Coupler
Coupler is an online platform that aims to increase business opportunities with startups and investors.
Responsibilities:
UIUX design / UX research
Duration:
Ongoing (Oct. 2021 - Present)
Brief
Background
Nowadays, online events have become a trend. According to a Statista survey, the popularity of virtual events has increased by 35% from 2020.
Another report from Vimeo illustrates that nearly 60% of the virtual event's purpose is promoting their brand, product or service.
Problem
For early startups, they attend networking or pitch events to promote their business. However, promoting business and building trust with investors is hard.
For individual investors, they would like to participate in the events to find potential investment opportunities. However, the online event wasted their time and was inefficient.
Aim
"To create an efficient online platform for increasing potential business opportunities between startups and investors."
Discover
The first step of building trust is the hardest
For entrepreneurs, to do a successful business, the essential is building trust with investors. However, when social networking becomes online, it is even more challenging. We do not know how to continue our conversation and maintain the relationship after the online event.
It is challenging to identify other people and be recognised.
After participating in some online networking events, we found that one of the pain points is there are few chances to present their business and make more connections.
Usually, people drop their social media links in the chatbox to everyone; however, exchanging contact information with the right person is a slim chance.
Opportunity is just close to you, but you do not know.
There are too many people to find the right one to talk to in the in-person networking event. People meet others randomly and occasionally.
The worst case is that they spend money and waste time joining the event and get nothing. However, the opportunities may just surround you.
Define
Insights from startup interview
After interviewing with one startup, there are some important insights:
Finding the right person interested in my business in the online event is challenging.
The online networking environment allows only one person speaks at a time.
There are few chances to promote my business, be recognised and further exchange contact information.
Who are the users?
1. Early startups who look for connections or potential business partners.
2. Individual investors who try to source potential startups in a specific field.
Reframing the problem
How might we create a better online networking experience for both sides of the table to increase business opportunities?
Develop
Prioritises Ideas
Considering our resources, I used the Impact / Effort Matrix to decide which ideas we should build in our first MVP. The filter idea is the main feature that we think could help find people in virtual space.
Before using the filter, we need to provide a profile to identify who they are and what they do. And it helps them to be recognised by others and promote their business, and they can find the topic they want to discuss. To build a friendly environment, moving in the space freely could improve people’s engagement in conversation,
Information in the space
Two main parts are considered to build the entire online platform to ensure the platform is intuitive and straightforward. One is the information in the profile, and the other is how users use the platform.
The basic profile includes the basic information, and we put their purpose, portfolio, and press in the critical hierarchy. After looking at the first information, those who have more interest could find more information from the detailed profile.
Make sure users follow the flow
I assume that two types of users will use this online platform. One is the attendee, and the other is the host. Both attendee and host could create their profiles after signing up or logging in to the service. And they can either enter the event or create a new one.
Guest is a unique identity in the space compared to startup and investor, and we discuss whether to make it for users. However, when users first use this service, they may think creating a profile is complicated and give up using it. We decided to develop this role for users to join the event rapidly after seeing others have their information and still have a chance to create it.
Visual Concept (Wabi-sabi)
As our first users focus on Japanse, we want this environment could be inclusive and neutral, which everyone is welcome to join. Therefore. I found that Wabi-sabi (侘寂), which is a traditional Japanese aesthetics.
One characteristic of wabi-sabi includes modesty, which precisely reflects the spirit of how the Japanese treat their guest. It provides relaxed colour tones, and everyone can feel comfortable. After further research about Wabi-sabi, there are two primary colour tones, and it perfectly fits our target users: startups and investors.
Design system
Following the user flow and design system, I make all screens are included in the service to ensure no issues are happening on the platform.
Final Design
Identify the right person
The filter helps users to find the potential people to talk with. They could filter either by different roles or fields they are interested in, and other people who are not in these fields will be semi-transparent. It increases the opportunities for people who want to grow their business and save time.
Move around and check other’s profile
Users could move around in the space and check others’ profiles. After creating the profile, the information you provide will be shown in the space when users click the avatar. People are curious to others could see more detail by clicking the more detail button.
Showcase your business portfolio
When users create their profiles, I assume they would like to present their best. They don’t need to preview their profile and edit it back and forth. So there is a user’s digital business card, and users can see what it looks like in the space on the right when they edit it on the left. And it is exactly the same as what others will see.
There are two different colours to help users recognise startups and investors to identify different roles in the space.
Metrics
How to measure the success of MVP?
# of the Profile view
To see how many people check others’ profile.
# of the Advanced view
Measure whether people would have willing to contact in private
# of the Detail view
Measure how many people are curious about their business?
# of the Filter clicks
Measure this feature can help users to find the people want to talk with.
Profile creation rate
Measure if the creation process is too complex
Profile completion time
Measure how long it takes to finish creating a profile.
Detail Design
Next Steps
We found an organisation hosting several social events to validate our concept and would like to try our service.
20 people test
To ensure our service is stable when many people join the platform, we will invite 20 people to join the test and record any problems during the event. The first MVP is keeping our users in the space, not disconnecting, and making the voice connection smooth and clear.
Find deeper insights
We will survey after the event to see their thought about the service. And according to our backend system, we will select two to three people who use our features more to have an interview to find deeper insights.
Add video function
According to the survey from Marklrtic, over 60% of marketers use videos to keep attendees engaged. And to build the trust between startups and investors, seeing who you connect with the face can help them feel safe and reduce uncertainty.