A note on team composition and working style. I hope it goes without saying that no designer designs alone. That's an art project, not a design project. Every project I have worked on has been in collaboration with a team of comprised of various people in all sorts of roles, working together at various times, and within various methodologies.
In this project, the core team, but by no means the only team, was:
1 principal designer + developer (me)
2 Editors
2 contributor SMEs
In this project, the core team, but by no means the only team, was:
1 principal designer + developer (me)
2 Editors
2 contributor SMEs
Quick Links to Deliverables:
Persona | Empathy Map | Journey Map| Task Flow| Narrated Prototype | Figma Prototype (see end of document)
Persona | Empathy Map | Journey Map| Task Flow| Narrated Prototype | Figma Prototype (see end of document)
Artifacts derived from research: Empathy Maps & Personas
Image: Contributor Persona
I conducted contextual inquiries and surveys with regular contributors, one-time contributors, and potential contributors.
I conducted contextual inquiries and surveys with regular contributors, one-time contributors, and potential contributors.
Image: Contributor Empathy Map
SAR's contributors are highly educated, previously published authors, but are often frustrated and anxious about the submission process and guidelines due to lack of standardization across publishers and a lack of transparency into the process.
SAR's contributors are highly educated, previously published authors, but are often frustrated and anxious about the submission process and guidelines due to lack of standardization across publishers and a lack of transparency into the process.
Contributor Journey Map
Image: Contributor Journey Map
This really helped to clarify what to nail down in the design: make sure contributors knew whether their work would fit before they started, make the submission process clear, and provide continuing communication.
Flow Architecture Diagram
Detailed flow with branches and states.
Submission to Publication Flow: Figma Prototype & Narrated Walkthrough Video
It's like a choose your own adventure game! The Figma prototype follows the happy path flow outlined in the Process slide above. The video provides narration and context, which I prefer.
