CASE STUDY
CRAFTING THEIR SUCCESS
Designing A Learning Experience Where Hobbyists Become Entrepreneurs
INDUSTRY
Ed-Tech
E-Commerce
ROLE
Product Designer
Lead UX Designer
Researcher
TOOLS
Figma
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Illustrator
"[It is important] to create a safe and designated space for people to play and experiment...Because it helps people develop the necessary confidence they will need once becoming a full-time entrepreneur."
Harvard Business Review, 2020
Tasked with a conceptual project to design a sub-brand for an existing company, our team examined the rapid growth of online learning spurred on by the pandemic during which, many people immersed themselves in hobbies, picking up new skills on platforms such as YouTube, Skillshare, and others. This, combined with the popularity of more personalized bespoke products such as those sold on Etsy, gave rise to a booming economy of “part-time entrepreneurs.”
We set out to better understand the challenges hobbyists face in pursuit of segueing into a viable business and identified an opportunity to fill the gap where learning a skill and building a business converge. As a result, we created a platform under the Etsy umbrella, that provides a more seamless experience for those looking to transform their passion into profit, while also providing a marketplace for Etsy creatives to sell classes.
OVERVIEW
MORE THAN A HOBBY
DID YOU KNOW?
Etsy hit a record 4.4 million sellers in 2020 (double 2019), while e-learning site, Udemy reached 40 million users in 2021.
2022's "Great Resignation" sees 50.5 million people quit their jobs - most motivated by a desire to follow their passion.
Business & crafts are the most popular subjects on learning sites. In 2024, the craft industry is worth over $50 billion.
While hobbyists' continue to hone their crafting skills, their desires to monetize their pastimes grow stronger. Over 25% of people have turned their hobby into a side hustle. However, 50% have the desire to seguge their hobby into a supplementary income or even a full-time business, but feel their skills are not refined enough and/or that they lack the business know-how to be successful.
The pathway to entrepreneurship is a winding and often difficult road to navigate and many people, despite having a marketable skill, are hesitant to take action. Hence, handcraft hobbyists face a challenge. There is no one space specifically catered to their unique needs to both upgrade their skills and learn business concepts specifically related to their niche.
OBJECTIVES
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Understand the challenges craft hobbyists face in starting their own business.
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Research potential parent companies that align with our vision.
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Design a platform that meets the needs of hobbyists and also provides a business incentive to the parent company.
CONTEXT
IDLE HANDS
THE CHALLENGE
How might we provide hobbyists a communal platform with a structured learning plan and business resources to develop their skills and confidence in starting their own small businesses?
We researched 2 industries: e-commerce & e-learning. Evaluating the main player's in each category to identify an opportunity space. No one platform covered both a learning marketplace and a crafting marketplace, however Etsy stood out amongst the competition in terms of brand recognition and market share.
METHODS
Competitive & Comparative Analysis
Business Model Canvas
INDUSTRY RESEARCH
LEARNING THE LANDSCAPE
PARTNERSHIP
01
EDSY provides a pipeline of new talented hobbyists ready to create and grow their own ETSY businesses
02
EDSY expands ETSY's recognizable brand into E-learning with a new product and increased profit
03
EDSY's marketplace adds new revenue streams for ETSY sellers to sell classes and materials.
USER INTERVIEWS & INSIGHTS
THEY'RE CRAFTY
Knowing that our target audience was primarily handcraft hobbyists we started we screened potential users that fit the following characteristics:
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Hobbyists with foundational skills
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Have considered selling or already selling their crafts as a side business
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Want to continue to improve their skills
We spoke with people from diverse craft backgrounds, ranging from amateurs to entrepreneurs and developed a deeper understanding of their wants, needs, and frustrations as they advance their creativity.
FEELINGS & FRUSTRATIONS
I have to look up multiple different videos to be able to find one that makes sense to me. I’m definitely piecemealing it together and don't really know what brings me into that more advanced level.
It just seems like a very complex thing to start. From a formal standpoint, starting up your own business is very intimidating to me. I have zero idea how to actually start and then the stress of ensuring its success.
I liked the idea of Skillshare but then I didn't use it as much as I thought. I would watch it and I felt I learned something in 30 minutes or 40 minutes. But then I would lose it quickly because I wasn't doing it with people.
I don't personally think I'm good at this, you know? You can see that it's cute as hell and it's good enough for me. [But] I’m not sure it’s super well done...I would totally need some kind mentor to be honest.
You would think by now, given how many e-commerce businesses are out there, it'd be easy to learn exactly what to do. Every website has different information [and] there’s a lot of things that we have to figure out. So that's really frustrating.
OUR USER
THE AMATEUR SEWER
Based on the research we identified our user as a sewing amateur, who has completed some sewing commissions for close friends, though her technique lacks professional refinement.
Recently interested in starting her own business, our user began to research how, but became confused and overwhelmed as she was inundated by the amount of scattered information online.
TAKEAWAYS
01
Users benefit from a structured learning curriculum of courses tailored to their skills level
02
Hobbyists desire guidance from mentors and a community to provide feedback & ask questions
03
People need a foundational business education that is suited to their e-commerce needs
04
Users want easy access to resources they can use to launch their business and help manage it as it grows.
Edsy is an online community designed for handcraft hobbyists, offering structured course curricula to help them advance their skills and gain the confidence and supportive community needed to launch their business.
IDEATION
CRAFTING SOLUTIONS
PRINCIPLES
Comprehensive
EDSY is a one-stop platform bridging courses, supplies, and the marketplace to sell your creations
Supportive
A partnership with ETSY, provides a foundation for opening a shop with some business needs built-in
Growth
EDSY provides, prepackaged course bundles or singular courses for users as they grow their skills
Community
EDSY provides a space for niche crafters' needs through community forums and mentorship
Savvy
EDSY gives users the business savvy and resources to give them a leg-up to run a successful business
DESIGN FEATURE
STRUCTURED COURSES
01
Comprehensive experience for each crafter and their trade, including packaged courses based on skill level, practice projects, mentors, and community forums.
02
Qualifier descriptions for each bundle based on skill level when hovering.
03
Users can view all the courses in the bundle and opt to purchase the whole thing or select individual courses to create their own curriculum.
DESIGN FEATURE
BUSINESS 101
01
The "Business" page features concentrates deep-dive courses suited to users needs. Additionally, it features resources and templates that users can download to help their business run smoother.
02
Sample resource page for "Calendars."
03
Calendar Template download page.
DESIGN FEATURE
COMMUNITY & MENTORS
01
Homepage with "Community" drop down menu listed by craft type. Users can also click on "Community" to navigate to the main "Community" page with all craft specialties.
02 & 03
Main "Community" page (02) displays all community by craft discipline. The "Specialty Community" page (03) displays mentors and niche groups and forums.
04
Users can select a mentor from the "Specialty Community" page and will be directed to the "Mentor" page where they can connect and communicate with them and also view their Etsy store.
DESIGN FEATURE
STUDENT EXPERIENCE
01 & 04
From the Homepage, users can navigate to ETSY (04) to purchase supplies for their craft - an additional revenue opportunity for ETSY shop owners.
02 & 03
Users can access their courses from the Homepage by clicking on "My Learning." When they clock on the course button, the video class will open.
CONCLUSION
REFLECTIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
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Build out detailed pages for each course & units
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Integrate suggested mentors into course pages
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Create more paths to access mentors
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Build out interface for mentors to upload courses to the EDSY marketplace and communicate with mentees.
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Rethink categories and information architecture for business resources
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Develop structured course bundles for business units
With limited time and two rounds of positive test results under our belt we delivered a product that our users felt good using, however we identified areas for improvement.
Testing observations & feedback:
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The average time across are feature tests increased. Users said that they liked the images were taking their time to absorb and explore the content.
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At first, people intuitively clicked on the "Mentors" button at the top left of the header, which is actually to indicate whether a user is working in the "Student" or the "Mentor" interface. Their second selection was "Community," which was the intended pathway.
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Users were generally confused what template and resources to download from the business page, commenting that the wording of the task was confusing.
A third round of user testing would give a clearer idea of additional modifications to be made.
TESTING
FEATURE: PURCHASING A COMPLETE SEWING COURSE THAT IS APPROPRIATE TO YOUR SKILL LEVEL
AVERAGE SATISFACTION RATING
100%
In mid-fi prototype tests
90%
In hi-fi prototype tests
AVERAGE SUCCESS RATE
60%
In mid-fi prototype tests
90%
In hi-fi prototype tests
FEATURE: DOWNLOAD A TEMPLATE TO TRACK CRITICAL PRODUCT RELEASE DATES
AVERAGE SATISFACTION RATING
60%
In mid-fi prototype tests
60%
In hi-fi prototype tests
AVERAGE SUCCESS RATE
80%
In mid-fi prototype tests
80%
In hi-fi prototype tests
FEATURE: REACH OUT TO AN ADVISOR WITH THE MOST EXPERIENCE TO GUIDE IN STARTING YOUR BUSINESS
AVERAGE SATISFACTION RATING
60%
In mid-fi prototype tests
50%
In hi-fi prototype tests
AVERAGE SUCCESS RATE
80%
In mid-fi prototype tests
75%
In hi-fi prototype tests