Tiantian Zhang
Product Designer
(3) Inefficient Backend Operations for XC Creative Art Contest
Anticipating a large number of submissions for the XC Creative Art Contest—a cornerstone program of NIF—we needed a robust, automated system to handle form intake, data collection, and follow-up communication with students. With no dedicated engineering team, building a scalable and reliable process was essential. This automation would form the operational foundation of the contest and enable future growth without overwhelming the small organizing team.
GOAL
Craft a digital platform that powerfully advances NIF’s mission to transform art education through innovation. The experience should be bold, trustworthy, and accessible across web and mobile devices—clearly communicating NIF’s dynamic programs while catalyzing engagement and growth. Launch with a seamless submission flow for the XC Creative Art Contest, setting a strong foundation to inspire, connect, and empower the next generation of creative thinkers.
Define & Ideate
We didn't have the budget to conduct thorough user research, but I took it upon myself to identify the key user personas for the non-profit, including both students and adult audiences engaging with its programs. This helped clarify the goals, needs, and expectations of each user group.
Based on these insights, I defined the initial sitemap and mapped out high-level user journeys to ensure the site structure aligned with user intent. With the sitemap in place, I moved on to sketching out detailed user flows to visualize how users would interact with the site across key tasks.
Jessie
Jessie is 15 years old, an art-loving student who likes incoporate her other passions such as writing into artmaking. She is looking for a fun reliable contest to showcase her work.
Goals
Submit artworks for fitting contests
Find opportunities to combine her other passions and art in meaningful ways
Gain feedback from professionals to grow as an artist
Being recognized for her talent.
Frustration
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Jessie finds it challenging to discover art communities or contests that recognize and reward the integration of writing and visual art.
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She often struggles to sift through vague or disorganized contest details.
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Many contests offer minimal rewards or exposure, making her question whether the effort to participate is worthwhile.
Program most interested in
XC Creative Art Contest
Homepage (overview)
Support Us
Art Therapy and Youth Education
Adalyn
Adalyn, 45 years old, has spent years working in both education and the nonprofit arts sector. While she no longer works directly in education, her passion for the arts and learning remains central to her identity.
Goals
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Adalyn wants to support initiatives that bring meaningful art education to people of all ages
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She’s interested in workshops and events that explore the intersection of art, personal growth, and social change
Frustrations
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The most meaningful workshops are often expensive, hard to find, or not well-promoted. I wish there were more inclusive, well-curated options.
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Finds it hard to connect with legitimate initiatives that have a measurable impact
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I want to be part of a community that values art and dialogue — not just passive experiences.
Program most interested in
XC Creative Art Contest
Homepage (overview)
Support Us
Art Therapy and Youth Education
User Persona
To guide the design, I identified key user personas based on NIF’s diverse programs. Since NIF supports both general public initiatives—like art therapy and youth education—and age-specific offerings such as the XC Creative Art Contest (targeted at students in grades 6–12), the platform needed to serve a range of audiences. I defined potential user personas including middle and high school students, parents, educators, community program partners, and internal organizers. These personas helped shape the content structure and prioritize features based on varying user needs.
Site Mapping
Based on user insights, I structured the sitemap to improve clarity of the key programs and usability. I restructured key sections to better align with user expectations and language, making navigation more intuitive.
Additionally, we moved technical and secondary content such as all social links and contact information to the footer to keep the primary navigation clean and focused.
Sketch
Design Decision
(1) Establishing a Distinct Visual Identity
To differentiate NIF from other educational nonprofits, I developed a bold, kaleidoscopic visual system inspired by the idea of “neo-education”—modern, multi-faceted, and boundary-breaking. The visual direction needed to feel both innovative and credible, appealing to students with vibrancy while maintaining the trust of parents and institutional sponsors.
Nextgen Interarts Foundation
Neo - Education
Boundary - Breaking
Heading
Montserrat Bold
Body
Nunito Sans Light
I choose both san-serif fonts as the fonts because it's professional and eay to read for users.
(2) Program define
To build an art contest, I first studied other contests of the integrity we are aiming to achieve.
We highlighted the XC Creative Art Contest prominently on the homepage using interactive 3D visuals and motion design to immediately engage teenage users. At the same time, we emphasized clarity and hierarchy to guide users through the application process with minimal cognitive load.
Automation
(3) Building a Scalable, No-Code Backend
Given limited engineering resources, I implemented a robust no-code automation workflow to handle appointment scheduling, form submissions, and participant data management. This approach allowed the foundation to launch and scale key programs efficiently — without compromising performance or usability.
Final Automation Workflow
UI
Jotform
Zapier
Airtable
Project Overview
NextGen InterArt Foundation (NIF) is a newly established nonprofit with a mission to redefine youth art education by championing cross-disciplinary creativity.
When I joined the organization, it existed primarily as an early-stage vision without established programs or a digital presence. To bring this vision to life, NIF launched the XC Creative Art Contest, a flagship initiative designed to inspire students to integrate their diverse passions—science, literature, film—into original creative work.
Role
I led the end-to-end product strategy, design, and management for NIF’s digital platform, taking it from 0 to 1. I defined the brand identity and made key decisions that shaped the foundation’s public presence and operational capabilities.
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Established a distinct visual identity aligned with NIF’s mission.
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Designed and built a fully responsive website to serve as the organization’s central hub.
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Implemented scalable back-end systems using no-code tools to support growth on a lean budget.
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Developed the infrastructure for the XC Creative Art Contest, enabling seamless submissions and participant engagement.
Through this work, I transformed NIF’s vision into a tangible, functioning platform ready to scale its impact.
Phase 1: Front-End Setup
Build a smooth, user-friendly website interface that links seamlessly to the submission form.
Phase 2: Form & Data Collection
Find a form platform with strong conditional logic that adapts to different submission categories and artwork quantities (1–3), ensuring no empty or irrelevant fields appear, and automatically sorts uploads into category-specific folders.
Phase 3: Judge Presentation & Evaluation
Organize all student submissions (images, videos, PDFs) into a clear, accessible format where preliminary judges can mark “yes” or “no,” generating a refined selection pool; final judges then evaluate this pool in tiers to assign bronze, silver, and gold awards.
PHase 1 Research: form
Platform
Wix Form
Pro
✅ already have pro version
✅ automation to Google Suite, including google drive and google sheet.
Con
❌ all uploaded documents are hyperlinks, requiring download to view contents.
❌ original file names overwritten
Verdict
❌
Google Form
✅ free
✅ automation to Google Drive
❌ to upload files, must have google account
❌ limited conditioning set up
❌
Jotform
✅ strong conditioning feature
✅ automation to multiple platforms
❌ monthly payment
✅
PHase 2 Research: Data organization & presentation
Platform
Google Sheet
Pro
✅ Free
✅ Easy for judges to edit, use column checks
Con
❌ judges need to click & download files to view
❌ though there's hide columns section, judges could still see
Verdict
❌
PDF Booklet
✅ free
✅ presents most information in one, could omit specific informations
❌ not much automation, if submission over 1000, it's a lot of manual labor
❌ hard for judges to select artworks.
❌
Airtable
✅ strong conditioning feature
✅ automation to multiple platforms
❌ monthly payment
✅
Impact
In 2025, the NextGen InterArt Foundation (NIF) launched a dynamic digital platform designed to expand access to arts education and foster interdisciplinary creativity among youth. This fully functional website has become the cornerstone of NIF’s outreach, offering curated programming, real-time community engagement, and national visibility for young creators.
Over a three-month span, the platform hosted 12+ weekly workshops led by professional sound healing artist and educator, providing over 50 participants with free mindfulness workshops and sound healing practices.
A central feature of the platform is the XC Creative Art Contest, a nationwide initiative targeting students in grades 6–12. The contest breaks away from conventional formats by introducing 17 hybrid categories across science, literature, music, and film. It encourages participants to explore the intersection of disciplines and push the boundaries of what art can be.
Since launch, NIF has reached more than 1,500 students, parents, and educators through its programs, communications, and outreach efforts. The platform has also supported over $40,000 in sponsorships and donations, with funds directed toward educational resources, artist honorariums, and accessibility initiatives.
Beyond numbers, the initiative has helped create a vibrant, inclusive, and forward-thinking community—one that reflects NIF’s core belief: that the future of creativity lies at the crossroads of disciplines, cultures, and generations.
Poster Design
3D Animation of Contest Logo
Time
January 2025 - Now
Contribution
User Research
UI Design
Wireframing
Prototyping
No-Code Automation
Team
NIF Board & Founding Members
understand
(1) A Bold, Distinct Visual Identity
NextGen InterArts (NIF) aims to pioneer art education, especially at the intersection of art and science. After discussing with the founders, I envisioned a bold, edgy visual identity that would set them apart and reflect their experimental, future-facing mission.
(2) Art contest program building
The XC Creative Art Contest is the most important program NIF wants to establish. It's a new international art contest for students grades 6 - 12, that encourages cross-disciplinary art expression. I was co-building the specifics of the contest alongside the founding members. We came up with the contest's logo and color scheme. Then I started to create a cohesive brand architecture that hosts all programs without overshadowing their individuality, especially highlighting the XC Creative Art Contest.