Project Brief
Freenance
Freenance was created to empower freelancers to understand and take control of their finances.
-
Freelancers experience fluctuating monthly income, which complicates tracking reimbursements, deposits, fees, and expenses.
-
Many freelancers lack clarity around tax deductions and opportunities to save.
Context
Freelancing presents challenges that differ significantly from those of a corporate job. Beyond finding clients and maintaining professional networks, freelancers must navigate complex financial questions: How do I manage pension contributions? How do I handle taxes when working with overseas clients? How should I price my services?
Research Plan & Project Scope
UX Research Plan
The freenance UX research plan covers the entire process, from conducting interviews and recruiting participants to developing and testing a final prototype.
Process Overview
-
Conducting Interviews
-
Analyzing Results
-
Creating Research Personas
-
Defining Project Goals
-
Creating a Site Map
-
Developing Task Flows & User Flows
-
Designing Low-Fidelity Wireframes
-
Establishing Product Style
-
Designing High-Fidelity Wireframes
-
Prototyping & Testing
-
Iterations
-
Findings & Conclusions
UX Research
Interviews
Network Mind-map
First Goals
-
Create an app or website that allows freelancers to record their income, manage expenses, and categorize those expenses.
-
Help users easily understand which types of expenses are tax-deductible for freelancers.
-
Provide clear explanations of different types of income and their tax implications.
-
Allow users to track their income regularly and in real time.
-
Identify the top 16 categories where freelancers spend the most money.
First Results
Pain Points
Word of mouth and industry connections remain the primary ways freelancers secure work. Attending meetings, post-work meetups, and industry events is time-consuming but often necessary. Many freelancers struggle to break into established professional circles, particularly in industries such as theatre and film.
Late payments are a major challenge, with freelancers often waiting 35–60 days to receive payment. Income inconsistency makes it difficult to budget, plan for taxes, and cover family expenses. Tax systems add another layer of complexity, especially for freelancers working internationally (for example, navigating differences between the Swiss and German tax systems).
Meet Alex & Robbin
UX Research Personas
Alex and Robin represent the average freelancer. Research showed that freelancers can be categorized into two major groups: those who are new to freelancing versus veterans, and those with established recurring clients versus those without
* Photos generated with AI
.png)
Project Goals
A user-first approach makes a product more aligned with users’ goals. However, the project must also consider business objectives, as they are what make the product viable.
Growth
Loyalty
Efficiency
Site Map
A site map shows where in a general overlook how the site is organized. It lays out in a visual way were the information of the site is. Usually it is conform by a tree organizational diagram.
-
Keep track of expenses
-
Organized the expenses in real time in categories users need
-
Offer pedagogical information on how to manage taxes
Task Flows & User flows
.png)
A user flow is a visual representation of all the possible routes a user can take to accomplish a task, including input errors, incorrect paths, and loops. A task flow, on the other hand, represents the simplest and most direct path to complete a task.
Below are the user flows and task flows for the tasks
“Link a New Bank Account” and “Watch a Tax Tutorial.”
These were identified as the core tasks to be developed and tested.
.png)
Problem Statement 1: Users find it difficult to track and manage irregular income
Background:
Freelancers experience fluctuating monthly income, making it difficult to maintain and monitor a consistent account balance.
Problem Statement 2: Freelancers face challenges when declaring taxes, as the process is complex, confusing, and prone to errors
Background:
Declaring taxes is already a complex process for most people. For freelancers, it becomes even more challenging due to factors such as overseas clients, delayed payments from previous tax years, and variable income sources.
UI Design
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
This first approach to the Freenance product focuses on defining the overall look and feel, and translating the site map into page sections, content groups, imagery, and text.
During the initial phase, it is important to decide whether the product will be developed as a web platform, a mobile app, or a mobile-first website.
This decision shapes which features can be implemented and how the product functions and looks overall. It is also important to choose appropriate screen sizes as a foundation for planning and design.
Product Style
Bright colours with strong contrast were chosen to guide the visual design. A limited palette of three consistent colours was used to create a formal yet joyful aesthetic.
Thick lines were applied to icons and symbols, paired with a sans-serif typeface that communicates clearly and immediately.
.png)
High-Fidelity Wireframes & Prototyping
The high-fidelity wireframes demonstrate how the color palette is applied, how information is laid out, and how interactions function between screens. Together with prototyping, this stage is part of the UX process used to refine and iterate on the design before launch.
The final Freenance experience is clear, easy, and fast.
Our Findings
Most recurrent
•Hierarchy could be improved — sometimes it's unclear what the main action on the page is.
•Headings and labels could use more contrast
Middle range
•Icons are lacking in some flows, which makes certain tasks feel flat or to much text.
•Like the logo, the colours, and the feel, but the symbols are to big.
•The layout of the pages is clear but uninteresting, very big titles.
Less mentioned
•The video page is ugly.
•Could use more shadows or colours to generate layers in the menus so they are not that flat.
Iteration & Re-Design
The changes made after the final round of testing focused on style, color, and overall aesthetics. These refinements improved the flow and made the user experience smoother and more engaging. Freelancers responded positively and indicated they would be willing to continue using the product.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
Takeaways
Working on this case study has been a very rewarding experience. Constantly seeking feedback is a new skill I developed during this project.
The task flows and site map were especially valuable for revisiting the project’s structure and confirming design intentions.
Creating the wireframes was the most challenging part, as I tend to make assumptions and skip steps, which required extra attention to detail.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)