Background

Prior to working in Product Design, I worked in TV and film for 14 years and witnessed major inefficiencies in the creative staffing process. The process took too long and drained hiring managers, especially when hiring entire teams of creatives at once. High turnover—up to 50% of staff being released at the end of each season—was indicative of a bad situation.

To understand why, I led discovery research sessions, speaking to dozens of TV Showrunners—the de facto hiring managers for TV—before conducting similar research with Studio Execs:

Problem Identification

I then led a workshop with key stakeholders to categorize insights and synthesize them into addressable problems. Issues included:

• Lost submission materials
• Complexity in sorting writers by seniority
• No meaningful way to compare similar candidates

We prioritized using a Problem Prioritization Matrix, focusing on the most critical issues:

HMW Statements

We formulated the following "How Might We" (HMW) statements:

1. How might we help showrunners trust writers they don't know?
2. How might we help writers support each other without harming their own careers?
3. How might we make information about writers easy to find?

Solution Ideation

We workshopped solutions and used dot voting to settle on a visual database and platform to manage the staffing process.

Finally, we conducted an MVP Feature Mapping exercise to determine the core functionality for the first product:

• Finding and comparing writers
• Accessing detailed information about writers
• Reading writer sample materials

These were mapped to three key pages:

1. Writer List Page
2. Writer Info Page
3. Script Reader

Prototyping & Research

I designed a low-fidelity prototype and presented it to showrunners, at which point we gathered more usability insights, refined the designs and then moved onto high-fidelity designs.

Branding

But before diving into high-fidelity design, we had to establish Prolog’s brand identity. As a team of creatives, we wanted to convey that creative work should be fun, despite its challenges. We developed the following brand framework:

Mission

At Prolog, we make hiring creatives simpler, faster, and fairer. Using modern design principles and advanced technology, we build the best tools that build the best teams.

Vision

A world where hiring is fairer, faster, and more equitable.

Values

• Simplicity
• Trust
• Collaboration
• Innovation
• Fun

Logo Design

The logo design process was iterative, with multiple misses:

We realized simplicity was key. My co-founder’s wife, a talented UX Designer, helped us refine the brand font and colors and set the foundation for the final logo:

Thanks to this leg up, I was able to design a sleek, easy-to-grasp logomark and wordmark:

High-Fidelity Design & Handoff

For V1 of the platform, I used the Untitled UI kit in Figma to build the high-fidelity designs, customizing where needed. Still I needed to be thoughtful about componentizing as much as possible to improve handoff:

Our front-end dev - who has been an engineer for over a decade - remarked:

‍"This is easily the best handoff I’ve ever received from a Designer."
– Karen, Front-End Developer

‍

This success was due to clear communication and thorough annotations throughout the process.

Studio Research & Expansion

At the same time, we conducted research on non-showrunner entertainment professionals and discovered that studios also needed tools to organize showrunners, shows in development, and relationships with production companies, agencies, and management companies.

This led to the development of Prolog Studio.

Prolog Studio Prototype Walkthrough

Conclusion

Although Prolog couldn't survive the current market correction in linear entertainment, the experience of building Prolog provided invaluable lessons. We learned the importance of staying ahead of market trends and being adaptable in the face of rapid industry shifts.

Prolog’s journey reinforced our belief that there’s a better, more efficient way to staff creative teams and the insights and innovations we developed will inform future projects. We’re excited about what’s to come, knowing that creative industries are ripe for continued disruption and improvement through technology.