Amanda Low UX | GOALGIRLS Member Database

Problem

The GOALGIRLS creative agency has a talent pool of over 150 female creatives, however, there is no searchable list of member profiles. Creating a database will showcase the agency members’ skillsets, help to recruit new members, and reduce manual work.

I aimed to create a searchable database, with an updatable template for new recruits to the agency.

As a member of the GOALGIRLS creative agency, I received the brief from the community manager Tina and Creative Director Lea. I worked independently on the user research, analysis, prototyping, testing and UI design.

Pain Points

Manual work | Growing list of members | Inactive members

Background

GOALGIRLS is a Berlin creative agency, founded in 2017 by Helena and Kaddie Rothe. Their focus is female-driven and culturally aware projects with brands such as Bumble, Netflix, Casper, and ARMEDANGELS in their portfolio.

In 2019 they launched the CO-CREAGENCY community - a talent pool of over 150 freelance female creatives, working in an agile structure to generate innovative ideas for purpose-driven advertising campaigns.

Stakeholder

First I spoke to community manager Tina about her current process of managing members. In the early days of the agency, she was able to manage this using a spreadsheet and email lists. However, after subsequent recruitment drives, this became more difficult to manage, especially with previous members now inactive. Another issue was categorizing member’s skillsets. She had a record of the skillsets of members who had worked on projects for the agency, however, there was no record if these members had side projects, or from members yet to receive work.

Competitive Analysis

The agency was open to ideas regarding the format of each profile so to get a better idea of the market I created a competitive analysis for them, from similar-sized creative agencies. While I researched both traditional and creative competitor layout styles, I kept in mind that the final layout would be subject to the limitations of the Wix CMS tool which was where their site was hosted. Stakeholder feedback on the competitive analysis included that the name should be below the photo, and no text should cover the photo.

Competitive Analysis - Traditional Layout

Survey

Next, I gathered data from the agency talent pool themselves using an online survey. The survey aimed to gain information regarding:

How the member database could help them
What information they would be willing to share
Their involvement with the CO-CREAGENCY

“I would like to include a fun fact about the person to make it more personal.”

- User Survey

“I think there should be skill tags that we can all select, then everything can be consistent.”

- User Survey

The key takeaways from the survey were:

85% saw seeing other members' skillsets as beneficial to them
The top three features that members' thought were most important were: Name, Skills, and Photograph
Less important features to include were Biography, Social Media, and Website URL

To design the skill filter for the database, I needed an overview of all member skillsets. After communication with Tina and browsing the agency Slack channel I came up nearly 40 skills. This list had to be refined to find a balance between which filter values would make sense to database users, and also properly represent each member.

Some skills were too specific e.g. “content production”, “content management”, and content strategy”, and needed to put under an umbrella of a more common value e.g. “content creation”. Using information architecture to structure and refine the entries, and after further discussion with Tina, resulted in a more manageable list of 25 skills. Members would be able to select 1-5 of these skills to be displayed in their member profile.

Information Architecture - Refining Skills List

Wix Code

As the database needed a consistent design for each profile, even after adding new members, I used the Wix repeater function - an element that displays multiple items using the same layout. I linked the repeater to a dataset of content, to dynamically display the content on the page in pre-determined containers.

To create the "filter by skill" functionality, I employed Wix Corvid - an open development platform for adding JavaScript functionality to Wix websites.

Testing

The agency was open to suggestions for the layout and functionality of the database UI, apart from the idea that the landing page should resemble a school yearbook format. The Wix repeater function only operates with certain page layouts, so choosing from the predetermined designs, I created 3 prototypes to test the layout and aesthetics. For testing purposes I kept the design elements of the prototypes simple - colours and fonts would be guided by the agency brand guide with final adjustments to the design to be made by the creative director.

Handover

In order to update the dataset of content in Wix, I created a Google spreadsheet template. Once new member data is entered, it can be exported as a CSV file and then imported into Wix.

Once I had created the spreadsheet format, I created a handover manual for Tina and walked her through the instructions on how to update the database.

Solution

Skills List

As the main selling point of the agency, having a list of skills for the database that was definitive, yet allowed room for future members, was important. Keeping the needs of the members in mind, I refined the list to create a more manageable database filter, with terms that would be easily recognisable for all users.

UI Consistency

Once the agency had approved the design and layout of the page, it was important to ensure that the UI would remain consistent, despite continual updates with new member information. I created the UI design using the Wix repeater function, which was then connected to an internal database of member information. The internal database information can be then be updated independently of the UI design.

External Template

The external Google spreadsheet template allowed members to choose which information they would include in the database, with some restrictions. By having a maximum of five skills, that they could choose from a predetermined list, plus mandatory fields with character limits, ensured UI consistency plus easy completion of the template. Only the community manager would be able to upload this information via CSV file to the internal database, further limiting errors and maintaining consistency.

Takeaways

Designing a functional database that was able to be infinitely updated, and also fitted to brand guidelines, was an enjoyable challenge. Using the Wix repeater function meant there were limitations on what I could do with the page layout, however it was reassuring that if new members were added in the future, the individual profiles would still have my original design.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Berlin, this project was done completely remotely. However weekly calls and communication on Slack with Tina and Lea ensured that I received timely feedback. Plus, one advantage of the lockdown meant more time to focus on the database, which had been on the backburner.

Project Status [ September 2020 ]

With agency business returning to normal after the COVID-19 lockdown, plus the summer break, implementation of the database had been paused. However, my design for the database has received approval from the founders and a go-live is planned after the next wave of member recruitment.