BoxCircles – Freelance & Service Provider Network Web App

Goal

‍BoxCircles is a web app designed to help users leverage their existing social and business networks to find the right freelancers and service providers, initially focused on the technology sector. The goal was to build a platform where users could easily connect with trusted professionals within their networks. The client, Chinedu Echeruo, a successful startup investor who previously sold his project to Apple, spearheaded this initiative from New York.

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Challenges

The design of BoxCircles was created from scratch, offering numerous opportunities but also presenting several challenges due to the complexity of the app’s features. The system required:

• Circle of Friends System: Allowing users to create and manage their circles of trusted contacts.
• Recommendations System: Facilitating the sharing of recommended freelancers and service providers within these circles.
• Profile Presentation Editor: Allowing users to build and customize detailed profiles to showcase their work and recommendations.

Designing a user-friendly experience that seamlessly integrated these complex features into one cohesive platform was a major challenge.

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Solution

The solution focused on creating a clean, minimalist design that presented the most important information when users needed it, ensuring that the complexity of the features didn’t overwhelm the user experience.

• User-Centered Design: Emphasized intuitive navigation and easy access to core features such as creating circles, browsing recommendations, and editing profiles.
• Holistic Integration: All systems were designed to work together fluidly, from the recommendations engine to the profile editor, creating a cohesive, easy-to-use platform.

Explore circles

And find great people

Or create your own circles

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Outcome

I led the design of the BoxCircles web app, working on the user interface and user experience to ensure that the platform was functional and easy to navigate. Due to limited funding, the startup was eventually closed after a year of development. However, the design laid the foundation for a scalable solution, and the project offered valuable lessons in balancing complex features with user-centric simplicity.

More Info

• Technologies & Tools Used: Figma for wireframes and prototypes, collaborative tools for working with the development team.
• Design Approach: Focused on simplicity and functionality, ensuring that users could easily navigate complex systems like circles and recommendations.
• Client: Chinedu Echeruo, New York-based investor, known for selling his previous project to Apple.

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My Contribution

• Research
• Information architecture design
• UX design
• visual design
• UI design
• Interaction design
• Interaction prototype design
• asset handoff

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