Nodia Platform - Design Refinement Challenge

Welcome to the Nodia Platform - Design Refinement Challenge. This challenge is focused on designing an online platform that helps large corporations solve problems by connecting them with entrepreneurs with specific skillsets, and the right cultural fit.

The platform will also be providing users with curated industry content informing them on latest tech trends and will encourage corporates to explore new technology solutions to their problems.

In the first instance we are looking to develop a desktop application, with the ability to scale it to mobile in the future.
We have already completed an initial design challenge, and are looking to build on it with some extra screens and some design changes to our existing ones.

At the end of this challenge, we are looking for the Topcoder Design Community to help us plan and design the user experience of our new web application. 

Round 1

Submit your initial designs for Checkpoint Feedback
01 Sign in screen
02a Explore page – High volume of content
02b Explore page – Low volume of content

You must upload your submission to MarvelApp so we can provide direct feedback on your designs.
Feel free to add any other additional screens which are necessary to explain your concept.
Notes.jpg: Please note any comments about your design for the Client
Make sure all pages have correct flow! Use correct file numbering. (00, 01, 02, 03)

Round 2

Your Final designs for all the required designs with all Checkpoint Feedback implemented.
01 Sign in screen
02a Explore page – High volume of content
02b Explore page – Low volume of content
03 Entrepreneur Dashboard
04 Corporate user profile

You must upload your submission to MarvelApp, for the final submission - you can reuse the prototype that you shared for checkpoint
Feel free to add any other additional screens which are necessary to explain your concept.
Notes.jpg: Please note any comments about your design for the Client
Make sure all pages have correct flow! Use correct file numbering. (00, 01, 02, 03)

This online platform will help large corporations solve problems by connecting them with a global network of entrepreneurs and freelancers

Challenge Downloads:
Please download all files required for this challenge from the below link
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B2MK5NncVSuQd2NORmxEelJzb1E?usp=sharing
- Base Source (use this for this challenge): Use this source file as a base for this challenge
- Design Inspiration: File references are mentioned below
- Previous Challenge Source and Submission: Original Sourceand submission files for reference

Branding Guidelines:
- We would like to slightly change the colour scheme from our existing design - we would like to keep with a dark primary colour with the secondary colour being an electric themed, bright colour. See below linked websites for inspiration.

Branding and Feel:
The brand personality of Nodia is that of a creative members club - developing a community that is creative and energetic, and providing a variety of offerings that meet the tastes of both entrepreneurs and corporates. It is forward-thinking, finds the best way to meet today’s needs while also embracing new concepts and fresh ideas. The brand is cool and should inspire feelings of intelligence and inspiration
- It should avoid being too ‘corporate’ but instead take inspiration from the following brands/websites:
- - House of St Barnabus (please see colour scheme below) 
- - Avvoka
- - Haig Club
- Please see the attached screenshot (membership.png) for colour theme inspiration.
- In terms of look and feel, incorporating the use of images that embody the club feel of the attached image (club_feel.png) is a design influence:

The Problem:
Below are the problems faced by a corporation looking for entrepreneurial talent...
- Corporates want to work with freelance experts who have domain expertise in disruptive technologies that are affecting their industries i.e. Blockchain in Finance, AI in major service organizations etc
- The challenge is that corporates are often unable to find individuals with the right skillsets and experience to support innovation projects because they are not linked into this network
- In addition corporates can’t be sure whether an individual is the right cultural fit for their company without going through a time consuming interview process. This situation does not work for the corporate nor the freelance experts / entrepreneurs they are trying to engage

Below are the list of problems faced by a freelancer looking for a corporate opportunity...
- Freelance experts want to work on exciting innovation projects that make an impact, but there isn’t a single and easy place to find this type of work with corporate clients / large organisations
- In addition there is no guarantee of being protected in a corporate environment i.e. being paid promptly, being provided with a single point of contact (handler) to resolve queries and handle on-boarding etc
- There is also a lack of cultural fit between corporates and entrepreneurs which often results in a misalignment of expectations and working styles

Solution:
Your design idea needs to be focused on an online platform and information centre for both Corporates and Entrepreneurs that:
- helps corporates explore trends and technologies that will affect their organisation and industry, identifies individuals who can help them with this
- helps corporates find the right entrepreneurial talent to support and deliver challenging innovation projects

Marvel App:
For this challenge - as part of your checkpoint submission, you must upload your submission to Marvelapp so we can provide direct feedback on your designs.
- Please request an MarvelApp link from the Copilot through the challenge forum.

Design Consideration:
- This is going to be developed as a Web Application, so have your designs of width 1366px and height as required.
- For this challenge, we have shared the source / screens (Nodia_followup_base.sketch) from the previous challenge which you will need to use as a base for this challenge.
- We have also shared the original file for other screens (Nodia.sketch) that we designed in the previous challenge but make sure to use this just as a reference / grab any UI elements as necessary but please do not incorporate the corporate theme as we want to move away from that and have a club look & feel.
- We are looking for designs that will be scalable to a mobile web application in the future
- Make sure your designs are responsive
- We want a design that is understated, cool and laid back, but still has a professional edge. Please carefully read “Branding and feel” section.

Suggested Screens:
Below are some of the suggested screens based on the concept, please feel free to add any other screens that you think would be useful.

01 Sign in screen:
Source Reference: Design Challenge Screen 1
As this is the first screen users will see, it is vital that this page is inviting for both our users groups:
- Needs the ability to sign in and sign up
- Top half of the page should be a large image, spanning width of the screen. This should be of a ‘club house’ or exclusive room showing individuals working. The look and feel needs to cater to both communities – the entrepreneurs and corporates
- The image should also be interactive e.g. by hovering over the people/aspects of the room you are given information about the Nodia platform in a seemless but impressive way
- Below the image, leave hold space for the Nodia tagline
- Below the text, two horizontal panels, spanning width of the screen are required which each provide detail around the Nodia offering for Corporates and Entrepreneurs respectively
- Please include holding text for 4 points for both users, each with an icon. We think that something similar to this attached format (format_low_volume.png) is effective.

02a Explore page – High volume of content:
Source Reference: Design Challenge Screen 2
The purpose of this page is to inform our users with content that is relevant whilst also exposing them to trends that they aren’t even aware of:
- The top half of the page should contain a horizontally scrolling carousel which includes three panels
- Each panel will include either an article, event or trending topic which has been curated by the Nodia team and should include an eye-catching image
- Beneath the carousel, there should be two cards
- Card 1: ‘For you’ section which contains personalised content (articles, reports, research)
- Card 2: ‘Events near you’ section, containing a list of technology, innovation, industry and startup events near to the user  

02b Explore page – Low volume of content:
Source Reference: Design Challenge Screen 2
We would also like you to create an explore page which is more simplistic than the screen described above - the purpose is the same: to inform our users with content that is relevant whilst also exposing them to trends they didn’t even know about.

Please use your creativity to develop a page which condenses the following information into a clean and simple explore page:
- Events
- Relevant articles
- Reports
- Trending topics

03 Entrepreneur Dashboard:
Source Reference: Design Challenge Screen 3
We would like our existing design to be modified so that it still retains the current functionality but keeps in line with our club feel from the above screens:
- All existing functionality should be kept
- Any overall design themes and images should be updated to keep this screen in line with the above screens

04 Corporate user profile:
Source Reference: Design Challenge Screen 4
We would like our existing design to be modified so that it still retains the current functionality but keeps in line with our club feel from the above screens:
- All existing functionality should be kept
- Any overall design themes and images should be updated to keep this screen in line with the above screens

Brief guidance for the user journey through the above screens is found below, please take this as inspiration to make any changes to the journey that you see fit:
User: Starts at the sign in page > Signs in with details > views explore page > Accesses dashboard > Views profile

Important:
- All of the graphics should have a similar feel and general aesthetic appearance
- Focus on the user experience! Focus on the navigation experience. Keeping consistent visual elements.

Stock Artwork:
We are allowing stock photos and stock icons for this challenge
- Stock Artwork policies: https://help.topcoder.com/hc/en-us/articles/217481408-Policy-for-Stock-Artwork-in-Design-Submissions   
- Latest Design Policies: http://help.topcoder.com/hc/en-us/categories/202610437-DESIGN 

Target Audience
- Large organisations / corporates and freelance experts / entrepreneurs

Judging Criteria
Your submission will be judged on the following criteria:
- Overall design and user experience, including the end to end flow
- Simplicity of design/strong, clear design concept
- How well your design aligns with the objectives of the challenge and the brand we are trying to create

Submission & Source Files
Preview Image
Please create your preview image as one (1)1024x1024px JPG or PNG file in RGB color mode at 72dpi and place a screenshot of your submission within it.

Submission File
Submit JPG/PNG for your submission files.

Source Files
All original source files of the submitted design. Files should be created in Sketch, Adobe Illustrator or similar application.

Final Fixes
As part of the final fixes phase you may be asked to modify your graphics (sizes or colors) or modify overall colors. We may ask you to update your design or graphics based on checkpoint feedback.