INF352 COURSE PROJECT
Freelance Flow
Simplifying Project ManagementOverview
Freelancers often juggle disjointed workflow tools, leading to inefficiencies, stress, and less time for meaningful work.
How might we empower freelancers to reclaim their focus by consolidating project management, client communication, and financial tools into one seamless platform?
Our solution—the Project Management Dashboard—is designed to eliminate chaos, streamline workflows, and drive meaningful productivity.
Project Context
TIMELINE
September–December 2024
PLATFORM
Desktop Web Application
SECTOR
Freelance Industry
TEAM
Flora Guo
Becky Wong
Mona Urata
Saruda Srithunya
Dunia Stanojevic
METHODOLOGY
Double Diamond Design Process
User-Centered Design
Iterative Prototyping
TOOLS
Figma
Miro
SKILLS
User Research
Drawing data insights
Low-Fidelity Prototyping
Mid-Fidelity Prototyping
Usability Testing
Research Insights
Our research revealed that freelancers face significant challenges with fragmented workflows and time-consuming administrative tasks. Through interviews and surveys, we identified key pain points and opportunities for improvement.
INTERVIEWS
12
In-depth interviews
SURVEY
62
Survey responses
SATISFACTION METRICS
Scale: 1 (Poor) to 5 (Excellent)
TIME ALLOCATION
Hours per week
Key Finding
Freelancers don't have a consolidation platform, and that's really tedious because they have to go through their email and all these different platforms.
User Need
"I'm glad I'm not using multiple programs to do work and flipping back and forth. This is optimizing my productivity and efficiency."
Meet Freelancer Frank
Based on our research findings, we created Freelancer Frank—a mid-career designer who has been working independently for three years. He represents the common challenges and aspirations we discovered across our user interviews, managing multiple client projects while seeking to scale his business efficiently.
GOALS
Streamline project management workflow
Reduce time spent on administrative tasks
Maintain better client relationships
Scale business without increasing overhead
PAIN POINTS
Juggling multiple project management tools
Time-consuming invoice and expense tracking
Inconsistent client communication
Difficulty tracking project milestones
CURRENT TOOLS
Project Management
Trello, Notion, Google Calendar
Communication
Email, Slack, WhatsApp
Financial
PayPal, Excel, QuickBooks
Solution Impact
Our solution transforms Freelancer Frank's daily workflow through a unified Project Management Dashboard. The table below illustrates his envisioned journey using the platform:
Review & prioritize projects
Check financial tasks
Work on priority tasks
Schedule client reviews
Send client updates
Create & send invoices
Follow up on payments
Log daily expenses
Update social presence
Share portfolio work
"Everything is organized on one site now."
"Need to finish yesterday's project first."
"Many tasks to complete today."
"Client needs status update."
"Fewer tasks, more control."
"No more switching between programs."
"Expense tracking is so easy now."
"More time for client work."
"Financial management is systematic."
"More time for networking."
"Showcasing my vision."
"Building new connections."
Collected
Calm
Motivated
Organized
Excited
In control
Engaged
At ease
Happy
Connected
Social
Accomplished
Evaluation
Through usability testing with three participants, we evaluated both low and medium fidelity prototypes, gathering insights on core functionality and user experience.
What Worked
Navigation
"The New Project and New Task pop-ups are intuitive and easy to use"
Project Management
"The well-organized menu tab simplifies navigation with readable text"
Status Updates
"Project status dropdown is responsive and tasks are clearly visible"
Areas for Improvement
Task Creation
Users couldn't create tasks from Active Projects view
Feedback System
Need clearer confirmation after creating new items
Filtering
Inconsistent sorting options between Invoices and Expenses pages
High Priority
Task Feedback
Add clear confirmation after creating new projects
To-Do List
Enable direct task completion from list view
Filtering System
Standardize sorting options across all pages
Features
Version Control
Track project iterations and feedback history
Milestones
Set and track project milestones with reminders
Search
Advanced search across projects and documents
Future Vision
Mobile Access
Develop companion app for on-the-go management
Client Portal
Dedicated space for client collaboration
Analytics
Project insights and performance tracking
Takeaways
Research Impact
Early user involvement was crucial in identifying core needs and pain points. The combination of interviews and usability testing provided rich insights that shaped our solution.
Design Process
Iterative prototyping and continuous testing helped refine our solution. Starting with low-fidelity prototypes allowed us to validate core concepts before investing in detailed designs.
Personal Growth
Leading the research and synthesis phases strengthened my ability to draw meaningful insights from user feedback and translate them into actionable design decisions.