PORTFOLIO WEBSITE.

WORK WITH CLIENT – RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN.

UX RESEARCH DEBRIEF.

BACKGROUND

To prepare for designing a film composer’s portfolio website, three different approaches to gaining information were applied:

·         running a competitive benchmark study;

·         interviewing the client;

·         conducting user interviews.

Below is a brief summary of the UX research findings.

RESEARCH GOAL

Find out what makes a composer’s portfolio website stand out in the eyes of the end-user – producers, filmmakers, movie directors, content creators, etc.

SECONDARY RESEARCH FINDINGS

Competitive Benchmark Study.

Number of competitors studied – 6 (including websites of both rising and established composers).

Key takeaways on what gives a film composer’s portfolio website advantage compared to others:

·         Clearly organized and sectioned library of works with aesthetically appealing imagery.

·         High-quality professional photography.

·         Brief, but impressive bio.

·         Minimalistic, simple and unambiguous UI.

·         Contact options and social links.

·         As few links leading to external sources as possible.

·         Avoiding including unnecessary/unrelated information.

PRIMARY RESEARCH FINDINGS

Client Interview.

Number of participants – 1 (the client)

Key takeaways on the client’s expectations from the to-be-designed website:

·         A minimalistic responsive website in black and white with one accent color;

·         Light minimalistic sans-serif fonts;

·         A number of sections/pages including Homepage, About, a few separate pages for different category works, and Contact Me;

·         Thumbnails for audio files;

·         Good-quality professional-looking photography (to be provided by the client).

User Interviews.

Number of participants – 2 (one music producer, one film producer)

Key takeaways on what gives a film composer’s portfolio website advantage compared to others:

·         What is useful for a film composer’s portfolio website to have:

-       Information about skills, experience, software you use;

-       Links to social media accounts;

-       Easy, uncomplicated navigation;

-       Samples of music preferably accompanying a piece of video material to show how you can support an action on screen with your music;

-       Only the best, selected pieces showing different sides of your creativity.

·         What is not useful for a film composer’s portfolio website to have:

-       Any kind of unrelated information;

-       Too much biographical information;

-       Any kind of vulgar material;

-       Only music samples without video;

-       Too many samples of work that do not add value to representing your different sides of creativity.

CONCLUSION

The UX research was successful and brought in enough useful information to begin designing the website for the client.