Solution

Clay Vault is a mobile app designed to support potters throughout their pottery journey, from beginning to end. Its goal is to capture every detail of the process, helping them identify what worked well and where they can improve.  Clay Vault enables potters to connect within a community, where they can share their experiences and ask questions.

Primary Research

For my primary research, I set out to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges potters face, especially when it comes to their work processes and how they track their progress. My goal was to explore the different ways potters work, how they build on their knowledge, and the unique struggles they encounter, particularly when comparing at-home potters to those working in community studios.

To gather insights, I focused on two types of primary research: ethnographic studies and interviews. I spent one month observing a pottery studio in Orange County, conducting 5 semi-structured interviews with various potters working there. This combination of direct observation and personal interviews allowed me to uncover valuable insights and organize my findings into five key themes:

1. Studio Environment
2. Studio Organization & Logistics
3. Class Experience: Instructors & Students
4. Tracking of Pottery Pieces
5. Pottery Techniques & Tools

These themes helped me identify both the common challenges potters face and potential areas for improvement, particularly around the tools, techniques, and systems that support their creative work.

Empathy Maps

During my month-long ethnographic studies and interviews, I identified three key groups that shape the challenges faced by potters: (1) instructors or employees, (2) novice potters, and (3) experienced potters. Understanding their distinct perspectives—thoughts, feelings, and behaviors—is crucial because each group has unique experiences and needs.

Personas

I wanted to be able to deeply understand each key group by diving deeper into their needs, pain points, and what information each group needs to keep track of. I created three personas using my empathy maps:

1. Sam: A new potter, Sam is excited yet overwhelmed by the information she is learning from her class. She diligently takes notes on her instructor’s teachings, advice, and her own progress to improve her skills.
2. Hannah: An experienced potter with a vast collection of pieces, Hannah struggles to remember what type of clay and glaze combinations she used. With numerous pieces to keep track of, she finds it difficult to locate the specific clay and color combinations when asked for details about her work.
3. Riley: An instructor at the community studio, Riley oversees over a hundred students. She tracks their expertise level, current lesions, and stages in the pottery process while also sharing important announcements.

Competitive Analysis

With a clearer understanding of my target audience, I set out to research the market and identify potential competitors. My goal was to uncover any gaps in the market and assess the strengths and weaknesses of these competitors.

How Might We (HMW) Statements

With a deeper understanding of my target audience, the market, and competitors, I formulated "How Might We" (HMW) statements to explore potential solutions for the identified problem statements. This process allowed me to reframe the challenges into actionable areas of opportunity. I also categorized the statements by high, medium or low priority.

• How might we assist in keeping track of a pottery piece from start to finish for a new pottery student so that they can remember and recall their process to see what went right and what went wrong?
• How might we assist in keeping track of pottery pieces for experienced potters so that they can easily find information about previous work?
• How might we keep detailed information about their pieces for the experienced potters so that they can share their knowledge with others?

• As a pottery instructor, I want to keep track of all my students and their abilities/skills, so that I can personalize their class experience based on their level.
• As a studio manager, I want to share announcements efficiently, so that I can spend my time on other tasks around the studio instead of repeating myself multiple times a day.
• As a studio manager, I want to keep track of all the pieces in the studio efficiently so that the studio can be kept neat and organized.
• As a potter, I want to be able to keep track of new knowledge and techniques, so that I can continuously get better.
• As an experienced potter, I want to be able to keep track of pieces made in different places, so that I can easily locate my pieces.

• As a new pottery student, I want to be able to locate my pieces in the studio easily, so that I can spend more of my time working on my pieces.
• As a new pottery student, I want to be able to continuously learn from others, so that I can improve my skills.
• As a new pottery student, I want to make new connections with other potters, so that I can enjoy and share my latest experience with others.

Ideations

For each "How Might We" (HMW) statement, I began by brainstorming potential solutions and outlining them in text. I then translated these ideas into quick sketches to visualize how they might look in the application. This iterative process allowed me to refine and explore different design possibilities, ensuring each solution was both functional and user-friendly.

Acceptance Criteria

I defined acceptance criteria for each user story to clearly outline the requirements needed to mark a feature as complete. Below are examples from the high-priority user stories:

• Scenario: The user adds details of the pottery piece
• Given: The user has added details of a pottery piece into the app.
• When: They click the Submit button
• Then: The app will save and show all the details of that pottery piece.

• Scenario: The user looks up information about a previous pottery piece.
• Given: The user wants to search for information about a prior pottery piece.
• When: The user searches for the name of a pottery piece and filters through their products
• Then: The app will show the product that they are looking for

• Scenario: The user wants to look up details of a pottery piece to share information with others
• Given: The user has tracked detailed information on the pottery piece and now wants to search for a particular piece.
• When: The user searches for this piece.
• Then: The app will show the piece that they are looking for

Sitemap

At this stage, I had a clear vision of the key features I wanted to include in the mobile application. I developed a sitemap to structure these features into hierarchical categories, prioritizing the organization and grouping to ensure a logical flow. My focus was on creating a seamless navigation experience for the user.

User Flows

I used the sitemap as a foundation to design user flows for the app's main features. My primary focus was creating intuitive navigation, ensuring users could reach their destinations with minimal steps and time.

Sketches

I sketched out all the screens in the user flows using pen and paper, often iterating multiple versions of each screen to find the most effective layout and design. My focus was on ensuring intuitive navigation, consistency, and an overall user-friendly experience.

Wireframes

I took my paper sketches and translated them into digital wireframes using Figma. Through several iterations, I refined the design to ensure greater consistency and intuitiveness. I paid close attention to the layout, making sure that the most important features were easily accessible for the user.

Brand Platform

I created a brand platform for Clay Vault to define its identity and provide clear guidelines for all aspects of the company. This platform ensures consistency across the brand and helps drive growth and success by aligning the company’s vision, values, and communication strategy.

• Mission Statement:
  Clay Vault’s mission is to support potters at every stage of their creative journey by providing a platform to track their work and fostering a strong, connected community.
• Target Audience:
  There are three main target audience groups: the beginner potter, the experienced potter, and the studio owner/instructor.
• Core Values:
  Creativity: empowering potters to express their artistic journey with tools that support their exploration
  Community: providing a supportive and inclusive space where potters can share experiences and learn from one another
  Organization: providing tools to track, manage, and reflect on their pottery projects
  Accessibility: ensuring that all the features of the app are accessible to potters of all skill levels
  Growth: supporting goals and refining skills for potters of all skill levels.
  Quality: providing a reliable and user-friendly tool for tools to create work that they can be proud of
• Value Proposition:
  Clay Vault offers a comprehensive platform to track your pottery progress while connecting you to a supportive, welcoming community of fellow potters.
• Brand Culture:
  Clay Vault’s brand culture is one of creative collaboration, thoughtful growth, and a strong sense of community.

Moodboard

With the brand platform in mind, I created a moodboard that includes imagery of potters at work, pottery studios, and various pottery pieces. I also gathered UI inspiration featuring earthy tones, primarily tans, greens, and browns. From this, I developed a color palette of warm, natural hues to align with the pottery aesthetic and reflect the organic, creative spirit of the brand.

iOS 14 UI Kit

I designed a comprehensive iOS 14 UI kit featuring a wide range of UI elements essential for building modern mobile apps. The kit includes carefully crafted components such as layout structures, system elements, typography, color palettes, icons, buttons, input fields, options, toggles, accordions, bottom navigation bars, progress indicators, cards, search fields, titles, chips, and toast notifications. I created each icon to ensure consistency. Each element is accompanied by a clear title, detailed description, and its associated components to provide a cohesive, user-friendly design system that supports intuitive and consistent app development.

Hi-fis

I applied the color palette, typography, and icons from the style guide to my wireframes, transforming them into high-fidelity designs. I made sure the color contrast met the 4.5:1 ratio to ensure compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). I also iterated multiple times to refine the design, focusing on improving consistency and enhancing the overall usability of the application.

Prototype

I linked all the screens of the high-fidelity designs in Figma to build the interactive prototype. My focus was on ensuring clear, easy navigation throughout the app. I also ensured that touch points were large enough for easy interaction and spaced appropriately to minimize errors.

Usability Testing

I conducted in-person moderated usability testing to identify any potential usability issues and gather insights for improving my design. To ensure the process was structured and effective, I developed a detailed testing plan that outlined participant selection and the goals for each session. I also created a usability testing script to guide the sessions and ensure I was asking the right questions to gather meaningful feedback.

I had several hypotheses going into the testing: I expected users would find it easy to sign up, add notes, send messages, and adjust their settings. However, I also anticipated that there might be confusion around the pottery icons, the different types of notes, and locating the user profile.

I focused on the following tasks for usability testing:

1. Onboarding
2. Tracking
3. Add a new student to the class
4. Edit a Reflection
5. Add a new community post
6. Send a new message
7. Change tracking settings
8. Change notification settings

Redesign

After organizing the usability testing findings by priority, I developed solutions to address the most critical issues. I then incorporated user feedback into a redesign, focusing on making the application more intuitive and streamlined to help users achieve their goals more easily. For example, in the before-and-after screenshots below, I made the “Edit” button more prominent and added functionality for users to delete or share their pottery projects. This change was based on feedback indicating that "Edit" was a key feature, and users were unable to share or delete their projects, which impacted their experience.

Reflection

As the sole product designer for Clay Vault, I gained invaluable insights into both the pottery world and the design process. This project provided me with a unique opportunity to deeply immerse myself in a creative space and develop a user-centered solution for potters. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of working on the project from end to end, covering everything from UX research and ideation to UI design and implementation.

A month of ethnographic research was very rewarding!

One of the most rewarding aspects of the project was the time I spent conducting ethnographic research. I dedicated an entire month to observing and interacting with potters in their studio environment. By watching them work and asking detailed questions, I was able to gain a deep understanding of their daily routines, pain points, and the challenges they face in managing their craft. This in-the-field research allowed me to collect valuable insights, which were instrumental in shaping the final product. The experience was truly eye-opening, and it reinforced the importance of user empathy in creating a solution that truly serves their needs.

Challenges

However, the project was not without its challenges. One of the most significant hurdles I faced was the lack of feedback during the UI design phase. After receiving an abundance of useful feedback during the UX research and user interviews, I found myself working in isolation as the sole designer on the project. Without the constant input of other designers or stakeholders, I struggled to get the feedback I needed to refine the UI. I had to rely on my fellow design friends for feedback, which taught me to better appreciate the value of collaboration and constructive critique. This experience highlighted the importance of seeking feedback early and often throughout the design process, even if it means going outside your immediate team.

Learnings on Balancing Creativity with Practicality

Another important takeaway from this project was the value of planning and time management. Given the scope of the project and the timeline, I quickly realized that detailed planning was essential to stay on track. I created a detailed roadmap outlining key deliverables, deadlines, and milestones, which helped me avoid scope creep and ensured that I stayed focused on delivering the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) within a reasonable timeframe. This experience reinforced the importance of balancing creativity with practicality and keeping the project aligned with both user needs and business goals.

I'll be taking in all I've learned in this project with me to the next project.

In summary, Clay Vault was a deeply rewarding project that taught me valuable lessons in both design and process. From conducting immersive user research to managing the full design lifecycle, I gained a better understanding of how to balance user empathy with design efficiency. The challenges I encountered—especially around feedback and planning—have made me a more resilient and thoughtful designer, and I’m excited to continue applying these lessons in future projects.