Very first platform for simultaneous & consecutive interpreters
Product design
UI / UX
Full-cycle product development from the zero phases. As a result -> successful niche product with thousands of users, 10% of paying users, and a 33% retention rate.
My role
Product lead
UI — UX
I was responsible for all major stages of product strategy, development & team work. Directly reporting to the owner.
Empathization, defining, ideation, prototyping, design and validation stages were done.
01
02
We focused on a narrow target audience and developed a highly specialised product
Context
Interpreters, for the most part, are professional freelancers. There are a lot of interpreters. But good interpreters are few and far between. The market in general is very chaotic and not transparent.
Interpreters, for the most part, are professional freelancers. There are a lot of interpreters. But good interpreters are few and far between. The market in general is very chaotic and not transparent.
Challenge
Develop a product and service for interpreters that will help them and make the market more transparent for everyone. To help them prove their professional skills and enable businesses to hire proven professionals.
Develop a product and service for interpreters that will help them and make the market more transparent for everyone. To help them prove their professional skills and enable businesses to hire proven professionals.
Solution
We launched a product that allows independent peer review of simultaneous and consecutive interpreters. And gives interpreters an opportunity to validate their skills, and build their reputation and network.
We launched a product that allows independent peer review of simultaneous and consecutive interpreters. And gives interpreters an opportunity to validate their skills, and build their reputation and network.
The platform consists of:
Website (promotion objectives)
interpreter account (testing system)
Portal with lectures andmaster classes
account of the jury
The process and research behind the product to achieve the required metrics
highlights
Desk research
Competitive analysis
User segmentation and analysis
MVP test and launch
Tests and evaluations
Agile approach
Define + Ideation
Problem statements
Hypothesis
Value propositions
Goals
Hypothesis tests with users
Flows
Top-level product scheme
Product architecture and metrics
High-fidelity prototypes
user feedback
I found a lot of useful contacts and clients. The project helped me build my reputation on the market. I signed up for a premium membership package and am willing to pay even more.
— A.C. Professional Simultaneous Interpreter
I live and study in France and learned about the project from my classmates. I immediately decided to take part in the competition - because I really wanted to test my strength. And the opportunity to make a professional passport is incredible.
— E.M. Consecutive interpreter, beginner
Some results:
No-code + code approach
optimized the cost 2х times
optimized the cost 2х times
The main team of the project is only 5 people. A small team and high efficiency
90%
of users are satisfied with the service and find it useful for themselves
Retention rate
33%
Paying Users
10%
High Conversion Site
Take part in the project
Take the online test and get an expert rating
Get new clients and recognition from the international community
A unique system of interpreter evaluation and testing
Boutique Marketplace
Some higlights and details
01 The unique players (UX case)
Challenge
At the heart of our eco-system was a contest. Interpreter quality testing system to validate professional competencies. The interpreter's work is mostly checked offline. Very rarely online and in this case special equipment. Our idea was to come up with a digital solution that allow the testing to be done without special equipment and remotely. Our task was to record videos of the contestants' attempts and present them to the experts for review.
Process architecture
Process architecture (on scale)
Approach
1. Test the process of recording attempts with the tools available on the market.
2. Test the experts' evaluation of the video data.
3. Make conclusions on the process and problem spots.
4. Develop a solution that satisfies the users and solves the business problem.
Tests
We've done a test recording of the contestant's translation attempt via zoom + test review of that video by an examiners (analyser soft) to play the scenario/ CJM test. It helped to understand how is better to organize the recording process. As well as to understand whether we can use ready-made solutions and optimise our development costs or we need to make our own unique players.
Tests of recording the contestants' attempts at zoom. Summary: it works, but requires a manager to be during the proсess, which does not meet the business objectives.
A test of the final video examination by experts. Summary: This does not work. 1) ready-made solutions of dual players lack necessary functionality (detailed rewinding, switching between) 2) there is no possibility to mark video fragments.
The option to open 2 videos in 2 windows in the standard way is even more inconvenient.
The option to open 2 videos in 2 windows in the standard way is even more inconvenient.
Understanding the user
After quick tests and conclusions, it was decided to develop our own players. One player for the contestants and a player for the examiners. To make both players as convenient as possible, I conducted a user study among interpreters and industry experts (who participated and did not participate in the test). The goal was to understand: their needs, how they do translation online, what's important to them in the process.
Empathize stage
In-depth interviews ->
Zoom test ->
Results analytics ->
Problem identification
Process observation and details understanding
Developing solution hypotheses
Participants' pain points
- Not to be distracted in the translation process (interface, sounds, actions)
- To understand the length of the attempt
- It is not possible to perform any actions in the process
Examiners' pain points
- Ability to switch and compare 2 videos
- Ability to comment
- Ability to edit comments
- Convenience and accuracy of translation estimation (indication of seconds)
- Unobvious translation evaluation metrics
Ideation and early prototypes
Taking into account the problems of our users, we made several prototypes to test with users.
Prototypes for the contestant's player.
Prototypes for the jury player.
First product launch
Contestant's player and functionality.
- video playback
- video and audio capture
- non-distracting interface
- video playback
- video and audio capture
- non-distracting interface
Jury player and functionality.
- allows you to watch/listen to 2 videos simultaneously
- switch between videos
- mark errors while listening
- comment
- allows you to watch/listen to 2 videos simultaneously
- switch between videos
- mark errors while listening
- comment
Testing, feedback and product improvement in the second iteration
We didn't implement major changes in the player part because user feedback was good and resources were very limited. However, we did change the priority things in the players - adding a few extra features.
/ We added a training phase before the final attempt because we found a large number of failed attempts. People weren't able to start recording in time due to lack of preparation.
/ We have simplified the process of evaluating an attempt by an expert.
/ And gave participants the opportunity to download a video of their attempt to add to their portfolios.
/ We added a training phase before the final attempt because we found a large number of failed attempts. People weren't able to start recording in time due to lack of preparation.
/ We have simplified the process of evaluating an attempt by an expert.
/ And gave participants the opportunity to download a video of their attempt to add to their portfolios.
02 Implementation of paid subscriptions and additional sources of monetization (Grow case)
Challenge
Initially, our testing/contest was free for contestants. And we were gaining the number of users. After a year of running, we decided to monetize participation in the contest, as well as to find additional ways to monetize the project. The main question was "how";)
Modeling the variability of monetization through value proposition
Brainstorm hypotheses
Process
We tested and even piloted different solutions. And I tracked metrics, purchases, and feedback. A few of the tested and discontinued solutions are below.
Brainstorm hypotheses
Modeling the variability of monetization through value proposition
Result
In our case, the most effective was the implementation of a paid contest in combination with a variable subscription. We also launched additional segments of the business, such as: paid master classes, paid access to the project's libraries, and the ability to hold your own speaking profession contest on our platform. As a result, we doubled the product revenue.
In our case, the most effective was the implementation of a paid contest in combination with a variable subscription. We also launched additional segments of the business, such as: paid master classes, paid access to the project's libraries, and the ability to hold your own speaking profession contest on our platform. As a result, we doubled the product revenue.
Credits
Design
- Yana Dulina / Product design lead
- Pankova Daria / Senior designer
- Julia Fishenko / Designer
Management
- Yana Dulina / Product lead
- Oxana Smirnova / Manager
- Sofia Rasskasova / Product manager
Development
- Maksim Nikitin / CTO
- Pavel Makhnev / Developer
Product UI+UX
Art direction
