UX Case Study
At the VentureHaven, we redesigned the buyer explore page for OpnCorp, a platform that allows companies to buy and sell business-related services.
Product
Website
Skills
UX/UI Design
Branding
My Role
Design Intern
Timeline
June 2023 - July 2023
Collaborators
Ivan Sim (Head of Product), Bin Nguyen (Product Designer), Chist Vu (Product Designer), Emily (UX Writer)
Background
Asia's corporate landscape is rapidly developing, faster than any continent with its soaring consumption and integration into global trade, capital, talent, and innovation. Singapore alone is one of the leading startup hubs in the world. Companies in this competitive environment are driven to thrive and many choose to rely on outsourcing work. However, finding the right resources at a good price is difficult, involving extensive research, connections, and understanding. Outsourcing mistakes can lead to major setbacks and sometimes even failure. VentureHaven is currently building an online B2B marketplace called OpnCorp for companies around the world to seamlessly connect and exchange business-related services, such as incorporation, accounting, human resources, and tech consulting.
The original platform has a weak identity (no style guide) and does not provide the most optimal user experience. My responsibility was to craft a strong brand, define the UI, and address usability concerns.
Evaluation
We conducted heuristic evaluation on the original UX design and found that the process for discovering services and providers has a few usability concerns.
Users
I identified three types of buyers and analyzed their needs, preferences, and expectations to better understand how to design a brand and affordances around them.
Competitive Analysis
I looked into other platforms that allow businesses to purchase services – Fiverr, Upwork, Guru, and 99Designs. I analyzed and compared their visual styles, messaging strategies, and platform features. Competitive analysis allows us to discover the strengths and weaknesses of similar platforms to OpnCorp. We can use this research to find and implement the most effective practices (strengths) while exploiting competitor weaknesses.
Branding
I started by evaluating the original brand style. I took note of the weaknesses and brainstormed different possibilities. In collaboration with Product Designer Chist and with help on language from UX Writer Emily, I created 40 pages of a brand style guide. I was responsible for the About, Logo, Typography, and Image sections.
Low Fidelity
I created a low fidelity wireframe to set up the foundational layout of the screens. This step ensures that the prototype is functional before implementing the style guide.
UI Library
I helped my team organize atoms, molecules, and organisms in Figma. We worked on type, logos, buttons, notifications, popups, input boxes, profile cards, service cards, etc. By having a file with all the components and their various states, ensured visual and functional consistency across our platform. This also increased the team’s efficiency when building new web pages.
High Fidelity
I applied the UI molecules into the screens to complete the high fidelity prototype for screens a part of the service discovery process.
Reflection
My experience at VentureHaven was very nerve-racking, yet exciting, because it was not only my first time interning, but I was also abroad. I am proud of all of the project outcomes – the brand style guide, UI design library, and prototype redesigns. I believe they are much more visually and functionally successful than the previous iteration. I am enthusiastic to see the product launch in the near future. This was the perfect opportunity to grow professionally and personally – expanding my multi- disciplinary knowledge, developing my design skills, and building a global mindset.
I would like to thank my mentors Chist and Bin, who gave me tons of helpful design feedback and resources. I am also extremely grateful for my supervisor Ivan, who helped me settle into the company and showed me a new hawker stall during every lunch break.
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