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Later | Creator & Brand Collabs - For Creators

Later | Creator & Brand Collabs - For Creators

How might we help creators find brand collaborations and manage their campaigns?

Role

Lead UX designer

Platform

Desktop web

Mobile web

Timeline

4 months

Background

Later is a social media management company that helps businesses and individuals schedule and publish content across multiple social media platforms.

This project aimed to expand our services by building a creator marketplace where creators could search, apply to, and manage campaigns.

Design process

This case study addresses a complex problem with potential for significant business impact. I made design decisions with scalability and KPIs in mind, while iterating on direct user feedback.

Discover

Competitor auudit

User interviews

Ideate

Problem definition

Solution exploration

Feature scoping

Design

Storyboard

User flows

Wireframing

Prototyping

Edge cases

Test

Prototype usability tests

Beta tests

Measure

Track impact

Discovery

User research

Goal

Understand what motivates a creator to invest in social media software.

Participants (creators)

Platform

Survey

Interview

Later

453

Prospective

897

Partner company

Findings

Large interest in brand collaborations as a revenue stream and willingness to pay for relevant tools

Most willing to pay for features that help optimize their strategy through data-informed recommendations

Mobile is incredibly important

Strong interest in media kits from current and non-Later users, especially with color and layout customization

Competitor audit

Document solutions in the existing landscape
Identify gaps to be filled
Determine common behaviours and solutions to inform feature planning
Establish a foundation for design exploration

Problem

Creators wanted to find campaigns with brands that felt authentic to their niche

Creators wanted to apply to campaigns, but some platforms only allowed brands to invite them to campaigns

Creators felt discouraged not knowing their campaign application status, and couldn’t easily track active campaigns vs. applications

Solution

Find + apply to campaigns

Help creators find and apply to collaborate with brands on campaigns that suit their niche.

Manage campaigns

Allow creators to track campaigns they’ve interacted with so they have a clear idea of their status for every collaboration (e.g. Invited, Applied, Active, Archived).

Storyboard

I led a half-day sketching session for PM and design to collaborate on journey mapping and storyboarding, which guided the next steps for design.

Feature scoping

Determine features to be built + collaborative shaping sessions to scope complex features

Estimate level of effort vs. impact to determine feature prioritization

Divide features into phases within our roadmap in order to plan detailed yet flexible sprint timelines

KPI

Number of conversions from…

Discovery of Creator Home page

Opt-in to creator database

Flow maps

I mapped the main user paths to scope out technical limitations early on. As we iterated from wireframes to high-fidelity mockups, we were able to make adjustments while staying on track with our timeline.

Wireframes

Select steps to view

1. Opt-in to creator database

2. Set up profile

3. Find campaigns

4. Open campaign application

5. Apply to campaign – Success

1. Opt-in to creator database

2. Set up profile

3. Find campaigns

4. Open campaign application

5. Apply to campaign – Success

Mockups

Onboarding, Find + apply to campaigns

Select steps to view

Creator Home

1. Opt-in to creator database + Set up profile

2. Find campaigns

4. Apply to campaign

Creator Home

1. Opt-in to creator database + Set up profile

2. Find campaigns

4. Apply to campaign

Manage campaigns

Select steps to view

Active Campaigns

Invitations

Applications

Active Campaigns

Invitations

Applications

User tests

456

Beta opt-in tests

7

Prototype usability tests

Pain points

Creators want more paid campaigns and fair compensation for deliverables

Lack of search filters for paid/unpaid campaigns (78%), deliverable platform (56%), and content type (37%)

Unclear if compensation and deliverables were negotiable

Strengths

Creators enjoyed the convenience of having brand opportunities contained in Later and the transparency created through the campaign brief.

“I like how easy it is to use. I don't have to log on to multiple platforms. Everything is already there.”

“Super easy to filter for different categories. I love how each campaign is a succinct summary of what the deliverables and compensation entails.”

Creators liked that this allowed them to connect with brands, generate income, and was easy to use.

“I love that Later is prioritizing opportunities for creators like myself to both generate income and be creative.”

Future work

Encourage brands to include monetary compensation in campaigns to connect with more creators

Explore adding filters for paid/unpaid campaigns, deliverable platforms, and content type

Provide clearer guidelines for brands to follow when writing the ‘About’ section of their campaign brief

Allow brands to define whether compensations and deliverables are negotiable in the campaign brief

Impact

Conversion metrics

The data indicated that creators were not choosing to initiate opt-in after discovering the Creator Home page, or were dropping off during the opt-in process.

Discovery of Creator Home page

Opt-in to creator database

14.4%

Jul 19/22 - Jul 19/23

Initiate opt-in

Complete opt-in

14.1%

Jul 19/22 - Jul 19/23

Reasons for low adoption

Creator Home

Lack of marketing: There was no marketing for this feature, which targeted a new user demographic. Our existing users were mainly small businesses, so most discovery came from curiosity.

Opt-in flow

Instagram OAuth issues: Many users dropped off either due to not meeting the connection requirements, or general trouble authorizing Instagram.