Crochet Hub

A comprehensive app revolutionizing crochet learning and engagement. Tailored for enthusiasts of all skill levels, this platform offers personalized, multilingual tutorials and a vibrant community space. From sourcing materials to showcasing creations, Crochet Hub seamlessly connects and empowers the crochet community worldwide.

RESPONSIBILITIES

UX Researcher

UX Designer

TOOLS

Figma

PROJECT

Independent Project

DURATION

80 Hours

Figjam

Background

Once integral to Indian culture, crochet and knitting were used to create exquisite traditional textiles. However, modernization and mass production led to a decline in these crafts. Recently, there's been a revival, with people, especially the youth, embracing crochet and knitting for their therapeutic value and as a way to reconnect with cultural roots. Globally, enthusiasts are utilizing technology to spread and preserve these crafts, marking a resurgence of interest. Recognizing its potential for employment generation and enriching lives, there is a growing need to connect people to this creative and culturally significant field.

Problem

The growing popularity of crochet-making globally is attracting a diverse group of enthusiasts, including housewives, women aged 30-80, and young individuals. However, a noticeable gap exists with the absence of dedicated educational institutions to teach this skill. Although online videos offer some guidance, challenges like language barriers, varying accents, and limited accessibility hinder the learning experience. Additionally, there is a scarcity of platforms that facilitate design sharing, mutual learning, constructive feedback, and opportunities for sales and purchases of crochet creations.

Solution

To overcome this challenge, I propose to design an inclusive, user-friendly online platform offering multilingual educational resources and a collaborative community space for crochet enthusiasts. Prioritize accessibility, implement a virtual marketplace for creation showcasing, and sales, and encourage skill exchange. This holistic approach aims to empower and connect the diverse global crochet community.

VIEW PROTOTYPE

Competitive Analysis

During my research, I could not find direct competitors that offer a comprehensive hub for crochet enthusiasts. While some platforms provide tutorials or step-by-step training for specific crochet projects through written instructions, they do not encompass the complete range of features I envision. However, I identified four indirect competitors that offer a subset of functionalities similar to the aspects of my product idea. I assessed their strengths, weaknesses, and features, gaining insights into what we can incorporate into Crochet Hub and what aspects we should avoid.

This research enabled me to think of some opportunities for Crochet Hub to set it apart:

◉ Competing platforms lack language customization for instructional videos, a significant drawback. This

omission is a challenge for users with limited English proficiency or a preference for other languages.

Enabling users to change the language in tutorial videos would bridge this gap, enhancing

accessibility and inclusivity for a wider audience.

◉ The research highlighted the unique opportunity to allow users to sell their creations, as no current apps

offer this functionality.

◉ An opportunity to integrate a community feature to enhance app interactivity.

User Interviews

Following my analysis of competitors, I aimed to gain a deeper insight into what crochet enthusiasts of different age groups are looking for. To accomplish this, I conducted interviews with a varied group, including young adults (20-30 years old) and middle-aged individuals (45-60 years old). The main goal was to understand what motivates them to create crochet projects and how they developed their interest. Moreover, I wanted to understand how they go about learning crochet.

Data Synthesis

I collected insights from the user interviews and organized them into distinct thought patterns. These patterns helped identify the platforms they prefer, their goals, motivations, challenges, and user needs. A full view of the affinity map can be viewed here.

My main source of guidance is tutorials in my native language. However, this narrows down the variety of content I can access.

I deal with lots of family issues every day, crocheting takes me away from all those worries.
Makes me happy.

I experience shoulder pain with extended crochet sessions and
struggle with time due to a busy schedule. So, I opt for quicker
creations.

Personas

Following the acquisition of key insights from the interviews, I classified users into two distinct persona groups, each exhibiting unique needs, motivations, and pain points.

Feature Roadmap

After extensive research and analyzing user feedback, I translated their requirements into concrete features for the project's Minimum Viable Product (MVP). These insights were instrumental in identifying the four fundamental features that constitute the core functionality of the initial version of our product.

After defining the core functionalities to prioritize, I brainstormed potential features for future designs. I compiled a feature roadmap listing key features for the app, encompassing both 'must haves' and 'nice to haves,' focusing on enhancing the

four most crucial parts of my MVP.

User Flows

Once I was happy with the content organization, I began thinking about how I wanted the user to interact with the app to accomplish some important goals – create an account, explore the tutorial videos, purchase or sell a product, and interact with a community of crochet seekers. I included some decision points where a user may not want to pursue more information, or may want to skip a step. These user flows helped me structure the screens that would be needed when creating both the mid and high-fidelity designs.

Create or Excess your existing account

Explore the tutorial videos

Explore marketplace to purchase or sale products

Explore community interaction features for connecting with fellow crocheters

Low Fidelity Wireframes

Using my feature roadmap, sitemap, and user flow, I began using paper and pencil to sketch out my ideas for my main screens - homepage, tutorials page, marketplace page, profile page, and community option. I have explored various design ideas to enhance the user experience and make the process more intuitive and efficient.

Mid Fidelity Wireframes

Next, I elaborated on my paper sketches to digital wireframes to see how the screens would interact with each other when going through different task flows. I designed mid-fidelity versions of my sketches. This process further helped me visualize in a more structured way how the user would complete tasks and gave me a sense of spacing, sizing, and consistency.

Branding

Crochet Hub is being developed from the ground up, I aimed for the brand identity to mirror the app's essence. It should radiate cheerfulness, empowerment, and an enjoyable user experience, all while embracing the wholesome nature of crochet seekers. The design concept is geared towards motivating crocheters to learn, unleash creativity, and foster communication through simple and easy designs. However, the colors are chosen to be vibrant yet soothing, ensuring a visually inviting interface without being overwhelming.

Brand Values

I made the logos using purple and yellow colors. Purple and Yellow represent things like safety, happiness, joy, and creativity. These colors match well with what my brand stands for Wholesome, Empowering, and Cheerfulness.

High Fidelity Wireframes

After preparing my UI kit, I began incorporating colors, fonts, and illustrations to craft high-fidelity screens. Initially, I aimed for a straightforward app design. However, after many iterations and two rounds of finalized revisions, it was evident that my initial wireframes were overly simplistic and needed enhancement. They were lacking in inspiration and vibrancy. Through these refinements, I eventually arrived at a stage where I was content with the color palette and the overall look of my Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

Here's a documentation of the versions I've evolved through.

VERSION 1

VERSION 2

Usability Testing

I conducted nine unmoderated usability tests using Maze with participants to assess and gain insights into my designs. Their feedback played a pivotal role in enhancing the screens. The primary goal of this testing was to evaluate the app design's ease of use and practicality for users. I sought to understand whether users perceived the app as professionally designed and if they found the functionalities meaningful. Ultimately, my objective was to ensure users had a positive experience with the app design and that it fulfilled their functional expectations. My test findings from the unmoderated Maze tests allowed me to see time completion, click hotspots, difficulty level, and the direct and indirect success rate for each task.

These were the key takeaways:

Appreciation

◉ Nearly all users appreciated the idea of such an app

for crochet seekers.

◉ 70% of users found the design easy to navigate and

intuitive, while a few others felt that some aspects could

be confusing and suggested potential improvements.

◉ Major misclicks were occurring due to unclear

placeholder text and a lack of thorough prototyping.

◉ The user’s rating regarding the color and typography was

8 out of 10.

Points to be worked on

◉ The video's bottom product cards should be clickable,

offering more details and allowing direct cart additions.

◉ The checkout screen is too simple, only the payment

option's radio button is clickable.

◉ The wishlist screen should open when clicking on the

icon.

◉ The drop shadow on all screens is too intense.

◉ The text on the video screen is overly long, making it

unlikely for users to read it all.

Priority Iterations

After the testing sessions finished, I was able to make some priority revisions. I determined these design iterations from pain points I noticed in comments and suggestions that were brought up from multiple participants.

Problem #1: The challenge involved enhancing the checkout screen and addressing accessibility issues with the radio button.

Problem #2: The challenge was to optimize the wishlist and cart functions. Wishlist icon should trigger a view, cart icon should confirm item addition, and card clicks should reveal product details.

Problem #3: The challenge was to add a sharing option for order details. Additionally, we needed to incorporate a 'Continue Shopping' button on the order confirmation screen

Problem #4: The challenge was the overly intense drop shadow. Additionally, popups for both sender and recipient appeared uniformly highlighted on the chat screen.

Problem #5: The issue lied in the excessive length of text displayed on the video player screen, discouraging users from reading it thoroughly."

Final Prototype of the MVP

Full access to the prototype can be viewed Here

Reflection

Challenges

UI Kit Constraints: One significant challenge was having to redo the designs and address fundamental issues. This experience emphasized the importance of dedicating ample time to conceptualize and plan the UI kit before diving into high-fidelity wireframes

What I could have done differently

Gathered Inspiration: Moving forward, I intend to invest more time in gathering and leveraging inspiration, which I believe will significantly improve the smoothness of my high-fidelity design process

Learning & Next steps

Exciting Idea: This idea has excited me immensely. Over the past year, I've noticed a growing number of individuals embracing crocheting not only as a hobby but also as a potential career and therapeutic outlet. Observing their challenges and pain points served as the starting point for conceptualizing this app. Throughout this journey, I learned to work efficiently by creating components for nearly all elements, streamlining the process.

Next Steps: I'm pleased with how the functionality has evolved, and I'm eager to continue working on this project and bring the app to life. I firmly believe it can be an invaluable resource, particularly for the crochet community in India.