2010 – 2015
Digital Asset
Management for
Fine Arts Publishing
Job Info
Employer – Acrush AG
Duration – 5 Years (2010-2015)
Roles
Jack of all trades
UX Design
UI Design
Business Development
Product Management
Product & Service Design
Support
Key Activities
Project Management / Testing 30%
Business Development 20%
Client Support 20%
UX Design 20%
UI Design 10%
Collaboration Partners / Teammates
Scipio Schneider – Business Development
Stefan Altenburger – Business Development
Marco Früh – Business Development
Thomas Berger – Grafic Design
Beat Seeliger – panter AG / Lead Developer
Zsolt Benke – independent / Developer
Clients
Urs Fischer (Artist Studio)
Galerie Eva Presenhuber
Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst
Ugo Rondinone (Artist Studio)
Art at Swiss Re
Rudolf Stingel (Artist Studio)
Domain
Main Tasks
Reference Image Core Services and Product Development
Defining all frontend and backend services and features of a highly specialised digital asset management service and its APIs.
Client Customisations
Integration of our services and workflows in client environments, development of custom features.
Client Custom Projects
Development of single-page web applications and websites.
Digital Imaging Service Design and Production Management
Design and implementation of colour managed digitisation workflows
Side Tasks
Writing Business Plans
Human Resources
Digital Imaging Workflow Support for Developers and Clients
Reference Image allows individuals and organisation in the fine art world to maintain a high-quality image publishing workflow regardless of their technical skills.
To achieve commercial release status, our solution had to support the whole lifecycle of digital image publishing in print and online.
Client-side publishing procedures and the complexity of digital imaging technology – I first had to gain proficiency in all fields related to our business, my main challenge was to fill up the knowledge gaps for all stakeholders involved.
As lead designer and jack of all trades, I was in charge of all executive branches of the company until the core service went commercial in 2015.
2000 – 2015
Building a business: Phases
1.
From design graduate to project lead in 6 weeks
I discovered the realities of a running a startup: all parts of the ux design process are mutually intertwined, simultaneous rather than separated and embedded in broader tasks – which converged in satisfying our existing alpha version clients. Good thing I always had an enthusiasm for fine art and could rely on a number of personal relationships for testing, inspiration and feedback.
- Translated the mission of the project founders into a product roadmap
- Workflow and knowledge immersion
- Expectation and budget constraints management.
- Acquired the methods of managing onsite and nearshore development team.
2.
Lean by the letter
Each and every feature to be released had to be sold to an existing or prospective client. This had two implications: on the one hand, I had to reduce any user interface design to the strict minimum and focus on functionality. On the other hand, I found ways to foster the needs of a generally silent user base to support further roadmap decisions.
- Wrote a Business Plan
- Delivered a Web Application for Urs Fischer
- Developed and released the key features of the colour managed image workflow
- Built new client partnerships to develop and test specific features of the service
3.
Catering to Artists
We developed a marketing strategy to showcase our high definition image zoom capabilities. It included low budget website productions to young and upcoming artists – some first steps into our community building efforts. Working with the millennial generation helped me transition to more contemporary UX paradigms that were at the core of our services.
- New Corporate Design and Application Styleguide
- Delivered a custom application for Rudolf Stingel
- Revamped the intra-platform library and sharing paradigm
- Developed a lightweight CMS for fast portfolio website projects
4.
Scaling Up
Our learnings from previous phases gave us the confidence to tackle more comprehensive client projects, which, in return would allow widening the feature-set to cater to the needs of bigger organisations and amplify our exposure to a broader public. The commercial release became a necessity, which had to be secured by acquiring new talent in sales.
- Developed integration for Magnolia CMS
- Designed and delivered website for Galerie Eva Presenhuber
- Extended the sharing capabilities for non-registered users.
- Finalised the business model and price plan for the commercial launch
5.
Choosing opportunities with new skillsets
We developed a marketing strategy to showcase our high definition image zoom capabilities. It included low budget website productions to young and upcoming artists – some first steps into our community building efforts. Working with the millennial generation helped me transition to more contemporary UX paradigms that were at the core of our services.
- The commercial launch of the platform
- The transition of active client relationships into the business model
- Handover of duties and responsibilities to my successor
6.
Conclusion
Acquired skillset
- Rapid prototyping with InVision/Marvel app or HTML/CSS/JS
- Efficient frontend development testing workflows
- Technical feature specification
- Product ownership in agile development projects
- Business modelling methods (Canvas/Lean Canvas)
- Digital imaging proficiency