In discussing the MVP (Minimal Viable Product), Rommel and I realized it was still too much. We want to release Fiber Club as quickly as possible and in order to do so, we have to hyper-focus on one user persona and their needs.
What is a user persona?
A user persona is a fictional representation of your customer(s). It often includes things like demographic information, a backstory, their behaviors and needs. The goal is to create a memorable persona that you can base your decisions on. By understanding your user, you understand their needs, and thus can design your product to eliminate their pain points.
Fiber Club has a pretty lofty vision and with that comes lots of different personalities. We have designers, pattern buyers (or “users”), social butterflies, LYSs (Local Yarn Stores), yarn dyers, and more. To accommodate everyone properly will take some time, so we’ve decided to focus on one group for now.
Since the original MVP was to create a mobile marketplace to buy and sell knitting and crochet patterns, the top two user personas are for either the designer or the user. If we don’t have enough designers then we won’t have users interested in buying patterns. But if we don’t have users, then designer’s won’t want to publish with us. So who do we focus on? The chicken or the egg?
An argument could be made for both, but we ultimately decided to focus on the users. The primary reason is so that we can release Fiber Club sooner. Since we’ve already designed a few screens with the user in mind, we have more progress with this route and will get to release faster.
We’ve decided to take it one step further and eliminate paid patterns for the MVP. By limiting the payment, we can cut out a lot of work and make sure the search and filter capabilities are functioning properly. This should allow us to release by the fall.
After the MVP is released, we will likely focus on the designer experience and ensuring that paid patterns (along with taxes, income, etc.) are made available. But for the next few months, Rommel and I will be working exclusively on the user experience. That includes login/onboarding, pattern guidelines, “purchases”, search and filter, and settings and accessibility.
As always, we will keep you posted on our progress. And in the meantime, check out the redesigned home page of fiber.club for a peep into our aesthetic. (Illustrations are from Teri of @commonteri on IG!) Or read through our Mission Statement if you’re new.
Originally posted on April 10, 2021.