Works • Cheeze
Cheeze Inc. (Startup)
Cheeze is an international crypto startup, led by Guy Kawasaki (Apple), Mark Randolph (Netflix), and Greg Hoffman (Nike). The company reimagines consumer connections by combining blockchain technology and AI innovation.
I worked as a Senior Designer at Cheeze for one year, during which time we managed to test three hypotheses.
About the project: the first hypothesis
Second and third iterations
Results
What I've learnt
I worked as a Senior Designer at Cheeze for one year, during which time we managed to test three hypotheses.
About the project: the first hypothesis
Second and third iterations
Results
What I've learnt
About the project: the first hypothesis
In the beginning, we were building a service to sell NFT photos aimed at professional photographers. We developed a web version and an iOS app. During this process, I created a UI-kit, a photo upload flow, NFT token minting, a native wallet, a transaction history, and the ability for users to create themed photo galleries and transfer photos to other users.
The service went through the initial launch phase, but at this point, we realized that our idea was outdated due to the arrival of the crypto winter on the market.
The service went through the initial launch phase, but at this point, we realized that our idea was outdated due to the arrival of the crypto winter on the market.
This is what the main page of the Cheeze service looked like.
Second and third iterations
We decided to make the first pivot and add gamification mechanics. The solution was 'challenges'. These are real-world activities that were supposed to take place under the auspices of top brands (such as Nike, Emirates, Starbucks, and others). The winners had to receive NFT tokens, which would allow them to receive bonuses from the organizer of the contest and audience recognition. Our project has received the functions of a social network.
We have offered challenges to our users. An internal currency, LENZ, has been introduced.
I have completely updated the main screen and added a 'Challenge' screen where users can register for an event, submit completed tasks, and track their standing. We have managed to successfully release this version to production.
The challenge page is packed with features.
As is often the case when working in startups, we have to work hard. This time, our CEO decided to make a change to the concept. As a result, this version of the product is not yet final. =)
It was the second milestone in my career as a Cheese designer. We conducted research on customer development and discovered that it can be challenging for content creators, such as photographers, artists, illustrators, and musicians, to gain recognition and become well-known in the industry among top brands, producers, and broadcasters.
It was the second milestone in my career as a Cheese designer. We conducted research on customer development and discovered that it can be challenging for content creators, such as photographers, artists, illustrators, and musicians, to gain recognition and become well-known in the industry among top brands, producers, and broadcasters.
Photographer:
I often submit my photos to the Vogue website, and once my photo was approved. I can now include this fact in my portfolio.
Illustrator, 32 years old:
I want to receive money or other bonuses for content sent to the brand.
Artist, 22 years old:
The main thing for me is to get approval from the brand. This is a powerful incentive to send my illustrations.
Neuro-artist:
I sell images generated using the Midjourney neural network.
Brand:
We want to gather photos of event participants in one place so that we don’t have to search for them by hashtag.
Brand:
It is important for us to monitor trends on social media.
Brand:
We want to access 98% of the untapped economy of the creators.
I had formulated hypothes to support our idea:
'We believe that by bringing together content creators and brands on a single platform, our company can generate income through a subscription-based model. Brands will have access to a vast library of legal content, which will allow them to significantly reduce their marketing costs, and artists will receive recognition in the professional community and bonuses from their favorite brands'.
'We believe that by bringing together content creators and brands on a single platform, our company can generate income through a subscription-based model. Brands will have access to a vast library of legal content, which will allow them to significantly reduce their marketing costs, and artists will receive recognition in the professional community and bonuses from their favorite brands'.
A user flow based on key user stories.
The highlight of this version of the service is the ability to create graphics using MidJourney. We have been able to integrate the generative network through Discord into our website. Users can generate an image by creating a simple prompt, uploading a reference image, and customizing it using pre-set popular styles.
The video below demonstrates the process of creating content for users and sending it to the brand (Figma UI).
The video below demonstrates the process of creating content for users and sending it to the brand (Figma UI).
For the B2B direction, we have created a personal 'Studio' account where the manager can choose the necessary content from the content submitted by users, and reward the best content creators with NFTs.
Results
By the middle of 2023, we had successfully launched a working version of our product, Cheese. Additionally, our startup was accepted into the Mastercard Start Path program. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, the company was not able to secure additional funding to continue operations and the project had to be temporarily put on hold. As a result, I decided to leave the company.
Currently, the CEO has shifted his focus to a new direction — providing companies with a service to enhance the user experience through the use of barcodes and NFC tags.
Currently, the CEO has shifted his focus to a new direction — providing companies with a service to enhance the user experience through the use of barcodes and NFC tags.
What I've learnt
I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the Cheeze team. Although we worked remotely from different parts of the world, this did not hinder us from effectively implementing new ideas. After almost a year of working together, I have managed to:
1
Improve my soft skills in communicating with developers, the product and project managers. I frequently interacted with the CEO, and it was not a challenge for me to work remotely. It didn’t cause me any problems to work remotely. In fact, it helped me to learn how to manage my time more efficiently.
2
Significantly enhance my hard skills. I became proficient in the Figma (components, autolayouts, styles, and tokens), and created a UI-kit that made life easier for designers and developers. My work on graphics, including 3D, and in the area of AI, was also impressive. I also learned how to analyze competitors, find references, and conduct thorough interviews.
3
While working on Cheeze, I read a lot of literature about business processes and product design — it helped me find elegant solutions in my work and motivated not only me, but also my colleagues.
Of course, there were failures in my work, that’s what I can relate to them:
1
The product did not go through all the stages of life, we did not have time to collect analytics because we did not have enough users yet. For this reason, almost everything was done at random. This is likely a characteristic of startups.
2
As a result, I realized that as a result of my work in the project, I did not have enough experience as a product designer. For this reason, I enrolled in Yandex Practicum courses (one of the most famous and powerful online schools for training IT specialists in Russia), where I was able to practice solving product problems.
Finaly, I got a powerful boost in product design, understood how SCRUM works, and how to properly prepare layouts for transfer to development. I saw new growth points for myself and added a powerful real-world case to my portfolio. Thanks to Cheeze and the team =)
Do you have any more questions?
I am happy to share more about my experience and answer any questions you may have.