Panes
A creator-to-client application to organize and visualize new iterations of work.
Problem Statement
Creator is frustrated by unorganized communication and needs a way to reliably show the client new iterations because the creator would like less back and forth with the client. (clear clarifications with client will help facilitate better relations or less wasted time)
Problem Background
Fiverr, a digital marketplace for freelancers to sell their services online has over 3 million buyers. This service generates $189.51 million in annual revenue. With this many people buying and selling services online, there is bound to be a loss of time managing work. The average amount of time for a working professional to respond to an email is about 3 hours. Using a meeting cost calculator from Harvard Business Review the cost of a meeting for 3 hours is $210 for someone making a $100K salary. Ultimately, the creator is losing $210 waiting for a response from the client. To save time there is a need for a way to organize and track the work that has been done.
80% of creators are frustrated because they don't have an easy way to track the work and feedback they have done for their clients. Additionally, they have trouble looking for past work and feedback they have sent to their clients. Survey respondents say that they can’t find their past feedback or they have to constantly ask their clients for clarification. Creators and clients mostly use video chat, email, or messaging to communicate with each other about their work. However, the issue with this approach is that feedback or iterations of work can get lost. This is because it is difficult to track the work sent to clients. Recent user interviews indicate that 75% of creators lose track of their iterations. Some of the ways that they lose track of their iterations are a lack of file management, too many iterations, and forgetting which iteration is being worked on. This inevitably leads to a situation where both the client and creator will need to ask each other for past work/feedback. They eventually become frustrated and the time wasted could be used for working on their next iteration.
“Mise en Place” is a French phrase that means everything in its place. Restaurants use this to organize their kitchen and cooking processes, where every item is organized in the same spot so the chef can easily prepare the order without having to search through the kitchen. This can be applied to the development of a product. By showcasing where everything is the creator and the client does not need to look for the correct iteration of the product constantly.
User Pain Points
From my user interviews and surveys, here are some problems that creators experience when working with a client:
- Unable to find a specific iteration
- Unable to find feedback
- Sending multiple files of the same iterations
- Lack of proper note taking
Among these problems I wanted to focus on two primary pain points, being unable to find specific iterations and being unable to find feedback. These two pain points are making creators lose precious time and effort. Therefore, to have less frustrated creators we would need to save them time.
Landing on the Solution
To address the 2 pain points (unable to find iterations/feedback) I wanted the application to be on a website instead of a phone application. Although, I wanted to make a phone application for ease of use, it would make it harder to look at everything at a glance. The solution was to have an all in one location where the creator/client can find everything easily in an organized space.
Explanation of the Solution
Panes is a platform for creators that want to showcase their work in an organized space, where they can find their iteration and feedback easily. This will be a two sided platform where the creator sends an invitation to the client who can view and provide feedback on the work.
I thought it was important that the users could easily find their clients/creators. So a page to view the clients was added to seamlessly find who they are looking for. The clients will also have a dashboard where they can find the project and who it is they are working with. Once, they find who they are looking for a description and all the iterations will slide out.
Lastly, I wanted to have a page where all the information was shown for each iteration. Therefore, I have both the details of each iteration and the feedback located on the same page to be easily found.
Future Steps
I am unsure if I want to continue with this project. However, another feature I would like to implement would be to process transactions. I would also like to see a difference with having a designer create a better mockup.
Learnings
Product Manager Learnings:
Brian Chu
- Really look at the problem in-depth and understand what the job-to-be-done is
- Researching and understanding the customer experience and not looking at them like they are data
- Doing this case study helped me improve on understanding of what documentation a PM will need to work on.
Designer Learnings:
Designer Learnings:
Jo Sturdivant
- Adapting to an Established Team: Joining the team in week 6 of 8 was challenging, as I had to quickly adapt to existing workflows, dynamics, and goals. This mirrors real-world situations where you often integrate into teams mid-project, and flexibility is essential.
- Work-Blocking for Efficiency: With only two weeks to complete the project, I learned the importance of a structured work-blocking system. This approach allowed me to manage my time effectively and meet deadlines under pressure.
- Making Data-Driven Design Decisions: Unlike my past projects, I had to rely on research conducted by others. This was a valuable experience in using pre-existing data to guide design decisions, helping me focus on the core insights without starting from scratch.
Developer Learnings:
Developer Learnings:
Vanady Beard
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As the back-end developer, I learned how important it is to create efficient and reliable systems that support the entire application. This experience also taught me the importance of optimising the database and ensuring the backend is scalable and easy to maintain.
Developer Learnings:
Stephen Asiedu
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As a back-end developer, I've come to understand the importance of being familiar with various database systems and modules. This knowledge enables me to build diverse applications and maintain versatility in my work. I've also learned that the responsibility for making the right choices rests on my shoulders, guided by my best judgement.
Developer Learnings:
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Developer Learnings:
Maurquise Williams
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- Process of Creating an MVP: Developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) taught me how to focus on delivering core functionalities balancing between essential features and avoiding scope creep.
- Collaboration in a Real-World Tech Setting: This experience taught me how to collaborate efficiently in a fast-paced tech environment, keeping the team aligned and productive, even while working remotely across time zones.
- Sharpening Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: This experience honed my ability to think critically and solve problems efficiently. By tackling challenges and finding quick solutions, I sharpened my decision-making and troubleshooting skills in a dynamic, real-world setting.
Developer Learnings:
Jeremiah Williams
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All in all this experience was very awesome I learned that in coding with others being transparent is key
Developers Learnings:
Justin Farley
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I learned how important communication is when working with a team. Communication provides understanding, advice, ideas, and much more. While working with the product team, I’ve found that communication keeps everything flowing smoothly. Working with a team also showed me that every member brings something different to the table and we all have to work together in order to align and meet our end goal.