Target group: who exactly is your website for?
My site will be aimed at people looking to start a new craft and looking for guidance on the subject of resin. Furthermore, the site may serve as an inspiration guide for those who are not necessarily new to the craft, but looking for ideas for new projects.
During the research for my Business and Cultural Context Crit, I discovered that the majority of crafters are women aged between 35-44, although this age range is gradually decreasing. I therefore believe the main target audience for my website to be older millennial women looking to find new creative pursuits. However, the website will aim to be as inclusive as possible, and should still be equally functional to anyone interested in learning more about resin-craft.
User persona: what kind of person are you planning this site for?
When embarking on my research for the User Experience Design module, I decided to reach out to resin crafters directly in order to build more of an understanding of who they were. For this I opted to conduct a Q&A on the Resin subreddit, where I asked the group what drew them to the craft, as well as what might frustrate them about the medium. However, I noticed that the community was not particularly active, with an average of 0-3 replies on each post. I was therefore not sure if I would receive many replies. However, in a 24-hour period I received over 15 replies to my initial question. Some of these answers were deeply personal when giving their reasons for starting to make resin, and the reasons differed greatly. I noted that recurring reasons included:
- a need for a creative outlet
- dealing with grief
- alleviating stress
Furthermore, many of the replies seem to reflect my projected demographic; for example, many appeared to come from women. The pain points they listed for resin-craft include:
- safety risks
- price of materials
- identifying the best tools for use
- mess/space
As Youtube was cited as a common resource in my Reddit Q&A, I decided to pursue further research both in order to flesh out my user profiles further and also help refine what my content should include. I gathered user comments from resin-craft Youtube tutorials, being sure to include videos aimed at both complete beginners and more advanced crafters. The comments mainly consist of feedback on the video content, as well as troubleshooting issues with users’ own projects. From their feedback, it became clear that users:
- preferred content that was to the point with no ‘babble’
- wanted clear information on where to source crafting materials
- preferred voice direction over distracting background music
- wanted clear, step-by-step instructions
It was at this point I felt I could create user personas based on the Redditors I had interacted with. These user profiles are amalgamations of the responses I received from the Reddit community, with similar circumstances and motivations. They also share the same pain points as both the Reddit and Youtube communities. Furthermore, just as the Reddit community does, these user personas use a variety of influences in locating information on resin-craft, such as social media, online search engines, or directly from peers. They can be summarised as below:
Group A/Beth: A 28-year-old busy professional looking for a creative outlet. Pain points include time-consumption and difficulty level
Group B/Caroline: A recently bereaved 36-year-old looking for inspiration for crafting time with her partner. Pain points include cost and locating of materials
Group C/Sam: a 41-year-old stay-at-home mother eager to start a craft business from home. Pain points include time consumption, level of focus required
Group D/Deborah: a 48-year-old gardener recovering from illness who would like to make use of leftover flowers. Pain points include concerns about safety, clarity of instruction
User journeys: how will your site fit into real life scenarios?
At this point it is worth considering how my users would be most likely to access my site. More than one Reddit response stated that they looked for tutorials on Youtube when they started learning the craft. It would therefore make sense to create a Youtube channel for users to browse as a first point of call that would then link to my site for additional information and resources. The type of device used to access the site is also worth considering. For example, one of my personas is looking to start a business while juggling duties at home. They may not have time to sit down at a desktop computer to do their research, and therefore might choose to access the site via mobile or tablet.
Depending on each user, the user journey might look a little different. When plotting out user journeys, I bore my user personas, as well as their influences, user stories, and job stories in mind:
Group A/Beth: views resin-craft content on Instagram → follows tutorials on Youtube → navigates to my website from there → checks the length of the tutorials in the tutorial section to see if they are long
Group B/Caroline: views my tutorials on Youtube → active on Reddit community → locates site and navigates to the tutorials to see if materials are listed/easily sourced and affordable, as well as if there are plenty of creative ideas
Group C/Sam: has been trying to follow online courses online but finds they require a lot of time and deep focus → searches for alternatives → finds my site and navigates to tutorials to see if instructions are clear/have audio directions
Group D/Deborah: hears about resin-craft through friends → watches some Youtube tutorials → searches online for more information → finds my site and navigates to safety section for guidance
Content strategy: what kind of content will support the site’s mission and benefit its users?
From the above scenarios, it is clear that due to my users’ concerns over time-constraints, budget, difficulty levels, safety, and need for inspiration, my site must include:
- video tutorials with audio for those who might become distracted
- concise videos with no ‘filler’ content/’babbling’
- clear instructions
- a section on safety that is easy to find
- clear information on where materials can be sourced
- cost of materials for budgeters
The information architecture must also be simple and easy to navigate. It would be beneficial to use a stripped-back, minimal approach to the design to help facilitate this, with tutorials, setup tips and safety precautions all easily accessible from the home screen. Including quick links in the footer may also be beneficial to prevent unnecessary scrolling.
As progress on my website continues to evolve, it would be in my interests to refer back to this Commodity Crit to ensure I am fulfilling the user’s needs, as well as solving their problems.