Promotes upcycling in DIY crafts to preschool-aged kids
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Summary
This is their office in Seoul, with Coney Circus being their biggest in-studio project and displayed in their office.
Challenge
Circus Image Works, a small design studio in Seoul, South Korea, did not have a way to engage consumers with their Coney Circus product line.
Opportunity
Already having a Wix domain, I created a user-friendly, and visually engaging websites that would explain product storylines, learn about products, easily access tutorial videos, and complete purchases.
Duration
4 weeks
Role
User Experience Design User Interface Design
Responsibilities
Wireframing, implementing website on Wix
Tools
Process Overview
1
Context
Company Goals Target Audience
2
Ideation
Deciding Pages
3
Prototyping
Sketches Mid-Fidelity Iterations
4
Final Design
Final Prototype
5
Conclusion
Reflection
CONTEXT
Understanding Circus Image Works
While my position did not require formal research, I wanted to ground my design processes in understanding the needs of both my company and users to inform design choices. On the company side, they wanted:
Communicate Coney Circus story line: Who is Coney, Why is it important
A platform to promote and sell their Coney Circus paper figures
To engage parents & children in their animations and crafts to promote reusability
CONTEXT
Understanding Coney Circus’s Audience
My team provided pain points that their users face with Coney Circus and their target demographic:
Parents of toddlers in South Korea
No easy way to discover or purchase these creative products online
Couldn’t explore the company’s offerings: understand how the kits worked, easily place orders, learn about Coney Circus
Didn’t know why Coney Circus was important
CONTEXT
Target User
Hana Song, 37
Mother of 2 daughters ages 4 and 5, full time teacher
Loves going on Pinterest and looking for arts and crafts to do with her kids, valuing sustainability, arts, fun, and creative outlets
Enjoys shopping for art supplies, often tries to using old egg containers and old supplies to get creative with crafting
Needs
More ideas on how to reuse her old materials for her crafts and she needs more ways to entertain her kids
An efficient way of learning about Coney Circus and ways to engage her kids with these crafts.
Pain Points
As a full-time teacher, she doesn’t have a lot of time to spend on Pinterest and searching for ideas.
Her daughters aren’t very interested in reusable crafting. They don’t find it important and would rather play with brand new toys.
Has heard of Coney Circus from local preschools, but she doesn’t know what it is or what they do.
Key Insight: Parents want their kids to have something to do and explore creative outlets while staying true to their sustainable values.
IDEATION
Developing Goals
1. Develop a comprehensive landing page that draws in users, exposes them to characters, crafts, and present many call-to-actions for the shop and about 2. Create an about page highlighting the story of Coney and her traveling circus and their sustainability goals 3. Creating visually inviting and exciting layouts
PROTOTYPING
Sketches
Given my goals, I sketched wireframes for the main page, about page, and tutorials page.
PROTOTYPING
Feedback on Features
I created a few mid-fidelity frames to gauge layout options, in which I received feedback from my team.
FEEDBACK INSIGHT 01
Very “gallery like” & wants more engagement with wording
My team wanted more movement throughout the landing page and focus more on the users being able to connect with the story more
CHANGE
Staggered boxes for meeting the characters Now there is more space for learning about main characters
More inviting rhetoric using words like “join” and “Meet Coney’s Friends,” it asks users to be a part of the narrative rather being told information
FEEDBACK INSIGHT 02
Enjoyed the about statement! Believed the boxes were not very interesting
My team emphasized the goal of being crafty and creative, pushing me to think more about ways to present information
CHANGE
This sparked an idea of recreating a circus scene, and instead of showing, I would bring users to the circus playgrounds
Now, users can have more visual stimulation while engaging
PROTOTYPING
Design System
The Coney Circus line already had a logo and a look and feel that I wanted to follow with this design. Because of the "playfulness" and "craft" vision of this storyline, I created a design system that would lean on their colors and appeal to a creative and youthful audience.
FINAL DESIGN
Introducing Coney Circus
LANDING PAGE
Users are welcomed with an animation of Coney and her friends, seeing the crafts, the sustainability mission, accessing the shop, and meeting the characters. It provides users a comprehensive overview of the Coney Circus brand.
ABOUT PAGE
Users can immediately learn about what Coney Circus is, what they do, and how to be involved. By learning about the characters in this artistic setting, they can be included in the storyline through a push for engaging with the products.
SHOP PAGE
With the shop yet to be set up, I provided the company a template for them to import their products. Here, users can directly purchase items from this website.
TUTORIALS PAGE
Art and craft tutorials can easily be found on this page for users to know exactly where they can find instruction for doing the crafts at home. The visual guide will provide clarity in crafting, and this section of the website will allow them to know where to go and what to do.
CONCLUSION
Next Steps
If given more time and if there were no language barriers, I would have 1. Performed usability testing on the target group 2. Reached out to existing customers of Coney Circus and conducted thorough UX research
Beyond the website, I would have 1. Took on more of a marketing position, promoting their brand on social media and local preschools
CONCLUSION
Project Reflection: Grow as you go 🌱
I loved working in Seoul on this project, and I learned so much in my personal life with discovering a love to be alone, to see skylines and sunsets, and try new desserts (everyday).
🇰🇷 Language Barrier: So what happens if you can’t communicate with your team? Smile and nod, Google Translate, pulling out Korean and English words when we can...
With my coworker as a translator, I understood the main goals and details of the project, and if she wasn’t there, we would lean on apps and our minimal language skills, but I learned how art and design are universal languages that can help any community regardless of geological location.
👀 Adaptability: In a new environment abroad, I was adapting to a new cultural setting far from home and worked with a team of artists for the first time. I saw them and Korean culture as inspiring, being able to learn about a new field with new faces in a beautiful new city.
🇺🇸 Relationships beyond the barrier: It got isolating not feeling truly connected with my environment, but working with such a nice team taught me how much presence matters when work or adjusting gets hard.
I was often communicating in short phrases over obsessions of salt bread or on walks to get Americanos. These simple human experiences overcame our language barriers and still created meaningful friendships. 💖
