Glazily
A playful hub of information and inspiration for the growing community of hobby ceramicists
Project Type: Mobile Application
Industry: Recreation
Type: Social Media & Education
Role: Research, Ideation, UX/UI, Branding, Wire framing, Prototyping and Testing
A Ceramic studio’s communication problem
Artillery AG, a ceramics studio located in the bustling Mission District of San Francisco, approached me to design a member portal to enhance communication between members and management. We brainstormed various communication platforms and methods, but we realized that before addressing how information was relayed, we needed to determine what information members wanted to know. So we asked!
“What information would be helpful for the studio to provide?”
Responses:
Kiln schedule
Glaze combinations
Slab building tips
Wheel throwing tips
Events in the space
Clay recycling information
Colored clay information
Tool guide
Equipment information, e.g. clay extruder
Highlighting inspirational work of members
Insight:
While items such as the kiln schedule and event list were expected to be the main concerns, members surprisingly expressed greater interest in gaining knowledge about the foundational aspects of ceramics rather than the studio's day-to-day operations.
The Mission
Confident that this thirst for knowledge is shared across all ceramic studios, we expanded the project's scope to educating and inspiring the growing ceramics community, while addressing the communication challenges of small studio’s across the country.
Instead of creating a transactional relationship with our users in the form of a resource library, our product would be built through the involvement of the community.
Challenges
How might we create a platform that can actively engage users enough to contribute, while competing with apps like instagram and pinterest for attention?
Understanding the incentives for various parties to contribute to the app. A studio owner, a youtube instructor, and a hobby ceramist will all come to the platform for different reasons.
Working with brands such as Amaco and Mayco Glaze to ensure accurate information of their products.
Do you follow other ceramicists online?
Understanding the users
To begin this journey I interviewed ten ceramicists from Artillery and other studios in San Francisco. I was particularly interested in understanding how they currently access information and what personally motivates them in their craft.
Image/ Video inspiration
image galery - 5
Video inspiration - 5
Ability to save images - 4
User Profile
Post images - 5
Saved images - 5
Groups - 5
Save user works in progress - 4
Log glaze combinations used - 4
Followed accounts - 3
Post information
Image - 5
Glaze - 5
Comments - 4
Save - 4
Clay body -3
Cone - 2
App Usage Breakdown
By breaking out the percentage of time spent in each category, we established a design framework to guide us. The majority of usage will be divided among the inspirational and educational categories.
Site Map
How do you track the progress of your pieces?
What resources do you use when looking for each of the following categories?
What are the biggest challenges you face in ceramics?
What draws you to ceramics?
Insight into How Might We
Is selling your work important to you?
How do you save/ document things that inspire you?
Information Architecture
To establish the priorities of the application I listed possible components and subcategories then assigned each a score based on its perceived importance to the user.
Searching
search for profiles - 4
search for glazes - 4
search for groups/ studios - 4
search for advice - 3
Glazing
Glaze of posted image - 4
Glaze combination - 3
Saving glaze favorites - 3
Glazing specifications- 2
Glazing safety tip - 2
Community and Education
Q&A board - 4
group/ studio page - 4
studio events - 3
studio messages - 3
studio posts - 3
Tutorial videos - 3
Wheel throwing focus - 3
Mentor tips- 2
Tool information - 2
Kiln Information -2
Hand building focus -2
Cone information - 1
User Persona A: Hobby Ceramicist
User Persona B: Ceramic Studio
Initial Wireframe
Encompassing Homepage
Social media platforms like Instagram excel at engaging users instantly, and we wanted Glazily to offer a similar experience by making inspiration images, video tutorials, and messages easily accessible. The challenge was consolidating this content onto a single screen.
By integrating the image gallery with Q&A content, we aim to replicate Instagram's scrollable engagement, ensuring advice and questions are more frequently seen and answered.
The “Immediacy Factor”
While activities like scrolling through the gallery looking for inspiration or advice can be done passively, tasks such as finding a particular glaze or combinations are tasks that often to be resolved with more immediacy. Easy access to this tool necessitates that the Glaze tab be located on the navigation bar.
