A client with a purpose.

Our client, Jenny Kassan Consulting, has decades of experience advising mission-driven entrepreneurs. Now they were looking to broaden what they could offer to their clientele in the digital space.

We were tasked with discovering and designing that platform's MVP from ground zero with original research at the forefront. 

By looking at current market gaps, they envisioned a platform where their clients or people similar to them could connect with like-minded investors and leverage the rapidly growing equity crowdfunding space. 

Click here for a dive into the legislative backdrop for this product.

WHAT IS CROWDFUND MAINSTREET?

Connecting purposeful entrepreneurs with conscientious investors.

Crowdfund Mainstreet is an equity crowdfunding platform meant to connect East Bay investors and issuers on the premise of hosting mission-oriented campaigns.

The Process

The 0-to-1 Checklist

Our first to-do item was to to support the client in setting a realistic project scope and trusting our design process.

The rest was the outline of our project milestones and deliverables:

• Conduct research on the crowdfunding landscape as a whole

• Interview with members of Jenny Kassan's existing clientele

• Identify persona(s) for the market's two sides

• Design on-boarding and most essential campaign pages, front and back-end

• Flesh out detailed next steps for future designers

research

We conducted extensive research on a two-sided market. Then, we split into smaller teams to tackle customer onboarding and campaigning. 

Our primary objective was to leverage our research in order to develop detailed personas of our future customers as well as a design roadmap.

So we simultaneously ran two operations in our first sprint:

I. Competitor Analysis

Deconstructing the purpose behind resources that competitors provide to their users helped develop ideas of what we should/shouldn’t build. We analyzed 8 competitors in terms of unique advantages, investment minimums, and offered features.

II. Interviews

We also leveraged the client’s connections to speak with 16 issuers and investors about their fundraising and investing experiences.

our users

Four Personas

The market is broad and growing, so the large number of different users was not a surprise. Despite the breadth, common themes of what was important emerged from both groups: Accessibility and community.

Make Onboarding Easy

Onboarding plays a large role in user conversion, so we knew we had to get it right.

For starters, majority of users are likely to be investors from the start. We optimized for a single sign-up flow that assumes all new adoptees are investors when signing up. This streamlined the pathway for users to sign up and gain quick access to a customized experience.

prioritizing a persona

It isn't easy to equally represent two personas for an MVP, much less our four. 

After our single-flow decision, we discussed which investor persona to prioritize. And in the end, we optimized for Alex – the most likely early adopter and best chance for Crowdfund Mainstreet to launch successfully down the line. Below are what we considered what we’d need to support persona Jay or persona Alex.

Persona A:
Jay

Our flow should optimize for Jay, the less experienced investor who will appreciate some hand-holding in the beginning. This means:

• Multiple access routes to educational materials

• Approachable copy

• Enforced profile creation for step-by-step support

Persona B:
Alex

Lengthy flows will inconvenience the more experienced Alex, who has been involved in this sphere for a long time and are more likely to be early adopters. This means:

• Required steps early on could depress conversion

• Immediate access to funding campaigns

• Short, sweet, and to the point

The Result

An MVP that promises a flexible onboarding to facilitate user conversion, regardless of the user's age or level of experience with crowdfunding.

On-boarding has a dual emphasis on efficiency and support. The process is quick yet branches out to let any persona make the most of it. 

1) Effortless 3-Step Process

Step 1: Set up the skeleton of your public profile.
Step 2: Indicate your interests – investing vs. fundraising, predetermined categories.
Step 3: Confirm your information.

Easy, quick, and informative without being invasive.

2) Early Personalization

Users can customize their experience when they choose their categories of interest. 

3) One Page, Multiple Routes

Onboarding branches out into three possible user journeys: find campaigns, create a public profile, and begin a campaign. 

4) A Dynamic Home Page

Straightforward copy and promotional content above the fold highlight the unique value proposition and target audience. 

Conclusion

Our testers enjoyed a taste of what’s to come, and our prototype (which you can interact with here) is only the beginning.