting micro-influencers and SMBs who are beginners in this field with less experience. Even if they did, their efforts were focused more on the early steps of marketing than on the later steps of cooperation and collaboration. This then became our opportunity for the solution.
/ meet users
Both SMBs and Micro-influencers are plagued with inefficient and repetitive workflows
We drafted our interview questions into two versions and conducted interviews separately with 6 SMBs and 4 micro-influencers. We used themes concluded from interviews to create user personas representative of the attitudes of the participants. The personas contained characteristics, values, pain points, and goals that best represent the information we collected from our participants.
/ USER EXPERIENCE MAPS
How SMBs and Micro-influencers work together?
We drafted our interview questions into two versions and conducted interviews separately with 6 SMBs and 4 micro-influencers. We used themes concluded from interviews to create user personas representative of the attitudes of the participants. The personas contained characteristics, values, pain points, and goals that best represent the information we collected from our participants.
/ What we found
Point Of View (POV) Statements from the users’ perspective.
Reframe the problem
How might we design a platform that helps inexperienced SMBs and micro-influencers to achieve more effective collaboration management, smoother communication, and a better understanding of advertising performance?
SMBs
Micro-influencers
SMBs
Micro-influencers
/ Design challenge 1
What is the MVP ?
In the brainstorm session, we came up with as many ideas as possible. Then we went through the ideas, re-organized them along with the user journey, and evaluated how well it met the user's needs. After evaluating priorities and feasibility, we ended up with four major features that we thought were most necessary to be addressed.
/ Design challenge 2
How to optimize user flows?
After getting users’ feedback, we optimized the user flows by moving all the main features to the primary menu bar for easy navigation. (Campaign timeline, Contract Negotiation, and Content Creation). Due to major function repetition, we merged the calendar tab into the campaign tab, users can now manage their campaigns in different views with only a simple switch.
/ Design challenge 3
Why adjust calendar display?
The previous display mode makes the bars of campaigns seem too long, especially given consideration of one month or longer campaigns. We then decided to change the multi-row time bars into single linear ones, which makes them more clickable and better fits into different calendar layouts. Also according to our research, most campaigns last around 2 weeks, so we set the default display period to 2 weeks.
Additional reason we decided to change this interface is that after running a colorblind simulation, we noticed that the color we used would make pages unreadable for colorblind users. In order to enhance access for colorblind users, We changed the layout and use the high contrast colors to indicate different campaign information.
/ Design challenge 3
How to prioritize frequent use actions?
Use color-coded cards to categorize contents in different states and provide an easier way to filter.
Prioritize frequent-use buttons by moving them out from the detail menu.
Based on users’ feedback, a “Recent Activities” window is added for a quick overview of new feedback and comments.
/ Design challenge 4
How to make the contract page more immersive?
After getting users’ feedback, we optimized the user flows by moving all the main features to the primary nav bar for easy locating. (Campaign timeline, Contract Negotiation, and Content Creation)
Due to major function repetition, we merged the calendar tab into the campaign tab, users can now manage their campaigns in different views with only a simple switch.
Design + Iterations
After we sketched ideas iteratively, we created a sitemap in tandem with 4 major user flows to show how the navigation should be structured and how users would interact with our product. The goal is to make a logical and easy route for users to navigate while mitigating any sense of being overwhelmed when they use NEBULA.
Final Design
Effortlessly manage all campaigns, timelines, tasks, and files in one convenient place. No more jumping between platforms.
SMBs
Switch seamlessly between views for a comprehensive overview or a visual representation of the campaign timeline.
design Solution 1
01
Centralized Campaign Management
Micro-influencers
“It is difficulty to track my process via multiple platforms, especially with diverse brands...”
SMBs
“It can be very confusing and hard to manage all campaigns when working with multiple influencers at the same time...”
Manage contracts in one place with contract guidance, risk notifications and comments.
Customize contracts by setting timeline, budget and expectations. Make sure all things are on the same page from the start.
Provide a library of contract templates and reference cases to guide through the process. Benefit from best practices and past successful campaigns.
Micro-influencers
SMBs
design Solution 2
02
Streamlined Workflow of Negotiation and Contracts
Micro-influencers
“I have no experience in signing contracts and know little about negotiation process...”
SMBs
“Some influencers don’t post works according to schedules...I can hardly track everyone’s process or irregular behaviors...”
Keeps informed about new comments, feedback, and status changes, ensuring being up-to-date with the progress of each project.
Experience clearer commenting for precise and contextual feedback.
Easily compare versions and feedback side by side to make informed decisions.
Micro-influencers
SMBs
design Solution 3
03
Collaborate Seamlessly in Content Creation & Revision
Micro-influencers
“With vague requirements, I have to deliver several versions, some of which are repeated and it is a waste of time ...”
SMBs
“I don’t know how to deliver a clear guidance or revision feedbacks to influencers...”
Keeps informed about new comments, feedback, and status changes, ensuring being up-to-date with the progress of each project.
Experience clearer commenting for precise and contextual feedback.
Easily compare versions and feedback side by side to make informed decisions.
Micro-influencers
SMBs
design Solution 3
03
Collaborate Seamlessly in Content Creation & Revision
Micro-influencers
“With vague requirements, I have to deliver several versions, some of which are repeated and it is a waste of time ...”
SMBs
“I don’t know how to deliver a clear guidance or revision feedbacks to influencers...”
Offer comprehensive analytics in one centralized location. Give SMBs a deeper understanding of their campaigns, helping make data-driven decisions to optimize results.
Streamline communication and nurture strong partnerships with collaborative feedback features. Keep track of favorites and focus on building long-term relationships.
SMBs
design Solution 4
04
Track Performance Evaluation & Feedback
Micro-influencers
“I want to know who I am going to work with before I start the contract...”
SMBs
“I want to measure the effectiveness of my ADs and make sure my investment is worthy...”
Takeaways
💡 Always tie back to the major problems and research insights.
During our exploration and development process, it was so easy to go too far or dig too deep into some tiny parts of the design. At these times, we always chose to bring back our research insights and used them to evaluate our design. It proved that the research insights and main problems really influenced our decisions and help us to thread the whole story together. Hence, I believe that insights play a pivotal role in shaping project outcomes.
🔧 Best results come from small but frequent usability tests.
We understood that user testing allow us to see the problems from users' perspective and iterate our product towards a better stage, But after several rounds of user tests, I realized that a large sample at once hardly helped us draw insightful conclusions. Instead of an elaborate usability test, conducting smaller tests more frequently ( we ended up conducting more than 6 iterations) would reflect more problems and provide us with more valuable feedback.
Lightweight influencer marketplace
Launched · Web App · 2022
Assists small and medium businesses (SMBs) and Micro-influencers (followers less than 50k) in matching the right collaborators and conducting campaign negotiations more easily
CLIENT
Stealth Startup
project type
Web App
Marketing/ SaaS
project context.
Influencer marketing has witnessed a meteoric rise, becoming a vital element in the digital marketing landscape. It offers unprecedented opportunities for brands and influencers alike. However, small and medium businesses (SMBs) and Micro-influencers (followers less than 50k) often find themselves at a disadvantage, due to the lack of experience and workforce in the influencer marketplace. Preparing a prospectus or portfolio, finding the right partners, and writing professional cooperation invitations can be overwhelming for SMBs and nano-influencers.