Defining the goal
Assess the appeal of a collaborative skill-swapping platform among freelancers and digital creatives by exploring their motivations, needs, and perspectives on existing freelancing platforms.
Revolancer
2023
Context
Revolancer is a UK-based tech startup that served as a hub for freelancers to collaborate, showcase their work, and find clients. I worked part-time while studying at the University of Waterloo and complete a full-time 4-month internship during my last summer break on the product and marketing teams. Afterwards, I was promoted to Product Marketing Manager and the company was acquired. Throughout 2023, I conducted user interviews and analyzed feedback to define problems and solutions to help develop a new user-friendly platform and build marketing campaigns.
Role
Design Intern —
Product Marketing Manager
Methods & Tools
Figma, Survey, Digital Ethnography, User Interviews, Usability Testing
Practices
User Research, Product Thinking, Product Documentation
Discovery
Understanding the people
Starting my initial research, I sent out a survey and observed online freelancing communities on Reddit and X to determine current pain points of freelancers, how they interact with each other online and what for. I reviewed the qualitative data to identify themes and assign codes, revealing 6 main pain points of freelancers —
User Pain Points
🚀 Difficulty getting traction
🛠️ Difficult to build specialization
🏆 Competitive market
⚖️ Work-life imbalance
👥 Difficulty building social proof
📉 Financial uncertainty and instability
I also conducted research interviews with new and seasoned freelancers as well as people interested in kickstarting their freelance business to understand how they get started with new platforms, how they typically use online freelance tools and how they expect them to perform.
"I'm looking for a straightforward process (not too many steps in the process), the freelancers are verified and deliver consistent quality, the price point, easy messaging system, customer filters, also something to ensure that businesses don't try to take advantage of the freelancers"
— Participant
Survey results
2023
Key Finding
Participants favor a shared space that facilitates connection, discovery, and collaboration on joint projects, suggesting that freelancers hold a positive attitude toward skill-swapping.
Solution
We addressed these concerns by designing a platform that allows digital creatives to grow their skillset by creating work for other freelancers — real work for real people. They are able to get feedback, gain connections, and reviews to build social proof for their portfolios and help them in their job search. There is also a job board to find contract work.
I assisted the Head of Product in creating a high-fidelity Figma prototype of account setup, posting a portfolio project, and applying to collaborate on a project for credits to use for usability testing.
Key Findings
⭐ Quick to set up profile
❗ Action-oriented language prompts immediate bid
⭐ Completing tasks is intuitive
❗ User need to connect existing profiles like Behance
⭐ Feedback boosts user confidence
❗ Customizable portfolio post template to effectively showcase skills and streamline content
Platform walkthrough
2024
"Revolancer is a great way to combine the benefits of LinkedIn with a sort of portfolio"
— Participant
After the platform's launch in Summer 2023, I continued to monitor online feedback and refine product requirements to align with user needs and increase user engagement. This user-centered and cyclical process helped lead us to reach 100,000+ users within the first 4 months of launching, then the company was acquired in February 2024.
Reflection
Know what I don't know
Working at a startup taught me to find out what I don't know and seek out the answers because execution matters, especially with limited time and resources. When given a task, it is important to make a plan and be confident going in to minimize risk.
Always consult your users
I previously had a small freelance design side hustle, so I myself was designing and thinking for people like me; therefore, it is easy to fall into the habit of designing for myself. However, every user has their own stories, needs, and experiences so you cannot generalize based on your own.
