MANUEL MAZZOTTI
Hi, I am a UX designer and creative director living and working in London
_____________________________
UX Work
MAESTRI d'ARTE
Maestri d’Arte provides a platform that links skilled artisans with students globally, utilizing live or recorded video courses or one-on-one sessions. The program caters to learners of all ages, ranging from teenagers to the elderly, with a specific emphasis on intermediate to advanced learners
For the past decade, I have operated an independent bookbinding and printing studio, where I not only designed and produced limited edition books but also shared my expertise through numerous bookbinding and printing courses. My location in London has always provided me with exceptional access to top-tier teachers from diverse disciplines and countries.
However, the onset of the pandemic disrupted this convenient learning environment.
With flights grounded and lockdown measures in place, my ability to attend new courses was severely limited, save for a few hastily-arranged Zoom sessions led by tech-savvy instructors.
Additionally, seeking guidance from master craftsmen for specific projects became challenging, as I was unsure about compensating them for their time and expertise.
This led me to research an online platform that would focus on craft learning, catering specifically to intermediate and advanced learners while also addressing business-related concerns.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Our users need a more immediate way to connect with experts in the professional craft field in order to attend classes or receive useful advice from master craftsmen and professional craft stakeholders like gallerists, curators and business advisors.
MARKET RESEARCH
For a more holistic understanding of the market, I spend some time researching my competitors. The following are the SWOT analysis of two of my main competitors: Just answer and Hey Expert.
USER RESEARCH
In order to better understand the target group I conducted 4 user interviews trying to uncover existing pain points, users behavior and attitude around online craft learning.
Based on the interviews and utilising affinity mapping I was able to create user personas, stories, journeys, and task flows that represented real life user needs, wants, and concerns with online learnings platforms.
USER PERSONAS
USER FLOW
Based on the three user needs, here is a user flow diagram that outline how to research and book an online class.
LOW FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
In my low fidelity wireframes I have only highlighted the main level functionalities to book a class.
MID-FIDELITY PROTYPE
The mid-fidelity wireframes were developed to show more visual details on the layout before adding any styling.
VERSION 1 PROTOTYPE
After my first mid-fidelity wireframes, I made more detailed wireframes in Sketch and created the following version 1 prototype which was used for usability testing.
USABILITY TESTING
Usability testing was conducted to evaluate if the current app's functionalities (i.e. prototype1) met our users' needs and whether they were satisfied with the navigation and the layout.
The goal was to meausure the level of utility and usability of the prototype by observing users' interactions when performing their task: browsing classes, book or uploading a class and registering or logging into the app.
Six partecipants were selected from my personal network with profiles that closely match our target audience.
THE SOLUTION
From the usability test results, I have made several changes to the layout to finally come up with a high fidelity prototype. The app has a consistent design language and it is meant to be welcoming, easy to understand and encouraging in order to create a positive learning experience.
ALL SCREENS
VIDEO WALKTHROUGH
KEY LEARNINGS
- Be open minded and don't let preconceived ideas prevent you to spot opportunities
- Always listen and observe carefully and learn to master open ended questions
- Keep the persona in mind all the time
WHAT'S NEXT?
Implement a feature that enables students and teachers to utilize their mobile devices as auxiliary cameras, thereby enhancing lessons with multiple live perspectives.
Finally, I want to develop more payment options in order to give some guidelines to teachers and students and at the same give them flexibility to arrange different payment solutions.
Develop a variety of payment options to offer clear guidelines for both teachers and students while maintaining flexibility for arranging alternative payment solutions.
