Project Overview
LINKEDIN CREATIVE is a new feature aimed at making LinkedIn the go-to hub for creatives to connect, collaborate, and find job opportunities.
The Problem
LinkedIn, with 900 million users, is the dominate platform for job search and networking. However, its limitations in showcasing creative content limits artists and creators, pushing them to use external sites for hosting their creative work.
The Solution
Upgrading LinkedIn to an inclusive platform that enables creatives to showcase their work through upgraded profile page, a new search engine for creative content and helping them connect with other collaborators and recruiters.
Role : UX Research Lead | UX Design | Project Lead | Prototyping | Wire-framing | Usability Testing
Tools: Figma | Notion
Highlights at a Glance
Linkedin Creative Browsing Page
New Profile Page
Add Project Details
Published Work
Analyzing Competitors
Where do creatives currently showcase their work?
When examining successful competitor platforms, we zoomed in on Behance. It's widely used for discovering creatives and inspiration. Our approach involved a thorough SWOT analysis to grasp its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
This analysis facilitated the identification of crucial features for creative professionals, ensuring competitiveness in the design of LinkedIn Creative while maintaining LinkedIn's core goal as a professional networking platform.
Uncovering Users’ Needs
User research findings & insights
We interviewed 10 users who identified themselves as creatives, and asked them about their goals and needs for engaging in creative environments:
01
Discovery & Inspiration
Browsing through creative work helps creatives in connecting with others and finding inspiration
02
Community Engagement
Staying connected in the community means receiving feedbacks for improvement & referrals for their skills
03
Authenticity
Verifying creators’ authenticity and their true contribution in projects is vital in creating trust and legitimacy
04
Opportunity for Growth
Sharing work helps creators in establishing a presence & brand for potential hires and career advancement
“
“ I share my work so I can attract clients who need my services”
- The Expert
“ I’m looking for collaboration gigs to build a portfolio, without my day-job knowing about my side gigs.”
- The Explorer
“ I want to connect to the right creative community, those who understand and inspire me”
- The Expressionist
”
Louis, the main persona, is built around the experiences of creative individuals we interviewed, focusing on those who faced the most challenges.
Its not just for the creatives!
In our interviews with creatives, we found that users worry about verifying legitimacy and authenticity when assessing potential collaborators. This prompted us to rethink our user groups, realizing we should include not only creators but also those hiring them for their skills.
Consequently, we expanded our interview questions to explore what hiring managers need when searching for creative talents
“
I Need to know if a candidate’s work is legitimate
-The Recruiter
”
The second persona, is built around the needs of a recruiter looking to hire the right talent.
Ideating Solution and Project Planning
Revisiting project road map & key objectives
Given our tight schedule and many ideas out of our brainstorming studio; we prioritized our objectives on achieving the most crucial goals important to both users and LinkedIn: showcasing creative work & discovering creative talent to hire.
Familiar and Accessible Flow For The Key Objectives
1. Showcasing Creative Work : “Create a Portfolio” on Profile Page:
2. Discovering creative work and find talents to hire : “Creative Tab” at Home Page:
Prototyping Initial Sketches
Taking Inspiration from Existing UI
After finalizing the user flows, we sketched ideas within the current LinkedIn platform. This approach aimed to offer creatives a sense of familiarity and align with the LinkedIn design guidelines.
Testing & Iterations
Usability testing, findings & iterations
We used following tasks as our basis for testing, prompting 3 users to test the prototype to:
search for a talent to work with
make a connection for collaboration/hire
showcase their work on their portfolio.
What Worked:
Showcasing Creative Work
100% Users successfully navigated to the profile page to create new project for their portfolio
Find Creative Talents
100% Users successfully browsed for creatives through their home/feed page updates
Connect and Collaborate
100% Users successfully noticed the collaborators on the project and made a connection through messaging or following the creator
What didn’t work:
Filtering by listed SKILLS
2/3 Users expressed confusion with the SKILLS tab, assuming the tabs to be clickable buttons.
How it was resolved:
While the original design intent was to only list the project skills, we realized that making the tabs clickable for filtering would enhance the user experience.
Final Design
High Fidelity Prototype
We developed our high-fidelity prototype by utilizing LinkedIn's standard UI kit while introducing new icons and buttons at the top Navigation Bar for the new Creative Hub.
Browsing for Creatives and Work- Samples:
Creating Portfolio of Work- Samples:
Prototype Walkthrough
Lessons Learned
Reflecting on the project process & outcomes
In our rapid collaborative project, we learned to navigate uncertainties and manage diverse workflows through effective communication and teamwork. By staying aligned and dividing tasks, we successfully delivered the project on time.
01
Agile planning and team work
With many ideas, we prioritized the MVP and adapted to changing requirements. By focusing on essential features, we ensured our product met user needs within the tight timeframe.