StarFunds

A Crowdfunding Web Application for Independent Films

StarFunds is a crowdfunding web application specifically for independent films. A filmmaker can create a campaign page to receive pledges for their films, and donors can search for and make one-time or recurring pledges to independent films of their choice.

Deliverables

Responsive Web App Design

Responsibilities

UX Design, UI Design, Brand Identity

Tools & Softwares

Sketch, Photoshop, Principle, Draw.io, Usability Hub, Google Suite

The Problem

Crowdfunding sites are too saturated with projects, and can be overwhelming to donors looking for specific campaigns to pledge to. The high volume of projects on crowdfunding sites reduces the chances for campaigns to be featured on the site, which can make or break a campaign.

THE SOLUTION

1. NEW & NOTEWORTHY FILMS

Creating a new & noteworthy films section on the homepage increases the chances for new films to gain public interest and supporters, and receive more pledges.

2. Explore & Search by Genre

Using the search bar, donors can conduct searches by entering keywords and titles, to find specific films. Users can also search for films by genre.

Brainstorming

I began brainstorming, and drew a mind map to create a visual relationship between the ideas and thoughts that came to mind with crowdfunding sites. When I think of movies, the people involved in it come to mind, particularly the movie stars. This is how I decided to name my site "StarFunds".

Survey

I needed to find out the goals and frustrations of my users with crowdfunding sites, so I put together a survey.

Based on my survey, users wanted an easier way to perform the following actions:

CREATING A CAMPAIGN

-Create a campaign page
-Collect basic information from donors
-Editing/updating a campaign page

AS A DONOR

-Seeing their donation history
-Searching for a campaign
-Making a donation
-Creating an account

Personas

I selected a few people from my survey to do interviews with, and created personas to keep me on track with designing the site based on my user's needs.

SWOT Analysis

To better understand my competition, I conducted a SWOT Analysis on 3 crowdfunding sites:
Seed & Spark, Slated, and Kickstarter
Based on my SWOT analysis, I decided to focus on the following opportunities:
-Choose a color palette suitable for the film industry
-Make CTA's clearly visible, especially for searches
-Donors can search for films, without creating an account
-Easier way to confirm identity & link bank account when creating campaigns

User Flows

I created user flows with the MVP's from my user stories, to keep my workflow organized:

TESTING

StarFunds is a crowdfunding site, so it's important that its users feel comfortable and confident enough to set up a campaign, or make a donation using the site. I conducted usability testing to gather feedback on navigation, the quality of the designs, and to see if users felt that StarFund's site/brand seemed trustworthy.

Wireframes & Mockups

Using Sketch, I created low-fidelity & high-fidelity wireframes and then designed mockups
Some examples shown below:

HOMEPAGE

Campaign Display Page - Donor's View

EASY CAMPAIGN PAGE SETUP

Using an animated clapper for my design, I created a fun & smooth way for filmmakers to set up a campaign page for their films.

VISUAL GOAL CHARTS & DONOR LIST

Reaching goals are important, so I designed creative and fun charts to help filmmakers keep track of their progress. I also created an easy way for campaigns to keep track of all their donors' basic information.

Donation History

Donors can easily view their donation history after making a donation, and also by clicking on donations from their dashboard.

Final Design

With 2 user groups to focus on, StarFunds proved to be one of my bigger and more challenging projects to work on. Because of this, I found myself putting a lot more time into making sure the functionality of this project is a success.

I used Principle to create 2 animated prototypes for StarFunds:

PROTOTYPE - Campaign Setup

PROTOTYPE - Donor

BRANDING

I think of darker colors when it comes to movies and films, so I chose a color palette of grays and black, with gold and orange as accent/highlight colors:
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© 2019. Alisa Matthews - UX/UI Designer. All Rights Reserved