Project Overview
This project was inspired by my musician friends and the challenges of being a gig musician. They would often complain about the difficulty of finding steady gigs, getting their name out there, and getting paid in a timely fashion. Due to the lack of connection between musicians and hiring parties, Being a successful musician is often more about your social media presence and web development resources than your talents. Musicians are found because they make it onto your feed. Musicians also have a lot of administrative work to do. We aim create something that will allow musicians to spend their time doing what they love and minimize the time doing marketing, web design, administrative work.
Empathize
In this phase, I conducted interviews with my musician friends to gather insights. By understanding a day in the life, I could better understand many of the unique challenges that musicians face as gig workers. I also spoke to colleagues who have hired musicians for weddings and other events, to understand the difficulties they face when hiring musicians. By understanding both sides, I could start to bridge the gap.
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Define
The goal of the define stage is to clearly articulate the problem we are trying to solve. By analyzing the insights we gathered in the emphasize stage, we can craft problem statements, and how might we statements. We can also establish criteria for success. Answering these questions was a bit more complex than usual because we have two types of users with different needs, but ultimately the same outcome. Check out the deliverables above. Define outcomes not solutions.
Ideate
In the Ideate stage, we will leverage the insights and refined problem statement from the Define stage to generate a wide range of creative solutions. By deeply understanding the needs, desires, and pain points of our users, we can ensure that the ideas generated are relevant, effective, and focused on addressing their real-world challenges.
Prototype
In the Prototype stage, we'll turn our best ideas from the Ideate stage into models or samples we can test. By doing this, we'll see if our solutions really work for the problem we're trying to solve, and we can make them even better based on what we learn.
Test
In the Test stage, we'll put our prototypes to the test with real users to see how well they work. By gathering feedback and insights from testing, we'll refine our prototypes further, making sure they truly meet the needs of our users before moving forward.
Conclusion
The Design Thinking process ensures that the solution is deeply rooted in the needs and desires of musicians and gig organizers. By empathizing with users, defining the problem clearly, ideating innovative solutions, prototyping effectively, and rigorously testing, we can create a user-centered platform that seamlessly connects musicians to gigs, enhancing the experience for both parties.
Elise Swibel
Aspiring Design Strategist