Untitled

Learn my process behind taking a product that existed only as an idea into a live multipurpose digital platform CIFRA. It is a place that combines streaming, a marketplace, and eduсation.  \
\
Idea was to provide everyone the opportunity to create a museum at home, fill their space with digital canvases, sculptures, sound installations, and experimental videos. And create a space  for artists to curate their own virtual exhibitions, showcasing what they want, describing their creativity, and choosing how to monetize it.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2F6964bc21-9cad-4f00-b106-a1b0dcce76f7.mp4?alt=media&token=9f9af0ef-f7ef-4521-a5d4-b7ef2b80e3b7","id":"6964bc21-9cad-4f00-b106-a1b0dcce76f7","width":1920,"height":1080,"filename":"desktop.mp4","type":"video/mp4","caption":"","border":true}]}
```

## Role

I led the project and was responsible for stakeholder communication, project launch planning, market research, and design concept. I worked together with an international team of developers, QA engineers, and a product manager to help the client bring the project to life.

## Problems we are solving

* Difficulty finding transparent information on the dynamics of artists' work prices.

* Uncertainty about which artists to invest in (identifying those creating valuable, rare pieces versus repetitions and imitations).

* Collectors can't be sure they own a unique piece (artists often produce duplicates).

* Overpaying intermediaries (galleries, consultants) for expert information on the uniqueness and prices of works.

* Collectors want to buy art without intermediaries and at a lower cost.

* Buyers face high costs for insurance, storage, and transportation of art items, often eroding profit margins.

* Slow reselling of art; waiting at least 3 years to see a profit.

* Artists reluctant to sign lengthy exclusive contracts with galleries, leading to price management uncertainties.

* Artists want to exhibit without intermediaries to have creative freedom.

* Artists want to sell works directly for greater income.

## Timeline

The project took 10 months from inception to product launch, with 3 months dedicated to research, 2 months for prototypes, and 3 months for design concepts. Product development began as soon as the initial prototypes were approved, allowing us to meet this short timeline.

## Design challenges

> How can I design a solution which would work well for a variety of different contexts and allow artists, curators and investors achieve their all their goals in one place?

> How to propose a new way of consuming digital art and bring it to anyone house?

> How to understand that we have achieved our results and we are going in the right direction, if product didn't exist before?

## Process

It was crucial for me to establish a process that would enable the swift launch of the product while preserving its core values.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2F4203d6f2-04f4-43eb-8523-b006a1639114.jpg?alt=media&token=ac1e5b70-51ba-43bc-ab78-7824e09aeebd","id":"4203d6f2-04f4-43eb-8523-b006a1639114","width":6088,"height":1568,"filename":"CIFRA.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

## Discover

### Interviews

As the market is quite specific, I had to immerse myself in the subject and answer to the important questions. I conducted about **30 interviews with artists, curators, and art investors**. The main questions that interested me were:

* Why do people buy art?

* What is the role of a curator in the art business?

* How do artists currently sell their works?

* Who determines the price of a piece?

* What does the ideal platform for art management look like?

* Attitude towards art streaming.

* What is important for investors to start buying digital art?

The result of this series of interviews was a presentation with insights and valuable information from the potential audience.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2FUAi7RdMjMxlnmssAW7hc%2F80bb50ee-3325-428f-84d1-a7729333d02b.gif?alt=media&token=9b79ea77-ee9c-4c03-beb7-02d920d06dcf","id":"80bb50ee-3325-428f-84d1-a7729333d02b","width":600,"height":361,"filename":"ezgif.com-video-to-gif.gif","type":"image/gif","caption":"","border":true},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2FUAi7RdMjMxlnmssAW7hc%2Fd8f09d42-8ac2-4de9-8653-e73b6f6b01ba.gif?alt=media&token=fbe73ddb-2844-4256-b592-ce5919d7d613","id":"d8f09d42-8ac2-4de9-8653-e73b6f6b01ba","width":600,"height":361,"filename":"ezgif.com-video-to-gif (1).gif","type":"image/gif","caption":"","border":true},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2FUAi7RdMjMxlnmssAW7hc%2F02ec05ed-255c-4df0-9016-fc3c1ef8d75c.gif?alt=media&token=105ac415-0d73-4b24-b0e5-5421c3f950a6","id":"02ec05ed-255c-4df0-9016-fc3c1ef8d75c","width":600,"height":361,"filename":"ezgif.com-video-to-gif (2).gif","type":"image/gif","caption":"","border":true}]}
```

### Workshops

To launch the project successfully, it was crucial to work synchronously with stakeholders, avoiding misunderstandings and communication issues. To achieve this, in the middle of the project, I organized a workshop where, together with six representatives from the client's side, we attempted to approach the situation with a fresh perspective. The result was ideas for product development and hypothesis testing at this stage. Additionally, together we formulated a value proposition:

> "CIFRA helps collectors and artists solve the challenge of earning from art ownership by providing the ability to broadcast art, generating royalties through views."

### Competitor research

I wanted to understand the difference between our future product and others in terms of convenience, attractiveness, and demand.  No big market assessments here – **just focusing on what works and what doesn't**. \
\
I filled the table with the necessary criteria and rated how our competitors were solving the problem. That led to some hypotheses based on the newfound insights.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2F8f4be818-f16a-406f-88e7-bb46c88b3d7e.jpg?alt=media&token=6a73d730-c87c-4117-ac44-d7e9d6660128","id":"8f4be818-f16a-406f-88e7-bb46c88b3d7e","width":1920,"height":1080,"filename":"competitors.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

### Discovery results

I defined the primary user stories for three user categories that the platform should serve: curator, artist, and investor.\
\
I had a scope of **user stories,** here some examples of them:

* As an artist I want to participate in collaborations to expand the scope of my creativity.

* As an artist, I want to understand what place I have in the art field,\
  to create adequate pricing and feel motivation for next work.

* As an artist I want someone to take over my promotion so that I can\
  could devote more time to creativity

* As a collector, I want to get the best price for the work in order to feel loyalty and save money

* As a collector, I want to know the previous prices for which the work was sold in order to understand the adequacy of its value and investment attractiveness

* As a curator, I want to have all my work, articles, projects, and cv in one place so that I can share it with interested parties in one click

* As a curator, I want to compare artists in one place to save time on search and selection

## Develop

Since the feature scope was quite big, the project launch was divided into 6 iterations. We acknowledged that after each stage, we could adjust our strategy and aimed to be responsive to market dynamics. This approach also allowed us to start shaping the project architecture from a development perspective at this early stage.

### Low fidelity

The primary screen displays a list of art. With metrics such as **project score**, **smart followers**, and **date of discovery**. This screens was designed to be transparent and scalable so that users would understand which functions they need to pay for in the product's **paid version.**

Based on the flow, I designed prototypes of the main scenarios and went to test it. First to stakeholders and development, then to potential users. We conducted 15 in-depth interviews and usability tests.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2Fef5c02d5-ce1e-42e0-81cf-eda92182eb4c.png?alt=media&token=e8765329-f20f-492e-996e-bcb4ebaccdd9","id":"ef5c02d5-ce1e-42e0-81cf-eda92182eb4c","width":7143,"height":3603,"filename":"proto.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2Fdf37f866-274b-44dc-938f-0ec0e093df4e.png?alt=media&token=8c39a974-97b1-43aa-a422-7fd9ee72e99b","id":"df37f866-274b-44dc-938f-0ec0e093df4e","width":1440,"height":900,"filename":"Главная 1.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2F4c976296-1fd4-4894-8368-358c51b0f2a5.png?alt=media&token=9860080f-3787-40d8-8900-d6fb2897a6b8","id":"4c976296-1fd4-4894-8368-358c51b0f2a5","width":1440,"height":900,"filename":"Манифесты.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2Fe03964ad-d749-46e9-b435-f50e4d6a454b.png?alt=media&token=c7da792b-2722-44fb-9e5e-99333c86104f","id":"e03964ad-d749-46e9-b435-f50e4d6a454b","width":1440,"height":900,"filename":"предлагают добавить в плейлист или создать новый.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

### High fidelity

After the low-fidelity step was finished, I proceeded to the next step in which I designed a high-fidelity prototype and conducted UX studies on artists and curators. \
\
The result better to check on [cifra.com](http://cifra.com)

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2F07152f7a-bcb4-404a-b427-b77903130374.png?alt=media&token=16e0b6ba-4d77-42b6-9a17-20ba8f284170","id":"07152f7a-bcb4-404a-b427-b77903130374","width":507,"height":585,"filename":"Rectangle.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2F39dbf0da-1f6e-4dcc-b70e-a18e701abca8.png?alt=media&token=7ce12c71-1d60-44d8-a949-d0665ff46263","id":"39dbf0da-1f6e-4dcc-b70e-a18e701abca8","width":507,"height":585,"filename":"Rectangle-2.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2F176c4fb5-8d11-43b9-8074-d17010d90709.png?alt=media&token=76244592-b490-46bc-ac22-dd0dea5b352a","id":"176c4fb5-8d11-43b9-8074-d17010d90709","width":507,"height":585,"filename":"Rectangle-1.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2Ff022ad17-251a-468c-88b7-be604bc24275.png?alt=media&token=7ef8c9fa-3d2c-47b8-b4d1-9e1b0960b5c1","id":"f022ad17-251a-468c-88b7-be604bc24275","width":507,"height":585,"filename":"Rectangle-3.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2F19d9c637-2818-4436-85eb-590ab4f4fe1d.png?alt=media&token=b045ba42-020c-44b6-9be4-6465af88a618","id":"19d9c637-2818-4436-85eb-590ab4f4fe1d","width":507,"height":360,"filename":"Image-5.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2F2862e16e-9134-4e40-affc-03a389cada27.png?alt=media&token=fa672162-d203-4259-b23f-250851d8c413","id":"2862e16e-9134-4e40-affc-03a389cada27","width":507,"height":360,"filename":"Image-4.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2F940ad5cb-4d22-45bc-b837-e13ae6c73c8a.png?alt=media&token=c4125957-0345-48b8-bcba-093dfa728219","id":"940ad5cb-4d22-45bc-b837-e13ae6c73c8a","width":507,"height":392,"filename":"Image-1.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2F0c43fdda-3d9c-4890-a85b-dac0bc1b4074.png?alt=media&token=0b2088b0-2a08-4916-9a0f-ee8aff94524f","id":"0c43fdda-3d9c-4890-a85b-dac0bc1b4074","width":507,"height":392,"filename":"Image-3.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2Fd20ba1a0-e1bc-463e-a622-5b25669654aa.png?alt=media&token=54f5d415-6611-49e1-ba78-1aed6f0067c3","id":"d20ba1a0-e1bc-463e-a622-5b25669654aa","width":507,"height":392,"filename":"Image-2.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2F8c7011e3-acec-4d62-9702-176df63e9346.png?alt=media&token=57eef514-74a9-43d7-bc25-d24b540d3ffa","id":"8c7011e3-acec-4d62-9702-176df63e9346","width":507,"height":392,"filename":"Image.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

## Delivery

Making sure that the final product works well. Once the product was delivered, we started collecting user feedback and **monitoring main metrics.** We received a ton of positive feedback from the potential audience and managed to move to the next steps of CIFRA development.

### Takeaways

Thanks to the hard work and passion of my teammates, we were able to formulate key business metrics, create a solid UX, and set up an infrastructure for numerous new A/B tests. However, there are still things where improvement may be needed:

1. Collaborate with developers and leadership early and often.

2. Take one thing at a time, and test it, test it, test it!

3. We needed to announce the new product before launch and create the waitlist page.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2Fbc9d4c02-2bb5-458c-87e1-9ffaffcca41f.mp4?alt=media&token=19f9cc40-d212-4faf-99e7-00300b1165fb","id":"bc9d4c02-2bb5-458c-87e1-9ffaffcca41f","width":720,"height":1280,"filename":"Cifra promo 2.mp4","type":"video/mp4","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2Fe04e764f-c051-4e3f-97b0-a74163f0a78e.mp4?alt=media&token=d0ce6a0c-95f7-44a7-9929-e5f457abc272","id":"e04e764f-c051-4e3f-97b0-a74163f0a78e","width":720,"height":1280,"filename":"Cifra promo (1) (1).mp4","type":"video/mp4","caption":"","border":false},{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2F2VpThIQ4qfhinRQ7BT8p7zgXD2O2%2Fcifra%2Fc79a5923-e188-46a3-a120-f9407aded278.mp4?alt=media&token=589ca475-07c9-4edb-92fe-2460e0ea417e","id":"c79a5923-e188-46a3-a120-f9407aded278","width":1440,"height":2560,"filename":"video (1).mp4","type":"video/mp4","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

How we made digital platform Cifra

Product Designer at Takeprofit

– Created the Pitstop application, which achieved an average rating of 5 in the App Store.\
– Effectively collaborated within multicultural and diverse teams.\
– I was among the 50 students invited to attend the second year. Additionally, contributed to designing marketing materials for the Apple Developer Academy.

For the Yota project, we revamped their mobile and web interfaces to make them simpler and more intuitive. The main focus was on redesigning the SIM ordering process to enhance user navigation and overall experience. This redesign, guided by a mobile-first strategy, aimed to engage Yota's customers better and increase their satisfaction with the service.

Design support

Humans.uz is a fintech product that blend banking, telecom services, and a marketplace. The website showcases the product’s ongoing development, featuring new services, expanding network coverage zones, a blog, and more. The website was also utilized for launching the referral program and initial marketing efforts. We helped the fintech Humans.uz to build a system of communication with users.\
\
I was personally involved in the daily design contributions to this product.

A website for a fintech product

Quadcode is an international fintech company developing software for the trading and investment industry. I am working on the Affiliate program Affstore. It brings together some of the most popular products in the fintech world into a single program. Currently, they have over 325 million affiliates registered in various parts of the world.\
\
– Worked on a design system rapidly, comprising over 120 components and supplementary tools.\
– Improve the end-to-end experience of the Affiliate Platform by conducting usability reviews, identifying UX issues, and proposing design recommendations.\
– Conduct persona research with customers to make data-driven design decisions.\
– Communicate and implement technical strategies with cross-functional teams. \
– Worked closely with the product owner, engineers and analysts to address UX issues and elevate user engagement

Product designer

TakeProfit is a community-driven trading platform for the new generation of investors which combines intuitive user-centered design with the creators economy.

We are building something absolutely new from the ground, totally reinventing trading experience.

Twice the best agency in the world in 2017 and 2019. I primarily focused on fintech products and service interfaces. I contributed to the formation of a design team, facilitated workshops, and delivered numerous client presentations.\
\
– Provided support to one of the largest mobile operators in various aspects of UX design, promotional design, service design, and the development of marketing-related design materials.\
– Delivered a boost in conversion rates through the optimisation of the mobile operator checkout form.\
– Collaborate with cross-functional teams and provide design support for various marketing campaigns.\
– Mentored junior designers and conducted workshops and lectures.\
– Reduced web development time through the implementation of no-code development tools and processes. – Played a pivotal role in bringing the multipurpose digital art platform to life—from its inception, through investigation, and all the way to the design conception.\
– Participated in a competitive tender and successfully completed the assigned test task

– Created landing pages using no-code tools like Tilda, Webflow, and Readymag.\
– Provided design support to small businesses.

Anna Antonova

2024

2023