Year: 2023

Project type: Website redesign

Scope: Identity, UX/UI and illustration

Duration: Six weeks

Tools: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop

Background

Based in Bordeaux, Akigora carefully selects freelance professionals with over a decade of experience and puts them in contact with companies and educational institutions who seek their expertise.

The challenge

While sign-up rates were high, many recruiters didn't return to the platform, opting for calling directly on the phone.

Akigora assigned me to investigate the reasons and propose a design solution.

The Process

Step 1: Empathize

1.1 Secondary Research

I conducted secondary research on Akigora's industry, market, and user behavior. This included reading articles, analyzing Google Reviews, and listening to a 1-hour interview with founder Guillaume Mouzet.

1.2 Competitive Analysis

I assessed Akigora against its competitors (Malt, Tenors, LeHibou, and Comet) to understand strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for a better user experience.

1.3 User Interviews

I conducted one-on-one interviews with Akigora users to understand their platform usage, likes, dislikes, and challenges. Here's what they said:

1.4 Heuristics Evaluation

Through a heuristics analysis I identified usability issues that needed to be resolved in order to make the sign-up process as intuitive and easy as possible for recruiters.

Step 2: Ideate

2.1 User Persona

From what I found in my research, I put together a user persona to inform the design phase.

2.2 User Journey

Next, to understand Julie's perspective and pain points, I created a visualization outlining her interactions with Akigora, from initial encounter to task completion.

2.3 Problem Statement

Step 3: Ideate

3.1 Worst Idea

First, I did a "worst idea" exercise, which sparks innovation by kicking things off with the most counterintuitive design ideas.

3.2 Crazy 8’s

Next, I did a "Crazy 8's" brainstorm, a speedy technique where you try to generate many design ideas in eight minutes.

Step 4: Prototype

4.1 Lo Fidelity Prototype

At this stage, I just sketched out some basic ideas on paper for the user interface focusing on the functionality rather than the aesthetics.

4.2 Medium Fidelity Prototype

I made a mid-fidelity prototype to make the design feel more real, still prioritizing functionality over perfection.

4.3 Usability Test

I evaluated the efficiency of the prototype to identify problems and gather feedback by observing 3 separate users interact with it in real time.

Product, Identity Design and Illustration

Akigora