Background

You are a product designer at Cluster, a small but ambitious startup that has just secured its seed funding of $2 million. The company, founded by two ex-Google employees, aims to revolutionize the content production industry with its innovative tool, Cluster.

Your Role

As the sole product designer on a lean team of 8 (2 founders, 3 developers, 1 product manager, 1 marketer, and you), you're responsible for shaping the entire user experience of Cluster. You report directly to the CEO, who has a strong product vision but limited design experience.

Company Situation

Cluster is operating in a highly competitive market with established players like Canva, Notion, and Airtable. The founders believe that Cluster's unique AI-powered summarization feature and its focus on content production workflows will give it a significant edge. However, the company is under pressure to launch an MVP within the next 3 months to start generating early revenue and prepare for the next funding round.

Market Insights and Analysis

Noteworthy Market Moves and Trends in Content Creation Tools

Design Challenges

  1. Limited Resources 💸 With a small team and tight budget, you need to make design decisions quickly and efficiently.
  2. Competitive Landscape 🌐 You must create a product that stands out in a crowded market while still feeling familiar to users of existing tools.
  3. Balancing Stakeholder Needs ⚖️ You need to satisfy the vision of the founders, the technical constraints of the development team, and the diverse needs of potential users (content researchers, producers, marketers, and publishing teams).
  4. Rapid Iteration 🔄 The company needs to launch fast and iterate based on user feedback, requiring you to make design decisions that are both impactful and flexible.

Your Mission

Your task is to design the next version of Cluster, focusing on its core features: content planning, research organization, and AI-powered summarization. You need to create an intuitive, efficient, and visually appealing interface that can compete with established players while working within the constraints of a startup environment.

As we progress through the course, you'll be making critical design decisions for Cluster, applying the concepts and techniques you learn to overcome these real-world challenges.