The Hyperlocal Social Media Platform
Background
Problem
Activation Capital is a company who's main goal is to help startups gain traction and become successful. They see a scarcity in the amount of informed start up founders that come to them to begin their business.
Opportunity
It seems like the last essential piece to the puzzle is for people to develop their own network of local business professionals that can either assist their business model, or guide them as they take the necessary steps to officially begin their journey of small business ownership.
Solution
My team's solution was to build a digital front door to Richmond's Startup world in order to increase access to the nearby professional network and add a sense of ease to the process overall.
Key Features
Trending Page
Grab a Coffee
Profile View
Local Businesses Page
Nearby Events
Network of Experts
The Process
Strategy
- Ideate
- Concept
- Go To Market Rollout
Design
- Wireframing
- Branding
Prototyping
- Ideal User
- Layout Priority
Test
- Design Thinking
Pitch
Research
Most of my contributions happened as a UX Researcher during the project. We decided to hold one-on-one interviews and focus groups in order to understand how the ecosystem was working at the time. I was primarily in charge of reaching out to find start-up founders since I've spent the most time in the city. We had to censor names from some of the founders for their own comfort but here are some of the insights we received.
Activation Capital is just one of the big companies in Richmond that focuses on being a reliable resource to potential founders. There is also StartUp Virginia, Lighthouse Labs, New Richmond Ventures, and Score among many others. All these options are a big factor to how people can feel a sense of analysis paralysis. Despite having many options to follow, there isn't a clear reason to pick one company over another.
Experienced and aspiring founders both feel as though they don't have all the needed tools to hit the ground running as they complete the beginning requirements of their business.
"You're so nervous because you have no idea what the hell you are doing"
– Founder *
"I was so confused about what's out there between Activation Capital, SCORE, NRV, THRIVE and all these things. And you get a different answer from each person!"
– Founder *
“(Some) founders aren’t equipped to manage (the startup) process.”
– Mentor *
Quotes marked with a "*" are from individuals who asked us not to disclose their name.
"The start-up ecosystem lacks coordination, but the energy is here. There are lots of fun things and events happening."
– Polly White, COO of Gather
“The start up community needs a place where you feel accepted no matter how much of a business background you have. Starting alone can be discouraging but finding inspiration from others can be encouraging.”
– Earl Mack, Co-Founder of Chilalay
"The people that helped me the most during the process of establishing my business are from right around the corner. I see them the most and we help each other a lot."
– Founder *
Discovery
As we started to have a better understanding of the community, we noticed a couple key insights.
1. Richmond's startup scene has been significantly growing more over the last 5 years. More people are moving to the city to start a business, and the rate of success is also growing.
2. There is a strong support system around to uplift these budding entrepreneurs. There are many small businesses that have been around from previous generations, and this shows promising longevity for those to come.
Final Research Conclusions
1. Informative events are happening regularly.
- Even though these events are taking place, people feel as though they need guidance on which events are best suited for them as an individual.
2. Neighborhood networking seems to be the most helpful for our target audience.
- People are looking towards their neighbors for trusted, primary testimonies about how to start.
3. There is a substantial amount of talent in Richmond who are looking to find others that have common goals.
- Even though there is a wide selection of organizations for people to seek out, it seems as though many of these individuals would prefer to have direct guidance from people close to them.
Our goal is to create a strong community by connecting people and businesses within the larger societal context.
Insight
Ideating
To kick off our ideating phase and having our goal in mind to empower connections, we asked ourselves how do people connect in a professional context over the internet? For all of us, it was clear that LinkedIn was at the top of the list. However, LinkedIn does not solve most of the problems that have been researched during our discovery phase. That lead us to assumptions about the business problems of LinkedIn for our context (based on the Lean UX Canvas by Jeff Gothelf).
To back up the assumptions, we conducted primary research by sending out a survey to young professionals. The results of the survey, which had 49 respondents, is shown below.
Perceived Business Assumptions
Most of the connections on LinkedIn are not meaningful and do not provide significant value.
- People have 500+ connections on LinkedIn but only a fraction of them are actually meaningful.
People engage the most with professionals in their close vicinity.
- The fact that LinkedIn is global decreases the overall value for many users.
Richmond's audience would prefer a location-based platform for professional networking.
- Local connections provide the most value to users.
Competition Analysis
User Persona
Beta Rollout
Before the platform will be released, we have to make sure that there is enough activity. Otherwise it would not provide enough value to retain new users. For this reason, we are planning a beta rollout with about 150 local professionals which are committed to test Unify. Detailed info about our target, goals, and measurability are shown below.
Wireframes
After becoming more informed on the needs of Startup Founders, we began doing low-level wireframes so our platform could begin to take shape.
UI / UX Design Flow
We decided to follow the Lean UX cycle of iterative design so that we could work out the kinks of our wireframes and see what user flow would be optimal.
Branding
After establishing the features that we would add, we decided to craft a consistent design system to strengthen the Unify brand.
Here are the two different options for how we wanted to utilize the signature Unify Purple.
Brand Typography and Signature Color
Brand Design Principles
Unified
- Design should convey unification. Shapes and structures belong to a system. At no point should there be standalone elements.
Social
- Companionship is what makes Unify thrive. The use of motion to makes our conversational interfaces easier to understand.
Responsible
- Unify is a professional business brand. It is therefore crucial to create a balance between serious design and playful pattern elements.
Accessibility Guide
Readability
- Text should at all times be clearly readable. There should always be enough contrast to maintain that.
Ubiquity
- The brand should be consumable in a comfortable and easy-to-use manner by users with a wide range of disabilities. At no point should design elements be ambiguous because of that matter.
Simplicity
- Any interactions should aim to make complex tasks simple and straightforward to perform. Therefore, common used UX patterns should be used and taken into account.
Landing Page
Local Feed
Local Network
Grab a Coffee
Calendar
Profile View
Prototyping and Testing
We decided to follow the Lean UX cycle of iterative design so that we could work out the kinks of our wireframes and see what user flow would be optimal.
The prototype screens that were made in Figma were then testing using Principle for Mac
Client Feedback
After our 10 week deadline came and went, we had the opportunity to pitch our execution to Activation Capital. They gave us positive feedback overall, applauding how we had our eyes on the current problem and how to keep the support going long-term. Our deliverable had methods that could be implemented as soon as possible, and some methods that could be used a couple months later. There was still more tests to be used to ensure that our testing sample pool wasn't too small.
User Feedback
As we began to finalize the designs, we had some business professionals test out the flows and they had submitted their thoughts afterwards.