Introduction

As a UX designer who deeply values creativity, I recognized that existing social media platforms failed to effectively meet the specific needs of artists, designers, and other creative professionals. These platforms offered limited customization, poor portfolio management, and lacked the flexibility to showcase creative work at its best.

To bridge this gap, I set out to design Raelm, an intuitive app tailored specifically to empower creatives. My core guiding question was clear:

How might we design a social platform specifically for creatives that allows seamless customization, intuitive navigation, and enhanced visibility for their portfolios?

Research & Initial Assumptions

My first step was thoroughly understanding the specific frustrations of creative professionals and how current platforms were failing them.

Value Proposition – Why Should Raelm Be Created?

• Enhanced Customization
  Creatives need flexibility to display their work uniquely and professionally.
  
  

• Simplified Portfolio Management
  Easy organization and intuitive navigation to manage and showcase projects effortlessly.
  
  

• Focused User Experience
  Clearly structured interfaces to cut through content overload, highlighting high-quality creative work.

Personas – Who is this for?

• Visual Creatives (Designers & Artists)
  Need highly customizable profiles and intuitive portfolio management to effectively showcase work.
  
  

• Creative Professionals
  Require organized, attractive presentations of their projects to enhance visibility and professional credibility.
  
  

• Creative Enthusiasts
  Seek inspiration, easily find creative content, and clearly engage with other users.

Competitive Analysis

In order to create a user experience for a social media platform for designers, I conducted a thorough competitive analysis that involved confirming user research insights from my UX counterpart.

User insights

• Transformed the insights gathered from user interviews with the audience and designers into empathy maps to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by each user group.
  
  

• A key issue was the frustration experienced due to the lack of customization options and difficulty in effectively organizing design resources. These challenges hindered their creative process and resulted in a suboptimal user experience.

User Pain Points

Through extensive user interviews and empathy mapping, I identified critical pain points:

• Users felt overwhelmed by existing platforms’ lack of organization and customization.
  
  

• Limited profile management features resulted in frustration and discouraged users from regularly updating their portfolios.
  
  

• Messaging interfaces lacked clarity and usability, hindering smooth interaction among creatives.

Ideation

I created mid-fidelity wireframes addressing the identified pain points and challenges:

• Clear Profile Layouts
  Including customizable “Featured” sections to showcase the user’s best work prominently.
  
  

• Intuitive Navigation
  Eliminating cluttered hamburger menus and relocating essential navigation items directly within the user profile.
  
  

• Simplified Messaging Interface
  Clearly separated message threads, spacious layouts, and intuitive iconography improved clarity.

User Testing & Mid-Fi Evolution

We went through 3 stages of testing & iterations in order to solidify the Product for the core project stakeholders, and address user flow compatibility and efficiency throughout the process.

App navigation & Basic user action optimizations

User Profile & Content Improvements

User Messaging Optimizations

Visual Design

I then developed a cohesive visual language tailored specifically for creative professionals:

• Visual Design
  Developed the color scheme, visual design, and elements for the app. This helped us create a consistent and engaging user interface.
  
  

• High-Fidelity Prototypes
  Created high-fidelity prototypes that closely represented the final product. These prototypes were used for usability testing and stakeholder reviews.

Hi-Fidelity Design

Following & Engaging with Posts

Clear visual indicators and effortless interactions, allowing users to easily follow others and engage meaningfully.

Simplified Messaging Flow

Messaging interactions enhanced with intuitive, universally recognizable icons and streamlined layouts.

Creating & Showcasing Content

Easy-to-follow process for uploading, labeling, and prominently featuring posts—making content creation effortless.

User Testing & Results

Conducted usability tests across 3 iterative cycles, involving 20+ users, validating significant usability improvements:

Reflection & Learnings

• Effective Communication Drives Success
  Clear and open collaboration with stakeholders and end-users significantly accelerated the design process and ensured the final design met user expectations.
  
  

• User-Centered Research Is Crucial
  Thorough user interviews and testing provided insights that shaped meaningful features and resolved core frustrations faced by creative professionals.
  
  

• Value of Communication
  Prioritizing inclusive design principles from the outset provided a universally accessible, welcoming environment for all users.

Key Takeaways & Next Steps

The Raelm app successfully empowered creatives to easily manage and showcase their work, validated by significant user feedback and measurable usability improvements.

Next Steps for Refinement

• Community Feature Expansion
  Introduce deeper community-driven features (e.g., collaborative projects, group interactions).
  
  

• Advanced Analytics
  Provide users with analytics on their content performance, enhancing engagement insights.
  
  

• Continuous Accessibility Improvements
  Regularly audit accessibility standards and iterate based on evolving user needs.

Conclusion

With the Raelm app, I created a specialized, intuitive platform designed specifically for the creative community. By focusing intensely on user research, inclusive design, and iterative refinement, the project effectively addressed major usability gaps found in existing social platforms.

I am proud of the transformative impact Raelm can have on empowering creative professionals. This experience further reinforced the profound value of a thoughtful, user-centered design approach, and I am excited to continue applying these insights in future projects.