CASTING STUDIO
Redesigning the website and user-experience for the biggest online models & actors community in Poland
The Problem
The Problem
Casting Studio is an online casting agency for models and actors. Based in Poland, Casting Studio’s current website had a lot of issues including lack of key features, broken links, a poorly designed layout, and a confusing user flow (both on the admin and on the talent panels). Casting Studio wanted their website to reflect
the current level of success they had achieved as well as the level they aimed to achieve as they continue to expand their services, features, and technology.
The Solution
The goal was to deliver a functional, professional, user-friendly, and visually appealing admin and talent user panel in English, optimized for both mobile and desktop. Casting Studio’s new website needed to stand out in a competitive market.
The redesign concept was shaped through design thinking, thorough research, and in-depth interviews. The new application emphasized visual appeal, enhanced support, improved usability, and new feature integration.
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I refreshed the platform’s UX foundation to better support different use cases, focusing on simplicity and more effective match-finding. The redesign aimed to elevate the company's professionalism, boost engagement, and reduce customer complaints..
My Role
Sector
Tools
Project Lead
UX/UI Designer
Entertainment, Talent
Design, Service
Adobe XD, Figma
Adobe Photoshop
Miro, Mural,
Project Goals
Create a highly effective, easy platform for actors and models seeking professional castings, resources and support.
Create a highly effective, easy platform for casting agents and creators seeking talent and support.
Create a professional, aesthetically pleasing visual design.
Create a seamless, easy to navigate user experience
Design Challenge
How might we create a functional, professional, and user-friendly admin and talent user panel for Casting Studio that enhances usability, visual appeal, and customer satisfaction?
Website Analysis
To answer the design question, I first needed to get acclimated to the business model and their current website by completing an informal independent website analysis. To do this I went through the website taking notes on its usability, features, level of support and overall design. Immediately, I ran into some significant issues:
Issue #1: I could not create an account because the site requires the user to enter a 9-digit phone number and as an American I have a 10-digit one.
Issue #2: When I chose to view the site in English, it only translated a few things but the majority of the site was still in Polish. Using Google translate helped, but some translations were still awkwardly phrased and/or confusing.
Issue #3: Why should users choose Casting Studio? Users should see the why clearly. The current site does not tell the user why they should use the site.
Issue #4: There are two distinct users, both with very different goals/functionalities. The app currently only shows features for it's talent user, not those seeking to book talent.
Issue #5: Results are not categorized. Separate men, women and children. Right now all talent is lumped together on one page unless you use the search.
Issue #6: "Others" as a title over the hashtag area is not clear. Another word may work better here for clarity.
Issue #7: What is the Propositions area? Nothing is showing and there is an error message that says “No result”
Issue #8: When click on #Dance and #Fit only 3 - 4 results are shown with small profiles on a mostly empty background.
Issue #9: Don't know what some of those hashtags are? Industry related? And some yield no results when clicked.
Issue #10: Find "Casting or Specialist" could be reworded to improve understanding. For someone unfamiliar they would not know what is meant by that, especially the term specialist.
Issue #11: The plus sign (in the middle of the select category images) is often a universal sign to add something, aka its functionality in its current use?
Issue #12: On the Home page there
is only a small blurb for the Admin service/side of the application even though it is a large part of their service.
Issue #13: Castings? Nothing happened but I am not registered. Might have to be registered in order to get to an area where I can create or search castings. I went ahead and started looking into requesting a demo account.
Issue #14: Artists: No result when clicking that menu item. Based on the other menu items it seems like this page should populate with the profiles/information of active talent.
Issue #15: Marketplace: 2 packages called basic, 2 packages called pro. What's the difference? (Packages for photos & video in case talent users are in need of this resource)
Competitive Analysis
Next I performed a competitive analysis in order to identify and evaluate the key usability strengths and weaknesses of Casting Studio’s competitors, as well as familiarize myself with the online talent industry. My analysis examined key user experience components citing instances of best and worst practices from the competitors’ websites and included screenshots as examples. I used my exploration of what competitors do well and what can be improved to provide important learnings that can be applied to Casting Studio's new admin and talent user panels.
Direct Competitors Analyzed:
Analysis Objectives:
Objective #1:
Visual Appeal
Objective #2:
Level of Support
Objective #3:
Usability
Objective #4:
Features
Application Users:
This analysis considered three types of users:
Casting Director or Content Creator
Talent (this user may be tier-based)
Agents or Managers
Results & Recommendations:
Each website was explored in depth. Based on the analysis objectives and taking into consideration the client’s expressed initial needs plus the issues found during my website evaluation, the following is recommended for Casting Studio’s redesigned application:
Objective #1:
Visual Appeal
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Incorporate solid design principles, thoughtful pictures/graphics and a clean layout
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Make sure site design reflects professionalism and credibility while still giving it that wow factor
Objective #2:
Level of Support
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Expand the contact/FAQ area to increase the level of support. Include steps to be taken, video tutorials, guides, suggestions or examples
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Include resources, blog, expert advice, tips for success
Objective #3:
Usability
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Fix English filter so site is fully functional
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Categorize results to separate men, women, children
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Create distinct paths and functionality for each user
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Fix all bugs, broken links, no results
Objective #3:
Usability (Cont.)
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Search function has specific filter options to find the right part/candidate
Objective #4:
Features
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On the Home page display the why, the “hook”
Objective #4:
Features (Cont.)
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Add and improve features for talent/users
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Add and improve features for casting directors/creators
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Add and improve features for agents/managers
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Add testimonials, quotes, success stories and/or companies who have used your services
TITLE OF THE CALLOUT BLOCK
Prioritizing Needs
Based on the secondary research/competitive analysis and Casting Studio website analysis I compiled a minimum viable feature list broken down by the features needed by each type of user. After listing the minimum features, I expanded to include features that could be added as bonus features or that could come out in later versions of the application. The lists included the following features:
Stakeholder Interview
To get a clearer idea about the scope and parameters of the projects, and to make sure I fully understand the goals, values and vision of Casting Studio, I arranged to interview the co-founder and CEO. Here are some highlights from the interview:
Me: It's great to finally meet you and get to ask some real questions to find out your motivations, your goals and what vision you have for this… So can you tell me a little bit about that? What is your vision for Casting Studio?
CEO/Founder: I started doing the agency with my wife doing the management of the models and actors, we've done like thousands of castings, actually. And we found out that the most important thing in this process is the time when you do the feedback for the client. So the casting director is sending the brief, we're receiving the brief. And the agents who react very quickly are the winner. So we were searching for solutions, which helps us to send quick feedback for the clients. And then we realize that the only way to do it very quickly is to prepare such a service solution which helps to analyze the records of the people, the users and analyze the briefs… I wanted to have these things all together in one solution. It’s important to make it very quick and easy!
Me: I'm trying to figure out the reason, the why, behind it. So can you tell me why users should use Casting Studio? Why should the talent or the clients use your service over other services?
CEO/Founder: If you have all the pro talent in one place, then the casting director would stay on the site and not waste time going around to others. So what is also important for those clients is the fact that we are cooperating with the people from all over the world. And once we get the system ready for talent from different countries, then they will easily join the casting studio because all the talents all over the world, they're looking for the castings.
Me: So if you had to say one thing that I have to get right to make sure that this project is successful, what would that be?
CEO/Founder: The most important thing is to show that Casting Studio is the first solution ever in the world that gives the chance to join professional castings all over the world. And the next thing is to show that this is a very quick and easy process for them because most of the people from our industry are not using these kinds of services, they still believe that the agent is the only gate to the market and we need to crash this way of thinking.
Thematic Analysis
To conduct a thematic analysis of the data from the interview, I started by transcribing the video recording and re-reading the notes. I then created code words for each category: Goals/Vision & Motivation, Important/Priority, Problem, Purpose/Service, Unique Features, and The Why. As I went through the interview notes I made virtual sticky notes containing one item of relevant information on each. Once this was completed I started grouping all
the stickies according to code name.
There were a lot of important themes emerging from the data including:
Casting Studio wants to be an all in one service, wants to have a good relationship with clients and wants to be the first web solution to provide pro castings all over the world
Casting Studio wants to provide great matches for those seeking talent, wants the process to be quick, simple and easy, and wants the site to be professional and beautiful.
Problems include difficulty connecting casting directors with agents, directors having to hold multiple castings in multiple locations/contacting multiple agents to find right talent, and many issues with the current Casting Studio website.
Casting Studio wants talent users to be able to easily find and sign up for professional castings, for casting directors to create castings or have castings created by Casting Studio agents and for search results to yield great results on both sides.
Casting Studio is unique in publishing pro castings on the web, has projects that pay more money, talent can see castings without signing up, and offer their talent users professional photo shoots.
Reasons to use Casting Studio include the ability to access pro castings all over the world, can hold and attend virtual auditions, save casting directors research and time, and is easy, efficient and effective.
Personas
After thoroughly examining the data gathered from the interview/ thematic analysis, along with the information I learned from my secondary research and competitive analysis, I was able to develop three main user personas. These personas were instrumental in helping to understand the needs, motivations and backstories of potential users.
The first user persona I developed was that of a mid-level casting director named Charlotte out of Los Angeles. Charlotte is frustrated that she is having to hold multiple casting calls all over town and is having to contact one agent after another to try to find the right talent for her projects. She wants a faster, easier way to manage this process. Charlotte is focused on time-management, efficiency and the quality of the talent. She puts her trust in sites that look professional and will often end up using a service based on referrals.
The second user persona I developed was that of a young London-based amateur actor named Nic. Nic is ready to break into the business and wants to use an online service as a platform since he is good with technology. Nic likes to know what he is signing up for and has been frustrated that he cannot see the castings on any of the sites unless he creates an account. Nick wants an easy process where he can start working quickly and start making money. Nick would also like some support/guidance and access to resources since he is new to the business. He likes to read reviews and other user’s first hand accounts.
The third user persona I developed was that of a Poland-based high profile actress named Izabella, who has been in the entertainment industry for a long time. Izabella is a working actress who is typically always cast in a theater role. Izabella would like to branch out and expand to other types of roles. Izabella does not want to waste her time with low-paying or small time roles. She wants fast and easy access to online auditions for professional roles that pay really good money. She wants to work with a credible company and the usability of the site will determine whether or not she continues to utilize the service.
User Stories
Once I had a good idea of who my users were and the MVP, my next step was to do some user story-mapping to outline the interactions the users will go through to complete their goals. I knew I would need three experiences, one for users who are casting directors or creators (and/or their representatives) and two for users who are talent-based users (one each for high and low-level users). Because I was working with a team on this project it was decided I would work on the Admin User Story (Casting Director, Creator or Representative) while my teammates each took on one of the Talent-Based users (High/Low).
Red Routes/User Flows
My next step was to identify the main red routes, or critical tasks that would be most utilized by my designated user, the admin. I identified 3 red routes:
Red Route #1: As an admin user, I would like to publish pro castings
In this red route the admin user can log in or create an account then be taken to a menu where they can select ‘Add a casting’. The admin user then selects whether they want to self add or use a Casting Studio agent to create the booking. If self-add the user submits information, previews and posts. If using CS agents, the user uploads a brief, reviews the agent created custom casting, contacts the CS agent as needed, approves casting and submits. User can choose another task (return to the main menu) or to exit the app.
Red Route #2: As an admin user I’d like to manage applications and schedule auditions
In this red route the admin user can log in or create an account then select ‘View Castings’ from the Home menu. The admin user can then choose a specific casting then select ‘Manage Applications’. At this point the admin user can filter through the applications using the screening options of their choice. Once the user has filtered down to their desired level, the admin user can check the talent user’s profile and invite them to an audition. After being notified the invite was sent, the admin user can choose to engage in another task by returning to the main menu or can choose to exit the app.
Red Route #3: As an admin user I’d like to hold auditions and book talent
In this red route the admin user can log in or create an account then select ‘View Castings’ from the Home menu. The admin user can then choose a specific casting then select ‘Enter Virtual Studio’’. In that studio the admin user can start the audition, admit participants, audition, and rank participants. A low ranking audition participant does not move on, only high ranking audition participants will move to the best fit/favorites list. At this point the admin user can choose to book the desired talent by filling out and sending a booking contract. After being notified the contract was sent, the admin user can choose to engage in another task by returning to the main menu or can choose to exit the app.
Site Map
At this point I decided to put the admin side of development on hold and switch my focus to helping a teammate with some newly assigned work on developing the sitemaps. This project is very multidimensional, with several different user panels that need to be mapped out and designed. I decided to map out the front facing website of the user (not logged in). This is what a user who is not logged in as either talent or an admin will experience when they use the application.
Branding Guide
In order to craft a consistent design system across the board, I created a branding guide
for the Casting Studio application. Casting Studio wanted to maintain their logo, signature colors and font choice (Kiro). The guide incorporated the branding they already had in place but I expanded it and developed a complete UI Design System.
UI Design System
After completing the portion dedicated to the branding, I then focused on designing the second half of the guide with the design system and UI pattern library. For this part of the guide I expanded the color scheme to include all of the tints and shades of both the primary and secondary colors. I chose a muted, deep red for error messages and established a basic three color grayscale. The guide also included typography examples for various headings and subtitles, as well as for body, button, caption and overline. I also covered elevation at 00dp to 24dp.
The design system also includes all of the the following: Baseline components, app bars (top), app bars (bottom), backdrop, banner, bottom navigation, buttons, FAB, cards, chips, chips: outlined, dialogs, image lists, lists, menus, navigation drawers, progress indicators, selection controls, sheets, sliders, snackbars, tabs, text fields, text fields: outlined, and tooltip. Here is a sample of some key components from the UI design system:
Conclusion & Reflection
The company's current product faced challenges with user friction and customer pain points. Through the implementation of process and design, we were able to systematically address these issues and aid the company in scaling their product for growth.
By gaining a deeper understanding of how users interact with the product and collecting their feedback, we were able to identify key areas of the product that require improvement and make data-driven decisions on how to enhance the user experience.
This was a snapshot of how I get a solid start on a design project by making sure to examine multiple facets of the product/company. This allows me to fully understand the scope of work before developing a research plan or diving into the design phase. In this case the design implementation was handed off to another designer due to me changing positions from a mid-level designer to a senior designer.
