Marina.chat
UI/UX Design
Marina.chat is a marketing tool that connects fans to influencers through SMS text messaging as a paid service.
Case study in progress, but scroll down to see some final designs
ROLE
UI/UX Designer
SKILLS
Wireframing, prototyping, design systems, research, visual design and responsive design
TIMELINE
4 months
TOOLS
Figma
Project Overview
Marina.chat is a web application that connects fans to influencers through SMS text messaging as a paid service. Influencers make money as their fans purchase texting plans to message them. Features I designed include influencer marketing dashboard, messaging portal, marketing homepage, and payment check out flow.
Process
01 〰️ Empathize
Understanding the problem
I documented client’s specifications for the app and mapped out project goals. I took a deeper dive into what their target user is looking for and defined challenges. We analyzed a gap in the market for this product and strategized ways to make the product idea come to life.
Problem
When building out initial sketches and wireframes of Marina.chat, we ran into a few initial problems with the design of the product that could lead to poor user experience in the future.
Product Goals
Build an intuitive product that fosters a relationship between the influencer and the fan.
01 —
Minimize steps in the sign up process. Users want to be able to sign up with minimum friction.
02 —
Build a clean and intuitive marketing dashboard. A clunky disorganized dashboards leads to a poor experience.
03 —
There isn’t a way where influencers could monetize their text conversations with fans. We want to build revenue for our clients.
01 —
Help influencers generate revenue with SMS marketing. When fans purchase texting plan, they can directly message influencer.
02 —
Strengthen product value when building product features. When new features are rolled out, we want the product to always stay true to the product’s mission.
03 —
Efficient workflow. Build a scalable and flexible design system to be used across web + mobile.
Our Users
How might we create an app where influencers can monetize their text message conversations with their fans?
Product Features to Build
Marketing homepage
This is the page that we can tell a story, purpose, and mission of Marina.chat. It’s the marketing page that hooks the user into signing up.
Influencer email sign up
This is where the influencer can sign up for Marina.chat.
Fan subscription payment
This is where the fan can make a payment for the subscription package they choose. Fans can also make select custom amounts. They pay directly on that same page.
Influencer payment set up
After the influencer signs up their email, they sign up with a payment system. In this flow, the user can create their unique phone number to use for business inquiries when they message their fans.
Chatroom
Influencers can directly chat with their fans. This is the main feature where influencers can make money. They trade their time to text message their fans while generating revenue.
Dashboard
Marketing data for the influencer to track and handle their revenue.
02 〰️ Research
Understanding the problem
I documented client’s specifications for the app and mapped out project goals. I took a deeper dive into what their target user is looking for and defined challenges. We analyzed a gap in the market for this product and strategized ways to make the product idea come to life.
Research Background
I collected information about marketing tools for influencers. Being an influencer is a career now so they seek out possible income streams to help them generate revenue. I looked at other larger influencer marketing platforms to compare similar platforms. A primary user group identified through research are adults over 18 years old who have a medium to large social media following..
Research Questions
When conducting research, it’s always essential to create questions to help structure the depth of the kinds of research we want to find. These questions are for user, market, and product research. These are the 5 essential questions that help frame the right kinds of research to build the product.
How can we design an intuitive dashboard system so that people without marketing and tech backgrounds can easily use the app?
What are other possible revenue streams for influencers?
What are users looking for when using chat based platforms?
How can fans be engaged to using the platform?
Why is text messaging the best form of communication for marketing? (Compared to commenting on a post, emailing, messaging through social media app, etc.)
03 〰️ Analyze
Understanding the problem
I documented client’s specifications for the app and mapped out project goals. I took a deeper dive into what their target user is looking for and defined challenges. We analyzed a gap in the market for this product and strategized ways to make the product idea come to life.
Insights From User Research
Users want a simple and intuitive platform
The platform is made for people without a marketing, finance, and technology background. An app should be easy for anyone to use.
Influencers want an easy way to generate revenue
Influencers live a busy on-the-go life. They want an easy tool that will help them generate revenue and track their earnings.
Personalization helps with sales
Individual text messaging between fan and an influencer is a lot more personal that directly linking an item on social media.
Influencer marketing industry is a $16.4B business
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, the influencer marketing industry is a $16.4B business. This means that there is increased competition for marketing tools to help make and influencer’s job easier.
04 & 05 〰️ Design and Test
Understanding the problem
I documented client’s specifications for the app and mapped out project goals. I took a deeper dive into what their target user is looking for and defined challenges. We analyzed a gap in the market for this product and strategized ways to make the product idea come to life.
Sitemap
Wireframes
Our learnings from synthesized research, competitive audit, and product specifications lead to the initial design, the wireframe. Designed for mobile and web.
Homepage
This is the marketing homepaege for Marina.chat.
Influencer Sign Up Flow
Influencers can make money when their fans purchase texting plans to communicate with them. This is the 4-step sign up process. The progress bar shows which step they’re in when signing up and they can go back and forward to other steps in the process.
Fan Sign Up page
Fans can purchase the amount of messages they wish to send the influencers they want to chat with. This is a single page purchasing page. Once they choose their texting package, the page automatically scrolls down to the payment section. Fans also have the option of choosing a custom amount.
Influencer Dashboard flow
The influencer can see how much revenue they have from earning money with their clients (fans). The charts are in preview mode in the dashboard but when you click on the chart, it enlarges as a lightbox to a full-sized view and people can view any report by date.
Chatroom for the influencer
The homepage markets the product and services Marina.chat offers. The main users are influencers and users. This is where they can sign up for the platform and learn about the product.
