We’re building an online space for our maker community oriented around sharing and discovering handcraft. Over the last several months, our direction has been influenced by personal conversations with all kinds of makers. Now, we’re opening up the discussion to the larger community.
The possibilities are big and exciting but right now we’re focused on fit: What is appropriate? What is delightful? What actually serves us?
This post is a public work in progress. Consider contributing your insight in the comments next to each point or at the bottom of the post. If you haven’t already, you might want to read our Vision to Values first. You can also read and comment on our underlying assumptions.
The Experience
Beautifully simple
The design highlights makers’ images and promotes connection with the work and with others
Focused on handcraft
We appreciate good art but there are existing platforms for posting gallery-focused work
Makers, not resellers
Images are posted by the people who made the work
See the work you expect
Your home feed is determined by who and what you’re following, not an algorithm
Discovery through Curation
Craft-specific feeds are curated to generously guide the discovery process
Managed by makers
Ambassador makers (serving quarterly) curate the feeds for their respective crafts
Equal opportunity
Good work gets featured no matter who posts it (plus, no pay-for-exposure)
Connection around our shared values
A craft focus brings us together—political commentary, etc, gets posted elsewhere
A neutral voice
Some makers have a fun approach, some serious—a neutral tone makes space for everyone
Collect images
Remember and organize work to reference later or to share
Customer-friendly collections
Explore objects by collections like Kitchen, Accessories or Furniture
Encourage direct sales
Makers can highlight objects that are for sale and link to products on their own websites (for free)
The Approach
Serving makers of all skill levels
Sharing our work is valuable for all of us, from beginners to masters
Free for everyone
Both makers and craft appreciators can join and participate for free
Everyone shows and gets respect
Accounts posting hateful content will be removed. Disrespectful members will be warned first.
Transparent leadership
A community stays stronger when we’re clear about vision, plans and expectations
Community-informed direction
Plans are made with a lot of community input in the best interest of small-scale makers
Get help when you need it
If you have an issue, you can reach a real person who has the authority to help resolve it
Community-created content
We want to facilitate conversations and the sharing of valuable experience
Independent
As a startup, we’re minimizing outside investment to maintain our priorities
Shared resources
As we grow, we look forward to creating/offering valuable resources to makers
Better without big data
We’re working hard to keep our data localized. (And, we would never sell it.)
Supported by sponsors who get the vision
The platform makes money via ads from vetted sponsors who support what we’re doing and offer real value
Hide ads if you want to
Members can hide ads by subscribing to an ad-free plan with a few bonus tools
Share ad revenue
Even before we get profitable we will be sharing revenue with high-contributing members
Help refine the direction
To make this flourish we need more input from the maker community. What else should be considered? What stands out to you? Share your insight in the comments below or next to each point above.