Digital craft platforms research in the U.K. and China

2019.2 - 2020.9

[About]

Digital platforms, e.g. online marketplaces and digital tools, can help produce and distribute new products/services, facilitating innovation. However, there is a lack of research in digital platforms for craft sectors compared to other creative industries. This 18-month project aimed to map out the use, features, and potential of digital platforms in craft sectors in the UK and China. It was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and supported by the Crafts Council, and was a partnership between researchers at the Queen Mary University of London and Hunan University in China.

I designed, organized, and facilitated the inter-disciplinary workshop to help uncover the challenges and opportunities of digitizing craft-making & marketing processes

• The workshop lasted for one day, including guest speakers’ speeches, 2 runs of round-table discussions on challenges and opportunities of digital craft platforms respectively, and a new-idea brainstorming session

• I connected 12 craftsmen, 5 digital service designers, and 3 professors in interaction design to participate in the workshop

• All 20 participants were divided into 4 groups, and I facilitated 1 of them

Key insights from the workshop:

[Challenges]

• Craftsmen lack access and professional level of knowledge about digital generation, and online promotion/sales, especially for those makers in the rural areas

• Operating digital platforms for sale highly costs manpower, money, and time, while the amount of fans and exposure are accumulated on 3rd party platforms (e.g., Taobao Live streaming)

• Crafts are hard to make differentiation from users’ perspectives, and it’s difficult to sell the crafts that over 1000RMB craft online

• Hard to rapidly and massively produce creative works to attract customers and win the market

[Opportunities]

• Digital production equipment has the potential to facilitate making and provide cheaper craft (half-handmade)

• Social media could reduce the cost of promoting craft business

• Outsourcing has become more popular due to the development of digital technology

• Digital platforms provide craft makers with new opportunities in terms of reaching customers and collaboration

My reflection & take-aways

• Gained experience in design leadership: through organizing the interdisciplinary design workshop, I gained leadership experience and practiced communication skills when interacting with different stakeholders, and realized that human-centered thinking is not only a design method, but a great approach for communication/collaboration

• Designed for desktop: through leading the design of the research website, I gained deeper understandings in desktop design (e.g. columns, navigation patterns, etc.)

• What could be done better: I could be more confident about my work and show more visibility in the research team