
BOND
Tackling the Job Industry as an Emerging Artist
Role: UX Designer
Deliverables: User Interviews, Affinity Mapping, Sketches, Wireframe
The UX Design sprint

Problem Statement
What’s the problem?
Emerging creatives often struggle to promote their works. A wide variety of platforms may be at their disposal, but what better way to post their creations when Instagram and Youtube sweep the internet? As imperative as it may be for artists to gain exposure, algorithms on certain social media make it extremely difficult for creatives to receive that recognition. Oftentimes it can even be discouraging. As a fresh graduate in the job industry, the starting line may be extremely opaque for most.
The Solution
My proposal
This is a perfect challenge for BOND; a professional “hub” where communities and opportunities live under a single roof. BOND allows artists to focus primarily on promoting and networking. This alleviates the anxiety of social media “hopping”, and ensures peace of mind.
User Interviews
Empathizing with our users
In order to empathize with our core users, we’ve conducted 5–10 minute interviews with emerging artists to better understand their method(s) of art promoting and job hunting within their field.
Some Questions Asked:
How do you promote your work(s)?
What worked? [What didn’t?]
How much do you value being a part of a community?
Tell me about your [past] experiences with doing this professionally.
Converging Data
Now what?
In order to manage the data, I’ve approached the method of “affinity mapping”- where each sticky note represents a quote from a user, and each color being from the same user. Then I began grouping each sticky with similar concerns and preferences.
Trending Concerns: (From the sticky notes)
“I want to be a part of a community.”
“It’s annoying to scroll through so many jobs I don’t qualify for.”
“I want to showcase my work.”
“I want to receive professional critique.”
“I value transparency.”
The last quote was unanticipated, which then became the ultimate catalyst to the design process and BOND’s true purpose.

User Flow
Understanding the core navigation
This is an essential step to the UX Design process, where each box represents step-by-step navigation. This flow features 3 main pages that I want on BOND:
The user’s profile page
The job tracker
Creative showcase [or portfolio]

Sketches
The sketch process came was easily done because of the User Flow. My thought process on this step revolved mostly around sketching out the main components that I want on each page. [Portfolio/Job Tracking]
Moving Forward
What's Next?
This project is not complete, and there’s so much work to be done. I’m looking forward to fleshing out a high-fidelity prototype through Figma but am also working towards the following:
A user experience through the “hiring side”
An easier way to facilitate transparency between the hiring side and the creative side
Develop better methods in creating communities.
Testing, testing, and MORE testing!
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