App Design
ROLE User Research, UX, UI
TIMELINE 10 weeks
Overview
"You're an actor?!"
"When they let me."
To Be eliminates the barriers that have historically prevented actors from having control over their opportunities to practice their craft.
A musician can pick up a guitar and play. A painter can pick up a paintbrush and paint. An actor can’t really just pick up a play or a movie and perform in it.
To Be helps actors “jam” as other artists can by connecting them with passion projects, artists, and roles that matter to them.
The Problem
Professional acting is a notoriously difficult pursuit in which the majority of professional actors don’t get the opportunity to act as much as they’d like to. Yet it is precisely this activity of acting that enables them to feel a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment in their craft. Unfortunately, the professional gratification they long for is left unrealized when they don’t have the ability - or accessibility - to actively practice their chosen occupation.
By interviewing and questioning actors, I hoped to determine whether or not my assumption was true that having the opportunity to act leads directly to career fulfillment. I was curious to see what other factors lead to career satisfaction for actors whether it’s their full-time job or not.
All of this raised the question:
"How might we help actors find fulfillment and meaning in their craft?"
67%
percentage of actors who have to work at other jobs to survive economically
$1000
annual income that the "vast majority" of actors CANNOT reach from acting related jobs
46%
percentage of actors that make less than £1000/yr from acting related jobs
*Sources: ACTRA, SAG, Casting Call Pro
Research & Insights
Initial secondary research of the problem space led to many assumptions which helped me create the questions that would be used in conducting first hand interviews with actors. After contacting some ideal participants, interviews were held and I was left with a tremendous amount of data to compartmentalize and digest. By synthesizing these findings into themes, it was determined that what matters most to actors is:
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Being a part of projects that "excite their spirit"
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Working with people they like or whose work they admire
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Feeling a sense of belonging to the acting community
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Gaining control of their opportunities to work consistently
"Acting is fun. Showbiz sucks"
"Acting opportunities are out of your control & a huge barrier is a lack of access to networks."
"Doing work you love and believe in adds more fulfillment than a paid gig that's bad"
"Fulfillment comes from feeling a sense of belonging in the acting community"
Notably, money is secondary! My initial research into the problem space left me with the assumption that being able to earn a living wage from acting would correlate directly to career fulfillment. However, after interviewing actors I learned that while money does matter, if the work is exciting and they admire the artists involved, actors will still want to partake for no pay.
Card Sorting
Strategy
After reviewing the research, the predominantly reoccurring goals, motivations, behaviours
and pain points were synthesized into one character. Her name was Sadie Davidson and she was the human element that always kept the process on a human-centred design path.
With Sadie in mind, I created an experience map to help truly visualize major dips and pain points in her status quo experience as an actor and to identify these as fantastic opportunities for intervention.
Persona
Experience Map
A key insight realized from the experience map is related to the disappointment an actor feels after not being asked to be a part of a project they put time and effort into auditioning for. By giving actors complete control over which projects and/or roles they’d like to partake in and/or portray, this major pain point could be eliminated entirely.
After writing out a whole slew of user stories, I stood back, observed, and picked out that one story for Sadie to move forward and accomplish a core, primary task with. THIS is what would guide the MVP of this product.
Sadie's core task is to find a project that "excites her spirit", with artists she admires, and sign up to join the cast.
Ideate & Prototype
After creating a task flow and searching for UI inspiration, I started sketching various screens - using InVision Freehand on iPad - that I felt would help accomplish the primary task Sadie is attempting to complete.
In these sketches, Sadie first sees a collection of projects available for her to partake in. She can then tap on a project to learn more details such as who else is involved, what roles are available, what scheduling options exist and more. Finally, she can sign up to join the project without auditioning and without any fear of rejection.
After a number of user tests and iterations, I moved these sketches into low-fidelity grayscale wireframes.
After even more user testing, I realized that Sadie's core task still wasn't being fully addressed...
Again, her core task is to find a project that "excites her spirit", with artists she admires, and sign up to join the cast.
While the latter part of signing up to join the cast was being addressed, the manner in which she FINDS those projects needed work. By actually sketching, wireframing and prototyping the filtering aspect of the app, it immediately became much easier for Sadie to accomplish the task of FINDING projects that excite her with people she wants to work with.
Sketches
Grayscale Wireframes
While conducting the aforementioned rounds of user testing I was simultaneously conducting a visual identity exploration. This inspired the next stage of incorporating colour and images to create high fidelity wireframes.
The colour scheme seen below is meant to replicate that of a theatre or film set. These spaces are typically barren and dark until they are filled with art. Likewise, the background of the app is dark and discreet until brought to life with projects that provide a pop of colour.
Finally I opened these artboards up in Flinto and added the micro-interactions and animations I felt were necessary for the app to function properly.
I felt that without the ability to scroll horizontally through various projects, the prototype would feel broken. In my mind, incorporating this micro-interaction was absolutely essential as a result.
Also, because the project filter area at the top is essential to Sadie's core task, it was important for it to be large and clearly labeled. However, this left a fairly small window to actually view the projects below. Thus, it was determined that once the user has seen and learned what this feature is, it can and should animate smaller as they scroll down.
Filter Screens
Hi-fi Wireframes
Micro-Interactions
Current State
How does To Be help?
After multiple rounds of user tests and iterations, this MVP of the To Be app successfully helps Sadie accomplish her main user story.
Actors can view and discover other artists’ work and agree to join each others' networks or “Collectives”. When these new Collective members post opportunities to join their projects, the actor simply signs up and the role is theirs. First-come, first-serve. That's the buy-in! No auditions. No Rejection. No sweat.
What could be designed next?
Theoretically, the To Be app functions in 3 main capacities: Connecting, Creating, and Discovering.
Everything mentioned in the previous sections of this case study is in relation to the Discovery component of the app, as Sadie’s core task was exactly that; To discover a project to work on. However, the Discovery stage only exists after users have also gone through the Connecting and Creating stages. Designing these 2 other main stages of the app would be the next stage of the design process.
The following is a quick synopsis of each of these 3 main facets of To Be’s functionality.
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Connecting - Actors can browse each other's work and when they find an actor they admire and would like to work with, they can add them to their “Collective”. Think of this in a similar manner as adding a connection on LinkedIn.
After CONNECTING, the user can either CREATE PROJECTS or DISCOVER PROJECTS
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Creating - When a user creates a project they will post the script, the current team members, the scheduling and the roles that are available. The project will then be discoverable to everyone that the creator of the project (aka. “Project Lead”) has previously added to their Collective. When any members of their collective see the projects and choose to sign up, the creator cannot say no. That’s the buy-in the user agrees to when they add an artist to their Collective in the first place.
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Discovering - Actors can view all the projects posted on the app, and use filters to find the projects, artists and/or roles they are interested in. When they find a role they’d like to portray, they simply tap “Sign Up” and the role is theirs. This is an extremely unique scenario for an actor as the major pain point of rejection is completely eliminated. They have literally already “booked” any role they want.
Invision Prototype
(micro-interactions not included)
Note: Google Drive will not preview Flinto files. You must download the attached Flinto prototype and view it on your iOS device using Flinto's viewer app, or on your Mac using Flinto's Mac app.
