Melanin Moms Media
Timeline:
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8 weeks
Role:
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UX/ UI Designer
Melaninmomsmedia.com is a marketplace for content creators of color, The purpose of Melanin Moms Media is to connect brands, activations, and events, specifically to provide income to mom bloggers and influencers of diverse racial backgrounds and to connect the brands to their target audiences.
As a UX/ UI designer, I worked with the owner to create a website platform that provides a clear mission of Melanin Mom’s Media mission and provides the ability to capture interested candidates and connect them to potential brands. This platform acts as a conduit between the content creator and the targeted brand.
Background:
The founder came to me with a mission statement for the business and a goal to attract new candidates to use to acquire/ link them with brands from the company's rosters.
Problem: Users do not know this type of agency exists!
As a content creator once in the influencers space there were not many markets places that specialized in linking African American creators with specialized brands.
Solution:
Create a Visual Fingerprint
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Create a site that is visually impactful by using colors that excite
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Simplify the number of pages
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Make the home page act as a “dashboard” for easy access
Streamline Intake
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Create intake forms for the 2 types of audiences (Influencers and Brand)
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Make it “one-click” for easy intake
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Provide expectations upfront
Make information Digestible
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Bullet point information for a “quick glance” overview
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Provide headers to direct the flow
Competitive Analysis + The Gap
The competitors didn’t offer a DIVERSE platform.
I chose and compared the three top influencer platforms which have similar services and
business models with Melanin Moms Media, aiming to find out what makes these
platforms stand out, what they may lack, and how to differentiate the Melanin Moms
Media's website.
I discovered that they all lacked a diverse roster of creators. This became my solution and focus.
Compare their visual design, website features, and homepage content
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Expectations Upfront on the Home page
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Separation for intake
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Easy “one-click” features for seamlessness
Condense the USP (unique selling point) of Melanin Mome Media
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Offering a platform for Brands and Influencers
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Focus on diverse Females
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Focus on Brand Connection
Mood Board and Color Story
I created the mood board to capture the look, feel, and voice of the audience. This board helped to communicate with the founder the design direction for the new website concept.
She loved the earth tones, representation of women of color, and focus on motherhood. I added deep and subtle pink to amp up the femininity of the platform through the color story.
Final Products
Conclusion + Lessons Learned
Melanin Mom was an easy project because I could relate to the audience. Creating the layout and coupling this with the understanding of the audience created a platform that spoke directly to their audience.
The thing I would have changed would have been the following:
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Made this an App: This platform might have lived better as an app. Making it easily accessible via mobile and integrating them through social platforms.
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Better Back In Database: Although we streamline the intake process I wish I could have found a better platform to capture data once received in the back-end.
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Community through Forums: I would have loved to explore the option of a membership or community site to build further within the space. This would have attracted non-influencers and overtime might have turned them into content creators with the right messaging provided in the forums. This space could have also served as insight for brands to know what creators were looking for in campaigns.