Fostering Authentic Creativity and Elevating Marginalized Voices in the Age of Automation: A Global Platform for Artistic Expression and Collaboration
Timeline
48 hours Design-a-thon Competition
DESIGN-A-THON THEME
As automation and AI rise, there’s growing concern about preserving human authenticity. Our Designathon challenge focused on creating a digital product that uplifts personal narratives, empowers marginalized voices, and fosters creativity. By promoting diversity of thought and building supportive communities, we aimed to design a platform that bridges technology and personal authenticity in a more inclusive, equitable way.
PROBLEM EXPLORATION
Creatives are uninspired and underrepresented
Creatives often face an overwhelming struggle when it comes to finding inspiration. Artist block is a persistent issue that hinders many from moving forward with their work, leaving them feeling stuck and unmotivated. This issue is particularly prevalent among minority creators, who not only face the usual creative challenges but also experience underrepresentation in mainstream creative platforms. This lack of visibility limits their ability to express their unique voices, which ultimately diminishes the diversity of perspectives in the creative community.
Through our research, we discovered that these problems are widespread. Many creatives expressed frustrations around not knowing where to find inspiration and feeling disconnected from the art they encounter on traditional platforms. Existing tools are either too generic or fail to provide the kind of personalized guidance that truly drives creativity.
Comments on artist block and underrepresented creators
EMPATHIZING
The struggle to find connection and inspiration
Imagine being an artist who can’t find inspiration, scrolling through endless, generic content that doesn’t resonate. Now, imagine being from a marginalized community, where your work isn’t seen or celebrated. This lack of representation and relevant inspiration leads to feelings of isolation, demotivation, and frustration.
PROBLEM VALIDATION
Creators seek personalized inspiration and diverse representation
Our research confirmed that:
- 66.7% said prompts would help inspire them
- 98.8% felt inspired by other creators' work
- 97.6% believed that connecting with creators with similar styles improves their creative process
Existing platforms fail to meet these needs, leaving creators feeling disconnected and unseen.
SECONDARY ANALYSIS
Current Solutions Aren’t Working
Our competitive analysis of platforms like Pinterest, Tumblr, and MidJourney revealed several gaps:
- While they provide prompts and community features, they fail to uplift marginalized voices or celebrate diverse creative expressions.
- AI-generated content, especially on MidJourney, lacks personal and emotional resonance, leaving creatives craving more authentic self-expression.
Competitive Analysis on similar social platforms
METHODOLOGIES
We talked to 90+ UCI students... and they’re seeking inspiration and representation
Through our personal connections, we received feedback from students through 83 user surveys, 8 user interviews, and several coffee chats through Discord servers, Instagram, and Linkedin (to target a vast variety of students).
Our research focused on understanding their struggles with artist block, the lack of visibility for marginalized voices, and the features they desired in a community-driven creative platform. By utilizing these methods, we were able to capture diverse perspectives and identify key pain points in the creative process.
Insights collected from our user interviews
USER INTERVIEWS
Interviewing 8 UCI Students
We conducted interviews with 8 UCI students, focusing on their day-to-day struggles and what keeps them motivated. Here are the key patterns of behavior we discovered:
- Frustrations: Many users cited a lack of personalized prompts and underrepresentation on mainstream platforms, which led to creative block and a sense of isolation
- Motivations: Users expressed that seeing diverse works and engaging with communities of similar artists inspired them to continue their creative journey
Comments collected from 1:1 interviews. Not real names, to keep confidentiality
SURVEY INSIGHTS
Google form survery
To understand the creative process, challenges, and motivations of artists, my team conducted a Google Form survey. The survey focused on how artists find inspiration, the tools they use, and their interest in connecting with a broader creative community. These insights directly influenced the development of our platform to meet the needs of our target users.
USER PERSONAS
Characterizing our Core User Groups
To understand the creative process, challenges, and motivations of artists, my team conducted a Google Form survey. The survey focused on how artists find inspiration, the tools they use, and their interest in connecting with a broader creative community. These insights directly influenced the development of our platform to meet the needs of our target users.
Translating into Solution
SOLUTION
Empowering Creatives and Amplifying Underrepresented Voices
Impromptu is a creative-driven social platform designed to provide artists with weekly prompts that inspire authentic artistic expression across all mediums. The app celebrates marginalized voices by highlighting creators from underrepresented communities and countries worldwide. Through its global network, Impromptu fosters meaningful connections, allowing artists to engage with each other's work, offer feedback, and grow together in a diverse, inclusive space that encourages creativity and collaboration.
USER JOURNEY MAPPING
Mapping Entry Point Flows
Based on the research, artists primarily care about overcoming creative block and gaining inspiration when interacting with the app. Meanwhile, featured artists and community members are more concerned with showcasing their work, receiving constructive feedback, and building connections with other artists globally.
User Journey Mapping of based on user research
INTERACTION DESIGN
Core feature layout
During our initial brainstorming session, we mapped out the core features, aiming to ensure a seamless and intuitive experience for artists of all mediums. Given our goal to foster creativity without overwhelming users, we decided to focus on simplicity with four main sections:
- Prompt Page: Users receive weekly prompts to fuel their creativity. Responses to the prompts can only be viewed once the user submits their own.
- Discover Page: Users explore other artists' creations from around the world, filtered by prompt or artist they follow.
- Creator Spotlight: Highlights the top-liked and featured creations, such as those highlighted for AAPI Heritage Month or from the Artist of the Week. The top-liked works from three randomly selected countries are also displayed here. Users can apply to be featured here.
- Profile Page: Artists can view a mosaic of their own submissions, track their creative progress, and interact with feedback.
While we considered adding advanced filters or more personalized feeds, we chose to emphasize simplicity and accessibility, prioritizing creative expression and community engagement over complexity.
MOCKUP DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
From Low to High-Fidelity in 48 Hours
Due to the time constraints of our 48-hour challenge, we moved directly from low-fidelity wireframes to high-fidelity mockups, prioritizing speed and efficiency while maintaining a focus on user experience.
- Low-Fidelity Mockups:
We started with simple wireframes to define the basic structure and layout of the app. These quick sketches allowed us to focus on core features, like the Prompt Page and Discover Page, ensuring the user flow was intuitive from the start.
- High-Fidelity Mockups:
Skipping the mid-fidelity phase, we immediately refined our designs into fully detailed, high-fidelity mockups. We added color, typography, and interactive elements, finalizing the visual style and ensuring the interface was both functional and visually appealing. Key features such as the Creator Spotlight, Map Feature, and Profile Page were polished at this stage, ready for user testing.
While we considered adding advanced filters or more personalized feeds, we chose to emphasize simplicity and accessibility, prioritizing creative expression and community engagement over complexity.
Usability Testing & Heuristic Evaluation
Refining the user experience
During the usability testing phase, we conducted a heuristic evaluation to identify and address usability issues that impacted the overall user experience. Key refinements were made based on user feedback:
- Removed the Quick Upload button: The button was found to be redundant since users could upload their artwork directly from the prompts page, streamlining the process
- Added prompt button: Enables user to find more prompts after answering the first main one
- Preview Enhancements: Sound tiles now display more detailed information, helping users better understand what they are engaging with before selecting
FUture improvements
Exploring opportunities for further development and user engagement
Given the time constraints of the Designathon challenge, my team had only 48 hours to create and refine the design for Impromptu. As a result, we had to make some tough decisions on what to prioritize.
If we had more time, we would have:
- Conducted additional rounds of user testing to further refine the experience.
- Explored more design iterations for interactive elements, like the community feedback system.
REFLECTION
Reflections on the Impromptu Journey
This project was an incredible learning experience for me, as it was the first time I participated in a high-stakes design challenge with a cross-functional team. Building Impromptu from the ground up in just two days taught me several valuable lessons:
- 🌟 Balancing Creativity and Feasibility
Working within such a tight timeline forced me to balance creativity with practical limitations. While we had a lot of ambitious ideas, we had to make compromises to ensure we delivered a functioning prototype on time. This experience underscored the importance of prioritizing essential features and being mindful of feasibility. - 🌟 Collaborating Through an All-Nighter
Having worked together before, was familiar with each other’s strengths. However, with the time crunch, we had to pull an all-nighter to ensure everything was completed on time. This experience reinforced the importance of teamwork under pressure, keeping communication clear, and supporting one another to meet the deadline. - 🌟 Adapting to Feedback Quickly
User testing during such a short design sprint forced us to quickly adapt to feedback and make real-time changes. This fast-paced environment helped me refine my ability to implement iterative design based on direct user insights without losing sight of the project’s overall vision.
The final prototype
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