Cineverse

Product

2022

It's a fully decentralized social network for distributing films without boundaries where anyone can discover, buy, sell, share, gift, and collect movies as NFT licenses. Having a great collection of movies and a strong network of movie creators and collectors, Cineverse wanted to create an NFT-based marketplace with social networking functionality.

As a part of the Ming Labs agency, my task was to lead the design team, conduct research, build an architecture based on use cases, and deliver the final product solution.

Usecases and
Informational Architecture

Starting with deep-dive research into NFT technology to understand all the pros and cons of the NFT market, I've created an NFT collection of artworks and participated in buying and selling existing NFT collections to understand the process. As Cineverse is a marketplace with social network functions, my team had to consider a wide variety of use cases. We've defined various user groups: movie creators, film communities or institutions, and collectors. Then we had to develop proper interactions and interconnections between those groups. NFT technology allows not only to buy the digital copy but also to sell it, tracking the price, bidding the price, and sending an item as a gift. Based on our research and user studies, we've developed a product architecture for further design and development.

Timeline

To accommodate a strict deadline, we've developed a project plan to transfer design mockups to development in several phases. That allowed us to work in parallel with Cineverse's development. The soft launch of the Cineverse platform had to be held during Berlinale.

Wireframes,
Low- and High-Fidelity Mockups

To validate our hypothesis, we've divided the design process into stages, creating the fully interactive wireframe / low-fidelity prototype, polishing user flows, defining visual language, and delivering the final ready-to-develop solution.

Interactive Prototype

The clickable prototype allowed the team and the client to validate the hypothesis and was an easy way to hand over avoiding a large amount of documentation work. It was essential for such a startup to have a clear picture and save time to cut the corners. So full-made interactive prototype was a simple and satisfying solution in this case.

Design System

We've designed a visual language and the UI library based on the visual direction. The design system prepared for developers was another great add-on for fast progress. The design system contains all the components and states used in the prototype, colors, font styles, grid system, icons, and brand elements.

Final Solution

Cineverse decided to go with the desktop version only due to the hypothesis that the vast majority of NFT buyers would use the desktop to purchase NFT-licensed movies. Anyhow the design system was developed flexible enough to deliver tablet and mobile versions as soon as is needed. The idea for the final solution was to be as mainstream as possible, as Cineverse would want to democratize NFT technology and spread it to people who are still not involved in the crypto environment. So design turned modern, but easy to use. The solution was friendly both for experienced crypto wallet users and for those, who still would be willing to pay with a card.

Learning and Findings

The Cineverse platform was soft-launched at the Berlinale Film Festival and received a highly positive response among professionals and sophisticated audiences. After a hard launch during Cannes Film Festival, it received a considerable amount of inquiries for the white-labeled solution. During the process of design development, the client decided to change the name and identity of the product. So the developed visual language is more suitable for the previous idea. Easy arriving at a conclusion is: don't change horses in midstream. Anyhow, we did our best to make up a new identity fit the developed visual language.