UX Case Study
Bed of Roses
We set out to learn how artists from underrepresented communities seek resources to support their creative practice and their well-being.
My Role:
Collaborative designer – discovery, user research, competitive analysis, design, testing
Team:
Michelle Miles, UX Designer
Jasmine Poteat, UX Designer
Problem:
Underrepresented creatives need a free or low-cost platform with an easy way to filter and organize relevant opportunities to support their work because they lack the time and capital.
Through user research, we found that creatives from underrepresented groups were primarily searching for funding opportunities through a variety of websites discovered organically on social media.
The main challenge that creatives faced when locating relevant opportunities was that they did not have enough time or energy, and if they found a rare moment to search there was not a lot of information or ability to filter their searches to match the multi-facets of identity.
Further insights identified were that creatives felt stuck in a Catch-22 cycle of the challenge to pay application fees for funding opportunities and that creatives perceive their well-being as intertwined with their ability to maintain a creative practice.
“You can’t make work when you’re exhausted from constantly trying to find resources to keep yourself alive. Period. There is no point in supporting the arts if you aren’t supporting the artists making it. And that means supporting marginalized communities at every level.”
Search Filters
Search Categories
Key Features
Users want to find relevant opportunities tailored to their individual preferences
- Search Bar with Filters
- Search Categories
Key Feature
Users create their own systems to keep track of opportunities
- Bookmark
Bookmark
RESEARCH
Through our research, our competitors were lacking the ability for users to refine their searches, save their searches, track their application status, and incorporate the community aspect found on social media. Bed of Roses was able to identify the pain points.
- Users found difficulty keeping track of applications (grants, residencies, etc.)
- Users often discover opportunities through social media (passive search)
VALUE PROPOSITION
A comprehensive database for creatives to easily discover, find and save funding opportunities tailored to their unique preferences.
MVP
- Building a search bar with robust filters & preferences
- Including a bookmark / saved feature
- Profile creation
- to save resources
- Notifications
- to receive alerts on app deadlines, new opportunities, etc.
OUTCOME
Bed of Roses is a passion project that has vital value for our underrepresented communities. Through the research, it is apparent the need for this vital resource. Bed of Roses is currently a concept, but there is potential to move to beta.
Next Steps
- Provide clear next steps for users once a keyword is selected.
- Provide more context about the site’s purpose on the landing page.
- Review the ‘Sort By’ and display (grid view/list view) options on the results page for clarity and accessibility.
- Test the option to conduct a global search in the next iteration.
- Explore and design the “Saved” page so users can provide feedback on the functionality.
Future
- Build out + test ‘Community’.
