Upwork Freelancer Search Redesign:
Let’s add a portfolio image!


Research, UI Design, Product Design
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Upwork is a global freelancing platform where businesses and independent professionals connect and collaborate remotely. Upwork centers around clients being able to find the best suited freelancer or agency for their projects. While I was working for Upwork I had the chance to improve the client experience by redesigning the freelancer search page.
My Role
Product Designer
• Research and design all UIs related to the project
• Cooperate with Product Manager and UX Designer to implement products
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Team: Product Manager, Product Design Director, UX Designer, Senior Product Designer, Product Designer, Illustrator
The Problem
Freelancer tiles (seen below) on search pages didn’t have portfolio images. Upwork’s UX research team found that when clients search for freelancers, they were most interested in a freelancer’s portfolio and skills.
Goals
User needs
‍Easily and quickly search for the best freelancer or agency.
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Business goal
‍Allow freelancers and agencies to prominently display their work portfolio in search pages, thereby helping clients to quickly identify freelancers/agencies that meet their needs.
Wireframe
Upwork’s UX research team shared their research and wireframe draft with us (the Upwork Product design team). I had to reorganize the content within the search module design.
Research
Competitive Analysis
I carried out a competitive analysis to better understand what has worked and what can improve for the user/client experience when searching for freelancers/agencies. I compared the main features of the three closest competitors to Upwork.
Insights
Two of the competitor websites display a large image of the freelancer’s portfolio at the top of their search module. The third website had a very similar layout as Upwork’s old search page. All sites had organized and clean elements.
Visual Design
Style guide
I used colors, fonts, spacing, buttons, cards, icons, etc. from Upwork’s branding guidelines.
Components
I organized the components of the search module design based on the priority list provided by the UX research team.
Iterate
I drafted various mockups incorporating the solutions to various issues we identified during the research of competitive analysis and referred priority list by UX research team. We experimented continuously with search module and component designs, while keeping true to Upwork’s branding.
Final Design
Our team agreed to use the search module utilizing the horizontal design after deliberation. I created the final desktop and mobile visual design for the freelancer search module.
Upwork freelancer search screens
Result
After I completed the visual design process I handed over the specs and designs to the developer for implementation. Upwork team’s feedback has been positive, and both users and Upwork staff have been enjoying the new great experience.
© 2024 Hi Jin Nam