⌦Crypto Lady Gang : UX/UI & Product Development

INTRO
Crypto Lady Gang is a pioneering initiative that aims to provide an inclusive space and valuable resources for women artists, collectors, and developers in the digital art and NFT industry. As the founder of this collective, my goal is to foster a supportive community where female creators can come together, prioritize the art and the artist, and uplift one another.

Our platform serves as a curated gallery specifically focused on women in the digital art and NFT realm. By doing so, we create a virtual hub that facilitates connections and collaborations among women in this industry. Through our efforts, we strive to break through the noise and provide a platform where women artists can be prominently showcased and discovered within a predominantly male-dominated NFT space.

ROLE
UX/UI Designer
Product Designer
Art Direction

PROBLEM
The NFT space presents a significant opportunity to empower and promote women artists, who currently represent only 16% of NFT artists despite comprising 51% of all artists. This lack of female representation within the Metaverse and NFT world has led to a common challenge for users: the difficulty in finding a centralized platform that facilitates the discovery and support of women artists.

Additionally, users (art collectors and artists) express a clear desire for a dedicated digital community where they can easily locate and support women artists. To address these issues, there was an urgent need to establish a platform that not only connects users with women artists but also fosters a supportive community where these artists can showcase their work and uplift one another.

Solution

PHASE I : Community & Curation

The journey commenced with a single tweet, where I shared my vision for the project with the community. The response was immediate and overwhelming, with numerous artists expressing interest and receiving recommendations from others who knew talented artists eager to join. Motivated by the positive reception, I personally reached out to some of my favorite artists in the NFT space.

However, the volume of messages soon became unmanageable, necessitating a more streamlined approach. To ensure a high standard of curation, I introduced an application system. This enabled me to carefully assess and select the best artists and projects to showcase in our galleries. Alongside this growth, our project's social media presence expanded rapidly, leading to the establishment of a vibrant and engaged Discord community.

PHASE I : User Research

To gain a deeper understanding of the users' needs and preferences, I conducted a survey within our Discord group. The valuable insights gathered from the survey helped shape the direction of the project, highlighting three key requirements:

✦ Artist Profiles: Users expressed the desire for a platform that prominently showcased and featured women artists. They wanted to be able to easily discover artists, learn more about their work, and access their social media handles.

✦ Curated Shop: The NFT space can be overwhelming due to the sheer volume of content available. Users emphasized the need for a curated feed that exclusively showcased beautiful artwork from gender minorities. Additionally, since artists often sell their work on various marketplaces, there was a strong demand for a designated section where users could find direct links to shop on the artists' individual pages.

✦ Community: The Crypto Lady Gang artists formed a supportive and collaborative community. Users highlighted the importance of having a safe space to network, collaborate, and foster connections among fellow artists within the Crypto Lady Gang collective.

PHASE I : Wireframing & Designing

Based on the insights gained, I created wireframes that catered to the perspectives of artists and collectors, ensuring the design aligned with their expectations. After finalizing the wireframes, I proceeded to code and implement the platform, translating the visual elements and user interactions into functional components. Throughout the process, I remained mindful of the research findings, aiming to provide an intuitive and visually appealing platform that addresses the needs of artists and collectors in the NFT space.

By combining research-driven insights with effective wireframe designs, the resulting platform offers a user-centered experience. The implementation phase involved coding the frontend and integrating necessary backend functionalities to ensure a seamless user interface. The platform strives to provide a visually captivating and intuitive environment where artists can showcase their work and collectors can discover and engage with women-led projects in the NFT space.

The branding of the platform strikes a balance between being fun and vibrant while allowing the artwork in the gallery to take center stage. However, to create a distinctive presence on social media platforms, vibrant and eye-catching colors were strategically incorporated to make the platform stand out. This approach ensures that the artwork remains the focal point while also creating a visually appealing and memorable experience for users.

PHASE III : User Testing

After launching a user test to some of our Discord community, we received valuable feedback from our users.

✦ Filtered Gallery: The key takeaway was the need for additional features in the directory to facilitate a more targeted search for specific artists. Our users expressed the desire for more refined filters to cater to their preferences. For instance, some collectors preferred shopping on specific platforms, while others were interested in artists from certain countries or specific artistic mediums such as illustration or photography.

To implement the desired features in the directory, I hired a summer engineering intern who worked with me to build a customizable search function. Users can now search for artists based on country, medium, and platform, providing a more tailored experience. This collaboration resulted in a seamless and user-friendly solution that enhances the platform's directory.

Here is the final product:

The website offers several key features:

✦ Filtered Gallery: Users can search for artists based on country, marketplace, and artist medium, allowing for a more customized browsing experience.

✦ Shoppable Artist Pages: Each artist has a dedicated page that includes their bio, information about their specific collection, direct links to their marketplace profiles, and social media handles. This provides users with comprehensive insights into the artists and their work.

✦ Artist Studio: Artists who are part of the Crypto Lady Gang community have access to the artist studio. This includes group project posts and a community center on Discord, where artists can engage in discussions, ask questions, and collaborate with other members of the community.

✦ Diverse Artist Base: The platform started with 20 artists but has since grown to include nearly 100 artists from around the world. The collective comprises painters, photographers, videographers, illustrators, and animators, showcasing a wide range of artistic mediums and styles.

These features collectively contribute to an inclusive and interactive platform that supports women artists, promotes their work, and fosters a sense of community and collaboration within the NFT space.

Results

The rollout of the platform was an immense success, generating a remarkable level of engagement and achievements. Some notable successes include:

✦ Key Metrics: Average Time on Page increased by 50%. As well as page clicks per user, making more users explore more artists.

✦ Artist Applications: The platform received a significant influx of artist applications, resulting in a curated selection of around 100 talented artists from various countries worldwide.

✦ Miami Art Basel Show: Crypto Lady Gang had the opportunity to curate a show at the prestigious Miami Art Basel, showcasing the works of the talented women artists within the collective.

✦ Collaboration with Global Women in VC NFT Collection: Crypto Lady Gang curated artists to collaborate with the Global Women in Venture Capital NFT Collection, fostering partnerships and amplifying the voices of women artists in the industry.

✦ Featured in Forbes: The platform garnered attention and recognition, being featured in Forbes, where its mission and accomplishments were highlighted. Read here

✦ Featured in Marie Claire: Crypto Lady Gang also gained recognition in Marie Claire, further showcasing the platform's impact and the talented women artists it supports. Read Here