Background

TalentLAB evolved from the Emerging Talent Awards (ETA), a platform by MADE.COM where product designers can submit their ideas for the chance to be shortlisted by a panel of MADE.COM designers and potentially sold on the site.

I was the sole designer for this project, responsible for the entire product lifecycle, from discovery through to delivery. I collaborated with the researcher to develop personas and conduct interviews, then used these insights to create user flows, wireframes, and experience maps to guide the design process.

The problems

Despite the potential of the ETA platform, several business challenges hindered its success

Business problem: Many ETA shortlisted products that were added to MADE.com performed poorly, leading to low sales.

User problem: Although ETA was open to the public, users felt frustrated by their limited role in the shortlisting process, reducing their sense of ownership and investment in the products.

This raised two key questions:

- How might we better forecast a products success
- How might we encourage the public to be more committed to buying the product that they had shown interest in

Ideate

After we had carefully-crafted questions it was time to brainstorm a possible solution.

I partnered with the head of product and the head of research to help facilitate a workshop with the wider team and various stakeholders in the business.

Three possible solutions came out of this workshop:

Newsletters to keep users in the loop in regard to the items they have liked or shared within ETA.

Allow for the votes to be the main consideration whether an item is being shortlisted

Allow the public to pledge on design and to be able to purchase them at a discounted price once fully funded.

We decided to enable the public to pledge on design entries, hypothesising that this would improve our ability to forecast a product’s success. Additionally, we believed that offering a discount would serve as a strong incentive, encouraging the public to become more committed to purchasing the product.

In order to measure people’s interest in the new feature, we added a ‘Back this project’ button to all product pages. When customers clicked on the button a message would appear stating that the feature wasn’t yet available with a button that led to a 3-minute survey.

Fake door test

Success metrics

+5% engagement

Interaction: sign-ups, comments, likes and shares.

30% Sales

ETA products to account for 30% of MADE.com sales.

Target user

I collaborated with the lead researcher to define personas. We recruited participants from universities, small business owners, and customers who had previously used ETA and MADE.COM.

Our goal was to better understand the needs, behaviours, and motivations of the target audience to inform the design process

The Design Oriented

The Product Designer

The Design Oriented

To find unique, innovative products that align with his values.
To support emerging designers and be a part of new product trends.
To purchase products with the possibility of discounts or early access.

Goals:

Frustrated by limited involvement in product selection and lack of transparency in product development.
Skeptical of new products and hesitant to commit to purchases without knowing if they will be successful.
Wants to be assured of the product’s quality before making a commitment.

Challenges:

The Product Designer

To bring innovative, functional designs to market.
To gain exposure and recognition for her work.
To receive valuable feedback and support to refine her products.

Goals:

Challenges:

Limited visibility for new designs and products in a competitive market.
Difficulty predicting whether her designs will resonate with a broad audience.
Struggles to gauge customer interest and secure funding for production.

Visualising the journey

I worked along side the research and mapped out the user journey for customers and designing. From here I extracted user stories which were broken down into multiple, smaller user stories and tasks. This was a great way to begin to think about each interaction carefully from a usability point of view.

Backing a Unique Product Through Crowdfunding

Designer Bringing a Unique Product to Market Through Crowdfunding

Product Designer User Stories

As a product designer, I want to submit my design ideas to TalentLAB, so that I can potentially be shorlisted and listed on TalentLAB.
As a product designer, I want to be able to see the status of my design entry, so that I can understand the if my product is succesful.
As a product designer, I want to see how many customers have pledged for my design, so that I can gauge whether there is enough demand for production.

Customer User Stories

As a customer, I want to discover and explore innovative product designs, so that I can find unique items that align with my tastes and values.
As a customer, I want to pledge support for designs I like, so that I can increase the chances of them being produced.
As a customer, I want to see transparent updates on the status of the designs I backed, so that I know if and when the product will be available.

Aligning with user flows

Wireframes

To gain a deeper understanding of user journeys and ensure alignment with stakeholders, I created detailed user flows that outlined the step-by-step process users would follow to achieve their goals within the product. These user flows helped to identify edge cases and friction points

I created wireframes to visualise and refine the structure and layout of the product. By mapping out key screens and interactions, I was able to quickly test and iterate on design concepts, making sure each element was aligned with user needs and business goals.

Design Exploration

Use case: User submits a design

The design entry submission form is a key component of Talent Lab. This is where designers submit their applications for consideration. Designers typically prepare their applications in advance and use a desktop to access all their saved files. The submission process requires several steps and users are required to provide detailed information about their design.

Given the complexity of the process, I wanted to focus on simplifying the user experience. My challenge was to determine which structure: a single-page form or a multi-step form would make this experience as smooth and intuitive as possible.

The single-page form was designed to give users a quick overview of the entire application process. This approach is useful for users who want to complete their entry in one session and prefer to see all fields upfront.

Design 1: Single-Page Application

Breaking the form into smaller sections helps users focus on one task at a time, reducing the feeling of being overwhelmed. Each step presents a more manageable set of fields, while the progress bar encourages users to continue through the process.

Design 2: Multi-step application

To determine which design best supported user needs, I conducted usability testing with a group of designers. Participants were asked to complete the submission process using both the single-page and multi-step forms while providing feedback on their experience.

The results from user testing indicated a strong preference for the multi-step application (Design 2). Users appreciated the structured approach, which broke the process into digestible steps rather than presenting all fields at once.

User Testing & Insights

Designer account exploration

The Designer Account serves as a hub for applicants to manage their profiles, where they can submit their designs, track their applications and view their live products.

A key part of designing the Designer Account was optimising the Applications Dashboard, where users track their submissions. I explored multiple layouts to present application progress. Key considerations included:

Using a label to indicate where the submission stands in the process.
Ability to save an application so that it can be edited later
Ability to view applications

I explored two primary layouts: A Long List View – A single scrolling list containing all submissions, regardless of their status. A Tabbed Layout – Separate sections for Drafts, Active, and Archived submissions, accessible via tabs.

After testing both layouts with users, the Tabbed Layout proved to be the most effective.

I also explored different card designs for displaying submissions on the Applications Dashboard.

Use case: Browsing for products

The flow focuses on how users navigate through the platform to find products they are interested in supporting or purchasing. It was important to make this flow as engaging as possible to encourage discovery, build trust, and ultimately increase successful pledges and backer loyalty.

I started by creating wireframes to better understand the information architecture of each page. This helped me assess how content was organized, including categories, filters, and product details, ensuring the layout was intuitive and easy for users to navigate.

Homepage: Shifting focus from designer to customer

During the usability test, we observed that customers were getting confused about the purpose of the crowdfunding site. Many thought the platform was exclusively for designers to submit their designs, primarily because the homepage was heavily designer-focused.

To address this, we decided to shift the focus on the homepage to highlight the customer experience more prominently, emphasizing how they could browse, back, and engage with products. By making this adjustment, we aimed to clarify the platform's dual focus and improve the overall user experience.

Use case: Backing an item

When it comes to backing an item a user has to wait a long period before the item reaches produtcion. These delays can cause uncertainty to the user so it was important to think about a user’s experience off the platform as well as on the platform. A few things I considered when defining the user user flows is the type of emails users will be receiving and at what frequency

I considered various scenarios for this experience, such as what happens if an item reaches its funding goal, what if it doesn’t, and what if the item is funded but the user decides not to proceed with the purchase.