Course Description
New Media Capstone is the final course I took to complete the New Media Certificate. In this course, we were assigned teams where we received a client and a unique problem to solve over the course of the semester. Together, we used our collective skills gained through previous NMI courses to develop solutions and present our project at the end of the semester at the SLAM Arcade showcase. My client team of five worked with CREATE Athens on the Athens Creatives Directory’s WordPress site.
During this course, I learned how to effectively work with a client and manage deadlines, along with improving my WordPress skills. Before this project, I did not know how to improve SEO via a plugin, nor how to create an integrated event calendar or forum on a site. Now, I feel more confident in my abilities to implement these changes in future projects or at a potential job.
The culmination of my team’s work can be found on the new Athens Creatives Directory site here, but I will detail our specific implementations below.
Project and Client Overview
The Athens-Clarke County Economic Development Department has teamed up with CREATE Athens, a division of Envision Athens which is a community-wide effort to develop a common vision for the next 20 years of the Athens-Clarke County community. and so many other local organizations to bring you the “Athens Creatives Directory.” The Athens Creatives Directory (ACD) is a sleek and efficient hub of Athens creatives that has been developed to promote the local creative economy. The ACD works by encouraging creatives to submit listings of their work that will then be published for public viewing. Then, visitors and patrons can explore this community resource and interact with as many artists as possible.
Main Goals
Conceived as part of an initiative by Envision Athens, the ACD had a quick development that didn’t leave room for creative finesse or advanced production. Outdated content and limited copy editing have further decreased the effectiveness of the website, as well as a lack of mobile-friendliness. Without clear instructions on how to use the site, artists also might be deterred from using the platform, and because the ACD is also not listed on Google, the site is not easily accessible.
With the ultimate goal of incorporating a more diverse range of content on the site and maximizing its effectiveness, we created a list of main goals:
- Enhance the user-friendliness and accessibility of the Athens Creative Directory website (on desktop and mobile)
- Make it more visually appealing, and identify issues that make it’s functioning inefficient
- Increase the ACD’s value add to artists by implementing innovative solutions and marketing efforts that will help increase the number of artists making profiles on the site
- Connect local creatives with the rest of the community while also showcasing their work in an effective way
Reach Goals
- Create a forum/communication feature for artists and locals to connect with one another
- Develop a social media presence for Athens Creative Directory to help them connect to local creatives and the community.
Safety Goals
- Make the Athens Creative Directory more user-friendly and accessible for consumers of all ages and technical levels/skills
- Create instructional videos to assist new members in creating a profile and navigating the website
Challenges
- Improving mobile experience (where to start) Setting up a potential chat/forum feature
- Attracting new artists and clients to the site Developing the website while ensuring a smooth transition of ownership upon project completion
User Research
The goals listed above are all based on user feedback we received from artists who currently use the ACD. Before we started working with CREATE Athens, a survey was where artists were first asked how the Athens Creatives Directory could best support their creative endeavors. The two most frequent answers were more networking opportunities and promotion of the site itself. Respondents expressed their desire for the ACD to find ways to connect them with potential clients and other artists either through events or somewhere on the site itself. Artists also said that the site needs to be promoted more because not many people know about it, and if the site gains more traffic, that leads to more visibility and people viewing their profiles.
The next question asked respondents what about the ACD has been beneficial for them so far. Many people said that they haven’t seen any real benefits yet besides being able to view local artists, but they hope that the site has increased their visibility. When it comes to difficulties artists have faced on the site, the lack of mobile-friendliness, particularly when it comes to signing in, was one issue. In addition, multiple creatives pointed out that the site needs new and fresh content to keep artists coming back because they don’t really see the point of using the site past posting their information.
The respondents also gave feedback on what improvements they think the ACD needs. The top responses were more room for advertisements and artist calls, assistance with navigating the site, and making the ACD mobile-friendly. Lastly, artists have varying responses on what the most urgent improvements are, but some of the more popular ones include materials featuring artists (artist calls, newsletters), and mobile-friendliness.
Implementations
Project Concept Map
FAQ
After hearing from users that the site needed to be more user-friendly for non-tech-savvy people, we decided to overhaul the ACD’s existing FAQ page by adding an informational videos and with step-by-step instructions below. Some of the FAQ videos include:
- “How do I make an artist profile?”
- “How can I change my password?”
- “How do I create a listing for myself?”
- “What are the Minimum Requirements for a Listing to be Published?”
- “What’s the difference between a Profile and a Listing?”
Social Media Templates
One of the main pieces of feedback we received from our survey was that the ACD itself is not getting enough exposure. Our team noticed that that Athens Creatives Directory did not have any form of social media, so we pitched our client the idea of making an Instagram account. However, we knew that the administrative burden on Envision Athens after the NMI finished the project might be too much. We came up with the idea to make social media templates on Canva so whoever takes over the Instagram in the future can easily plug in copy and images before posting. We designed variations of several different types of posts: artist calls, event announcements and artist spotlights, which you can view in the grid below.
Forum
To expand the functions of the site, we also added a forum for local artists to connect. It functions like a Reddit for artists, and there are several threads that creatives can use. First, there is an “artist call” section where those in need of a creative for their event or project can search for help. Second, there is an “advice” column where artists can ask other creatives advice on their current endeavors, and lastly we have an “upcoming events” section where people can comment about things going on in the Athens area.
SEO
Another huge roadblock in the ACD’s ability to reach a larger audience was its SEO issues. The ACD was not showing up on the first page of searches online, so we decided to install the Yoast Plugin on WordPress. Through this we were able to manipulate the setting and ultimately make the ACD’s site the first option when you Google it.
Event Calendar
To add further capabilities to the site, we also created a fully-functioning calendar featuring events in the Athens area. We embedded a highly interactive events calendar from another site on the ACD, making the administrative burden for Envision Athens minimal. ACD users also have the option to submit their own events to be featured on the site.
Visual Design
Lastly, we freshened up some visual elements of the site. We replaced headers that didn’t fit the frames well, and edited the existing logo to make it fit better on the website’s interface. We also added tabs that were missing on some of the WordPress pages so users can easily navigate around the site.
We also tweaked the logo’s extended lines. so it fit into the layout of the mobile site better.
All in all, the goal of maximizing diverse content for the Athens Creative Directory was accomplished. It can be seen everywhere from the initial basic revision process to the enhanced user-friendliness to the forum added to contact artists.
Final Deliverables
Social Posts and Poster
Below are some social deliverables created to promote the ACD’s launch.
Social Video
Below is a social video created to excite viewers for our SLAM presentation and introduce them to our project.
