Role
UI/UX Designer
Tools
Figma
Year
2022
Project Duration
1.5 Month
Team
Individual Project
"It was difficult for me to get into freelancing as I was never taught how to manage my time, projects, and clients."
Overview
Toolkit is a complete toolbox to assist freelance designers with their time management, contracts and assets organization. A digital project and account manager for every freelancers.
Problem Statement
I have had experiences working as a freelancer and working full-time in a company. Through my experience, I have found freelancing to be more overwhelming. To my surprise, I was not alone. I interviewed 10 people and sent out surveys asking what their freelancing experience was, in comparison to working full-time in a company.
With these insights, I have established the three pain points:
Ineffective communication with clients
Unresponsiveness and missing assets from clients could lead to a delay in project completion. Additionally, it may affect other projects and its timeline.
Inability to calculate turnaround time
Calculating turnaround time comes with experience and for an amateur freelance designer, this may be difficult. Underestimating turnaround time could cause delay, stress, and disappointment between the designer and the client.
Inadequate knowledge on contracts
No contracts meant that the projects have no perimeters and validation on what was discussed and should be delivered. Clients could leave without paying and misappropriate the designers’ work.
Process Details
After considering the three main points and their solutions, I began my design process — starting with laying out the sitemap and creating user journeys and user flows.
More details right here.
Design
Toolkit allows freelance designers to have a more effortless workflow, including better communication with clients, turnaround time calculation, and contract drafting.
Client communication
Mitigate miscommunication with clients and ensure that the project will stay on the timeline with assets, invoices, and contract management.
Turnaround time
Track hours spent on projects and allocate them to different stages. Keeping tabs on time will allow Toolkit to calculate the average time spent and propose a much more accurate approximation of turnaround time.
Contract templates
Create contracts based on what was discussed and what should be delivered from Toolkit’s templates. Freelance designers are now protected from any acts of misappropriation.
Client communication
To test out Toolkit, I am inviting 5 participants who are doing freelance design and is/was full-time designer in a company.
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Do an initial usability testing — give participants tasks to complete and observe them while they navigate around the platform.
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Allow the participants to use the platform for a week.
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Invite participants back and interview them about their experience.
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Collect feedback and update the platform based on priorities and repeated concerns.
The success metrics that I would be looking at are acquisition, session length, and screen flow. Some questions that I would consider:
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How many people are showing interest and installing the platform? What is the user retention rate?
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How long does a user stay on the platform and if they are using the platform regularly?
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Would people go through all the contract template questions, generate the contract and send it to their clients?