BRANDPRODUCT· Jul 2023

Lancer

Freelance quests that connect skills, work, and reputation

Role: Product + Brand Designer (Contract)
Timeline: Jul 2023
Status: MVP design

Problem

Freelancers needed to find relevant work, track applications, and demonstrate credibility without piecing together separate screens.

Approach

Put reward, deadline, status, and required skills on each quest. Use completed quests and portfolio evidence to make reputation inspectable.

Outcome

Designed the MVP across discovery, applications, active work, and profiles, plus the client flow from posting a quest through funding and sharing.

Scope · marketplace roles: 2Lancer and client paths share one system.
Evidence · end-to-end design: MVPOnboarding, quests, profiles, activity, and proof of work.

Decisions & details

ScopeProduct Strategy, UX/UI, Marketplace System, Identity, Launch Campaign

Key decisions

Make the quest the canonical object

Reward, deadline, reputation, status, and skills stay with the quest from discovery through active work.

Design the card as a state machine

One card system makes open, applied, denied, and accepted states easy to compare.

Continue after acceptance

Milestones, earnings, conversation, attachments, and submissions stay within the accepted quest.

Let one account hold both sides

Both roles share profiles and activity while retaining the actions each side needs.

Product chronology

From Bounty MVP to a complete Quest marketplace

The added boards reveal the sequence behind the polished interface: map the whole service, define lifecycle states, design the work after acceptance, then evolve the model into a more expressive Quest system for both sides of the market.

Jun 6, 202301 · System map
Connect the whole Bounty MVP
Map responsive discovery, filters, notifications, saved work, applications, active bounties, and mobile states before polishing individual screens.
Jun 202302 · Lifecycle
Treat a bounty as a state machine
Define open, hover, applied, denied, and accepted states, then connect acceptance to milestones, payout, chat, attachments, and submissions.
Jul 202303 · Refinement
Evolve Bounty into Quest
Consolidate discipline, reward, reputation, expiry, skills, and status into a more expressive marketplace object.
Jul 202304 · Reputation
Keep identity and proof close to discovery
Connect balances, activity, badges, portfolio work, prior quests, links, and resumes to the same account system.
Jul 202305 · Client flow
Close the supply-side loop
Let clients post a quest, attach media and links, inspect a public preview, publish into an honest unfunded state, then fund and share it.
Launch06 · Campaign
Turn the product object into the campaign
Scale the quest-card language directly into launch and street placements instead of inventing a disconnected visual idea.

01

The quest is the marketplace object

Each quest shows reward, discipline, client reputation, status, deadline, and required skills before opening.

Lancer quest marketplace board — The later Quest board spanning design, engineering, and marketing work.

02

Map the whole service before polishing it

The system map connects discovery, saved work, notifications, applications, and active quests across desktop and mobile.

Lancer responsive Bounty MVP system map — The June 6 MVP map across desktop and mobile.

Lancer marketplace flows from browsing and notifications through applications and active work — The service journey from discovery and alerts into application, active work, submission, and feedback.

03

Design the state model before polishing the board

Open, applied, denied, and accepted states connect browsing to submissions and client feedback.

Lancer quest-card state system from open through accepted — One quest card across open, hover, applied, denied, and accepted states.

Lancer active-work experience with milestones, payout, conversation, attachments, and submissions — Acceptance opens the work itself: milestones, earnings, client context, conversation, attachments, and section submissions.

04

A visual language built from the work itself

Discipline colors and symbols make quests scannable across cards, filters, and campaigns.

Lancer quest identity exploration and discipline symbols — Quest identity and discipline symbols for design, engineering, and marketing.

Lancer quest cards across design, engineering, and marketing — A shared card architecture with clear discipline and status variation.

05

Identity and state remain close to discovery

Balance and activity stay close to the board; profiles connect reputation to completed work.

Lancer account activity panel over the quest board — Account mode with role switch, balance, profile, and activity.

Profile as proof: identity, badges, portfolio, links, resume, and quest history.

06

One account, three kinds of proof

Application status, badges, and portfolio evidence stay connected, with Lancer/client switching always available.

Lancer account across activity, badge, and portfolio states — Activity, earned badges, and portfolio work inside one account system.

07

Onboarding establishes the marketplace model

Onboarding establishes role, skills, and a profile before discovery.

Lancer role-selection onboarding — Choose Lancer or client.

Lancer skill-selection onboarding — Select engineering, design, and marketing skills.

Add the resume, imagery, biography, and public username.

08

The client path closes the marketplace loop

Clients set a reward, write a brief, attach evidence, and preview the quest. Publishing makes its unfunded status and next funding action explicit.

Lancer client flow from posting a quest through preview, publishing, and funding — Post, attach, preview, publish, fund, and share.

09

The marketplace became a campaign

Lancer billboard display — The quest language carried into the launch campaign.

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