Subkit Case Study - Product Design

Project Overview

Collabs.io evolved from Subkit's Collaboration Tool into a standalone product and company, designed to revolutionize how brands and creators connect and collaborate. The platform simplifies partnership discovery, automates key processes like product inventory generation and shop page creation, and provides creators with a single, unified shop for all their collaborations.

Designed the entire platform, including an admin interface for brands and creators and a standalone shop page for creators.
Focused on creating intuitive, scalable, and feature-rich experiences for two distinct user groups.

Goals & Challenges

In the creator economy, two critical problems needed solving: the fragmentation of creator storefronts and the inefficient, repetitive process of establishing brand partnerships. Our goal was to revolutionize this space by building a comprehensive platform that would not only consolidate shopping experiences but also streamline the entire collaboration process. Through preference-based matching and automated contract management, we aimed to eliminate the tedious back-and-forth typically involved in creating brand partnerships.

We faced the complex task of integrating advanced AI features into an approachable user experience while ensuring the platform could scale with creators' growing needs. This required careful consideration of diverse user workflows, automated processes, and customization options that would empower both creators and brands.

Key goals

Build a comprehensive admin platform where brands and creators can manage their collaborations, contracts, and shop settings.
Create a standalone shop page for creators to sell all products from their partnerships in one place, fostering deeper connections with their audience.
Leverage AI to streamline workflows, from auto-generating product inventories to customizing shop pages.
Empower creators to combine collaboration products with their own offerings, making their shop the central hub for their audience.

Challenges

Designing a platform that balances the diverse needs of brands and creators while maintaining usability and fairness.
Integrating advanced AI features into a simple, approachable user experience.
Ensuring the standalone shop page could scale with creators' needs while delivering a seamless user experience for their audiences.

Process

Our approach began with deep analysis of pain points in brand-creator collaborations: fragmented storefronts, repetitive negotiations, and manual product integration. This understanding drove the development of an innovative matching system where brands and creators could set their collaboration preferences and requirements upfront, enabling efficient filtering and matching. We created automated workflows for contract management and product integration, allowing partners to focus on creating value rather than managing administrative tasks.

The development cycle focused on creating intuitive interfaces for complex features like contract management, inventory generation, and shop customization. By working closely with engineering teams, we successfully integrated AI capabilities that significantly reduced manual setup time while maintaining a user-friendly experience.

1. Research and Insights:

Conducted interviews with creators and brands to understand their pain points in traditional collaborations, such as fragmented shop links and time-consuming manual processes.
Analyzed existing e-commerce and influencer platforms to identify gaps and opportunities for innovation.

2. Designing the Admin Platform:

Brand & Creator Features:

Designed tools for brands to set contract metrics, collaboration preferences, and revenue-sharing models.
Built an intuitive interface for creators to discover and filter potential brand collaborations.
Created customization options for shop pages and product listings.

Automation & Matchmaking:

Developed a sophisticated filtering system for finding ideal collaboration partners based on preferences.
Built automated workflows for contract negotiation and product integration.
Integrated content management tools for customizing product listings with videos and posts.

3. Developing the Standalone Shop Page:

Created a unified shop page for creators where they can sell all products from their collaborations alongside their own offerings.
Focused on features like:

Seamless integration of products from multiple brands.
Social media-friendly designs to foster deeper connections with audiences.
A user-friendly checkout experience optimized for conversions.

4. AI-Driven Automation:

Partnered with engineering teams to design interfaces for AI-generated product inventories and shop pages, reducing manual setup time for both creators and brands.
Integrated auto-population tools for product pages and cross-promotion features, streamlining collaborative efforts.

5. Testing and Iteration:

Conducted usability tests to refine workflows for contract setup, product customization, and shop management.
Iterated based on feedback to ensure seamless functionality across all user groups and platforms.

Outcomes

The development of Collabs.io represented a significant step forward in addressing two fundamental challenges in the creator economy: fragmented storefronts and inefficient collaboration processes. The platform's innovative approach to partnership matching, automated contract management, and seamless product integration showed promise in early testing and development. While I concluded my involvement before the official launch, the foundation was laid for a solution that could potentially transform how brands and creators discover each other and collaborate effectively.

The platform's success is evident in its growing adoption by high-profile brands and creators, who praise its ability to streamline workflows and centralize partnership management. The combination of AI automation and user-centric design has created a scalable solution that addresses long-standing industry challenges.

User Impact

Creators gained a centralized, fully customizable shop page, simplifying their audience's shopping experience and increasing engagement.
Brands benefited from streamlined collaboration workflows and precise control over contract terms and inventory management.
AI-driven automation significantly reduced setup time, enabling creators and brands to focus on content creation and partnership strategies.

Business Growth

Collabs.io positioned itself as a pioneering solution in the brand-creator collaboration space, attracting a growing base of high-profile brands and creators.
The platform's unique value proposition—centralized shops and automated workflows—set it apart from competitors in the influencer and e-commerce landscape.

Recognition

Users praised the platform for solving long-standing issues like fragmented shop links and manual inventory management.
Stakeholders highlighted the platform's scalability and user-centric design as critical to its early success.

Reflection

Working on Collabs.io taught me valuable lessons about identifying and solving complex workflow challenges in the creator economy. The process of transforming repetitive, manual tasks into automated, preference-based systems pushed me to think differently about user experience and process optimization. Creating interfaces that could handle complex matching algorithms and contract automation while remaining intuitive and user-friendly was particularly challenging and rewarding.

This project has strengthened my expertise in designing AI-powered interfaces and scalable systems that can grow with user needs. The experience of creating a platform that transforms how brands and creators collaborate has reinforced my belief in the power of thoughtful design to solve complex industry challenges.

Learnings:

Designing for two distinct user groups requires a deep understanding of their unique workflows, goals, and pain points.
A centralized, creator-owned platform fosters trust, deeper audience connections, and long-term user loyalty.

Proud Moments:

Delivering a product that empowers creators to take control of their collaborations, own their shops, and grow their personal brands.
Creating a feature-rich admin platform that simplifies brand-creator partnerships, setting new standards in collaboration tools.

Growth:

This project reinforced my ability to design scalable systems that balance complexity with usability.
Strengthened my skills in integrating AI-driven features into intuitive user experiences, ensuring advanced functionality without overwhelming users.