Nowadays, everyone wants a mural on their building. Street artists went from being mostly secretive, law-breaking artists to celebrities in just a few decades. But sometimes it's still hard for artists to connect and share their expertise, make connections, and land their next gig. I wanted to imagine would a club for street artists would look like. The problem: getting artists to pay for it.
Project Goal:
Design and construct a website for Street Club, a membership platform for street artists worldwide, that increases membership conversions by improving the new member onboarding flow.
My Role:
Since this was a personal project for my UX certification course from Google, I was the lead UX/UI designer and researcher.
Target Audience:
Established street artists looking to increase their commissions or gain money by teaching classes on the club platform. Also, emerging street artists seeking to make connections and learn new skills.
Key Challenge:
New members need to be persuaded that the club is worth the membership cost and that they'll have more opportunities as a member than they would on their own.
Research Study Details:
I conducted user interviews with a handful of street artists in Portland, Oregon, ranging from very well-known local artists to emerging artists in college. I inquired about their connections with other street artists, including how often they meet up, how they communicate with one another, and if they would like to increase their connections. I also asked how they learn new painting techniques and how commission jobs come to them.
I then looked at other online group websites that help people increase their art skills and hold in-person events.
- Home screen should provide multiple ways to join the club
- Home screen shows off all aspects of the membership: classes, connect with other members, and commissions
- Some classes are listed but each mentions having to join to sign up
- Include reviews from other members
- Share newest commission opportunities on home page
- Have a way for members to use a username/street name if they wish to keep their true identity secret
- 1Thought it was freeMost users felt the checkout page came as a surprise as they didn’t realize it would cost to join.
- 2Connect = unclearMost users were unclear what 'connect' meant on the home page. They thought it might mean to send a message to that person.
- 3More pleaseMost users wanted to look through more of the classes to decide if the membership would be worth it for them.
I kept the color palette simple but exuberant. High-chroma CMYK-ish colors that feel minimalist with the black and white. The logotype is chunky and fun. The design also begged for some icons so I designed spray painted arrows, paint buckets, and aerosol cans.
For the high-fidelity mock-ups, I kept the design clean and uncluttered, allowing the vibrant colors to pop off the white background. A heavy black navigation bar weighted the site and grabbed the user's attention.
A high-fidelity prototype following the flow of joining the Street Club can be found here.
Street Club wanted to ensure the mobile version of their site looked great and was easy to navigate. Most of the design was very easy to scale to fit the mobile screen size. One challenge I faced was that my initial footer was too small and the links could not be pressed easily. I increased the space between the links as well as the link interaction size to ensure that users could click the links and social media.
Next Steps
- Conduct a follow-up interview with new members to see how they felt about the onboarding process and if something could be done to make them feel more confident about the sign-up and the value of the club
- Set a new member goal
- Include a directory of members based on location to help members meet up locally
What I Learned
I learned that in certain instances, like with street artists, usernames are very important for anonymity. I created a username auto-generator to facilitate name creation in the event that the member didn't already have an artist name.
Conclusion
In industries like the arts, charging for a membership can be difficult, as the 'starving artist' mentality keeps many artists from charging their worth. As such there's a higher hurdle to convince new members to buy into a membership. Researching other membership websites helped me utilize industry tactics such as: reviews, teasing classes, pay walls, and promoting community and job opportunities.