Talent discovery interface for casting professionals

STARTalent Agency was a startup bringing a new business model to Russia — a full-service agency for diverse talents, not just actors.

I was responsible for user research, high-fidelity prototyping, and UX testing — conducting interviews with casting directors to uncover mental models, then validating the redesign before development.

Problem

The existing website prioritized aesthetics over function:

Unprofessional impression — cluttered design undermined the agency's credibility
Low information density — clients scan 100+ profiles daily; the layout slowed them down
No content control — the agency couldn't update their roster without a developer

Research & interviews

Conducted interviews with the agency's in-house casting director to understand workflow.

Key insight: Casting directors mentally audition talent by imagining their faces on posters. Posters are vertical — the old horizontal card layout fought against this natural evaluation process. Speed matters more than depth in initial screening.

Prototyping

Built a high-fidelity prototype emulating the complete website experience. Designed around the vertical orientation insight:

Vertical talent cards — prominent headshots optimized for quick facial recognition
Improved information density — scannable data hierarchy on profiles
Simple admin interface — agency could maintain roster independently

→ See the prototype

UX testing

Ran First-Click UX testing with 4 users. Test scenario: Find a male talent with specific age range and skills.

Discovered minor issues like gray text being too light for comfortable scanning. All core flow tasks completed successfully.

Result

100% task success — all 4 users completed core flow independently
Zero critical issues — only minor color/layout refinements needed
Content independence — agency could manage their own roster

The redesigned website launched successfully. The agency later closed when the parent company shifted investment priorities — unrelated to product performance.

→ See the prototype