A curation tool made just for content creators to aid in the development and production of a show or creative project.
Teams Worked with
Stakeholder, Project Manager, Frotnever Developer
Duration
8 weeks
Deliverables
Desktop and Mobile Prototype, Logo, Palette, Icon System, Font, and Powerpoint slides.
Tools
Figma, Adobe Illustrator
Impact
I am very proud of my work with the CSS team and Ask Yalda. Finding a solution to the design problems, user needs, and budget limitations created a very rewarding challenge. This was my first time branding a company and while there is always room for improvement, I am very satisfied with how it turned out.
Ask Yalda has made the following impact:
• Provided a free and easy to use search engine with relevant fact checked data.
• Created an intuitive way to save and organise information.
• Narrowed the gap between science backed data and what is portrayed on TV.
Project Goal
Design a search engine website for users to easily access credible information and allow users to save, organize, and share these results. Design the logo and UI for this new brand.
Problem
Screenwriters for tv shows and movies do not have time to research or check sources for their work.
Solution
Create a search engine for screenwriters where they can easily access and save credibly sourced research.
About Ask Yalda
I was hired as the sole designer by ASKYALDA to brand and design their new product. ASKYALDA is a curation tool made just for content creators to aid in the development and production of television shows, film, or creative projects.
ASKYALDA a searchable database that provides research insights and content suggestions, allowing users to unlock a vast library of published scientific research from experts in human development, neuroscience, and media impact.
Research
Insight
Writers work on tight schedules and do not have the time to research. When they do research, they do not fact check. Thus, the search results needed to be easy to comprehend, easily scannable, and clearly sourced.
I was provided with preliminary research by my client. I additionally researched search engines and their best practices, and other websites that allow users to search and collect data.
Secondly, I researched the branding of CSS, the company creating Ask Yalda, and the branding of other search engines and tools for writers, directors, and producers. I wanted to extend CSS's branding into something that felt in line with tools writers already use. This branding would direct the UI for the project.
Design Methodology
Insight
Once the logo was designed and had a symbolic backstory, all other visuals fell into place as support.
I broke this project down into 3 stages; Branding, Design stage 1, Design stage 2.
I used the double diamond design process for each stage. I chose this process because my client had already completed the bulk of the research and wanted to be very involved in the design process.
Branding and UI
Insight
Once the logo was designed and had a symbolic backstory, all other visuals fell into place as support.
My client wanted Ask Yalda to have a unique visual voice that tied back to CSS's branding. The branding was inspired by a writer the Ask Yalda team interviewed. They mentioned that when they are researching, they are "looking for that pop, that line, that spark." The "spark" became the core of Ask Yalda's branding.
This aesthetic and brand was expanded into the design assets, including logo, palette, icon system, and graphics.
Information Architecture
Insight
Since the search function is the core of this product, it must be accessible from all pages.
The search function was the core of this product. The user flow helped me navigate how users would interact and manage their search results.
Design and Testing
Insight
Users are scanning their results and want everything on one page.
Searching for Insights
Selected filters, based on what our user is most commonly looking for, were incorporated to help direct users to specific data.
Insights were designed as cards, that included relevant tags, and 3 options: to add that insight to a folder, instantly save the insight as a favourite, or copy the insight to the users clipboard.
Welcome Home
Ask Yalda is a search engine, and I wanted users to know it functioned like one. The home page was designed to mimic a classic search engine, and suggested, clickable terms were placed below the input box. These terms reflect the most searched term of the week.
This project included 2 drafts and 1 round of design testing.
Saving Insights
Research revealed that users are working on multiple projects, that include different goals, at the same time. Thus, the ability to organise insights was created. Users are able to create folders, add, delete, and sort insights.
A Streamlined Experience
Many features were removed, such as the ability to write notes, custom folders, and recommended search terms. The abstract custom icons were replaced with symbol icons to represent a smaller category of data. Tags were replaced with the ability to see the source of the data. Users could now view the source of the data and view all other insights from the source. Endless scrolling was replaced with pages to reduce load time.
After passing off the final file, the Ask Yalda team circled back to let me know they no longer could use all the features we designed due to new financial constraints. They needed an updated design that streamlined the experience and removed the folders and notes feature.
New Constraints!
Insight
Replacing tags with the option to view a search results source increases the reliability of the data.
Hand Off
At the end of this project, I presented the entire design to my client. They passed the project on to their engineer team. I briefly worked with their engineer team to answer any questions.