Is Building a Community of DIY’ers, Buildable?
Buildables aims to equip DIY’ers with video tutorials along with an engaging and interactive community offering support and feedback. Cory Carrington’s case study explores the nuts and bolts of building a Buildable community experience.
Product
Buildables is a responsive website that offers video tutorials for learning home renovation techniques and best practices. Buildables hopes to create a community of “neighbors in a neighborhood” where subscribers can share their project progress, comment, follow, and advise each other. This case study details the design process, from initial research to final product, highlighting key decisions and outcomes determining how to build a Buildable community.
Goal
The primary goal was to design a responsive website that allows users to search and view video tutorials teaching home renovation and construction best practices and industry standards. The design needed to address user frustrations with existing platforms like YouTube, Udemy, SkillShare, and Coursera by providing a more user-friendly, engaging, and cost-effective solution.
Research and Competitive Analysis
To identify opportunity gaps, I conducted a thorough analysis of competitors, including YouTube, Udemy, SkillShare, and Coursera. The aim was to understand where these platforms fell short and how Buildables could fill these gaps.
User Research
Assuming users might be discouraged by the overwhelming number of videos on YouTube or the high subscription costs of other platforms, I conducted interviews with 8 participants. The goal was to validate these assumptions and gain deeper insights into user needs and preferences.
Key Insights
1. Bookmarking and Note-taking
“I need to bookmark or save notes or something. I don't want to have to screen record a whole video for one bit of info.” -Participant A
2.Engagement and Multi-tasking:
“I get bored easily. I have to distract myself just to pay attention. I need the video to stay open if I am in another program like a picture in picture sort of thing.” -Participant B
Design Process
Personas and Storyboarding
Based on the research insights, I developed personas representing typical users and their needs. Storyboarding helped visualize user interactions with the website and identify potential pain points.
Wire-framing and Prototyping
I created low-fidelity wireframes to outline the basic structure and layout of the website. These were iteratively refined into high-fidelity mockups, incorporating user feedback at each stage.
Welcome Page Utilized negative space to avoid overwhelming users with choices, ensuring a clean and inviting interface.
Search and Filtering Designed a search function allowing users to filter videos according to their preferences, with features like star ratings and favorite options.
Community Features Integrated community functionalities, enabling users to share progress, comment, follow, and advise.
Usability Testing
To ensure the design met user needs, I conducted an unmoderated usability study with 6 participants in Dallas, Texas. Each session lasted 25-30 minutes.
Findings
Search Functionality Users appreciated the ability to easily search and filter videos.
Community Interaction The community aspect was highly valued, with users expressing a need for connection and shared learning.
Immersive Experience Features like picture-in-picture video playback and bookmarking were well-received, enhancing user engagement and convenience.
The final product successfully addressed the primary user needs: an efficient search function, a supportive community, and an immersive learning experience. Buildables rises above competitors, providing a tailored solution combining instructional content with community interaction, filling the gaps left by existing platforms.
The detailed design process, from research to usability testing, ensured that user feedback was integral to the development, resulting in a product that meets and exceeds user expectations.