The challenge
A bustling worldwide community of illustrators.
Chenja is on a mission to connect the world’s community of illustrators so that artists can show their recognition to talented individuals and find inspiration. The driving force behind this movement is an illustrator himself, Stuart Bridgeman.
The solution
Ready to take Chenja to the next level.
Stuart has been a Digital Creative for ten years, working in web design, app design, games, illustration, animation, VFX, UI design, logo design and branding. Throughout his career, he found there was a lack of a sense of community online where illustrators could share their work and collaborate. This sparked an idea to change the online community of illustrators for the better, uniting the community of creatives – the start of, Chenja.
Building Chenja for the future and adding value.
For Chenja, the core technical language used was Python and Javascript (JS). Barring in the mind tech stack, Micheal Roberts was the perfect fit for this project as he is Hiyield’s resident Python and JS expert.
Stuart had four key areas of development:
- Prepare Chenja to be a mobile application
- Improve the user experience
- Increase user engagement
- Create a ‘News’ section for the site
A complete front-end rewrite
Micheal reviewed the code and found that the front end would require a total rewrite because the Chenja web app was written in React.js with both class-based and functional components. Although this didn’t create a significant issue, the application would be harder to maintain.
Micheal explained this to Stewart and decided to go for a complete front-end rewrite using the frameworks Vue.js and TailwindCSS.
Key technical elements:
- Language Python & Javascript
- Frameworks: Vue.js & Django
- CSS Framework: TailwindCSS
- Backend Technology: Redis InMemory
- Database & Celery Message Queue
- Database: PostgreSQL
Improving the User Experience
Hiyield worked collaboratively with Stuart on how best to improve the user experience and together came up with:
- Modernise artwork galleries
- Improved user profiles
- Improved complement system
- New user commenting system
- New web notifications
Micheal built the new web app with responsive coding, making it perfect for any device. He utilised TailwindUI so that he could progress Chenja as much as we could within the time frame and budget Stuart had.
The artwork galleries now had a new design, and there was a simple function to search through the artwork via tags helping the user to find the artwork via categories.
The profile section had a new layout with an improved navigation bar for easy use Directing a user to parts of a profile: about, artwork, achievements and compliments.
A new revenue stream for Chenja.
With the growth of new users and a new user experience ready to go live, Stuart was eager to develop a revenue strategy.
The most obvious and easiest way to monetise Chenja is to build a function for advertisements throughout the site. Micheal then went on to integrate Chanja with Google display ads and Carbon.
News and Compliments
The compliments system is unique, and instead of Likes, a user receives stickers that refresh every week, giving a user the ability to show their appreciation for other users’ artwork. Micheal created a new display and animated this function, creating an engaging slap and shudder effect, increasing user satisfaction.
The user commenting system also enabled a way for users to communicate with artists on a more granular level easily. Micheal then integrated the News section of the site, where the team at Chenja could create posts and keep users up-to-date with the latest happenings.
The results
A slick new user experience.
Chenja is the first of its kind and solves a market gap. Working with Stuart to accomplish his visions for Chenja was totally in sync with the skills and experiences Hiyield had.
Stuart has now taken Chenja to a new level with an A-class experience. Not only to make it look good but to get the product ready for further growth.
Similar work
Explore our services
Discovery & UX Design
Hiyield’s Discovery & UX Design team go from research and definition to sketches and user-tested high quality prototypes, tailored to your unique vision, ensuring that each interaction provides a memorable user experience.
Development
Our Development team specialises in creating bespoke web and mobile solutions. We turn your ideas into efficient, scalable, and eco-friendly digital products.
Strategy
With Hiyield, it’s a partnership. Together, we build sustainable strategies, prioritising your growth and making certain our work together leaves a lasting positive mark.
Let’s get started!
Great digital products aren’t just built, they’re co-created. Together, let’s breathe life into your idea, crafting solutions that stand out.