Establishing trust in the Open Source Observatory
The China Open Source Observatory is the flagship product of Rush Doshi’s China Strategy Initiative. It is the largest archive of Chinese-language material translated and made publicly available. In this project, we aimed to set the foundation of OSO’s MVP.
Timeline
3 months
Team
Managing Director, 1 PM, 1jr designer, 2 engineers, 2 stakeholders
Role
Lead Designer
Methods
Google Sheets, Competitive Analysis, Visual Design, Prototyping
Goals
Communicate OSO’s value proposition
With the product launch, we wanted to highlight key offerings that go beyond just the AI language translations
Increase operational efficiency
Given the 10k+ PDFs their team had to both upload and translate, they needed an effective process
Increase content relevancy
Different types of users needed more or less access to the library
Problem
Business: Automate the process of building this library
User: Finding accurately translated Chinese material
Defining the problem: How might we establish OSO as a trusted source for translated Chinese-language material?
Solutions
Provide search, topic pages, and tags to structure an ecosystem of the content
Partner with Anthropic to translate PDFs and create datasets to utilize with features
Implement a user tier system to allow different levels of access to library documents
Key Challenges
Portion of the dataset
Knowledge gap
Without a strong understanding of AI, it took some time to comprehend the importance of matching features to the dataset
Tight timeline
Delivering a high quality, meaningful experience under a tight timeline with a completely new engineering team
Competitive Analysis
Strengths, weaknesses, and features from similar use cases
Early Ideations
With direction clear, we experimented with various component layout options to create a look and feel that was inviting yet trustworthy and to set the tone for the platform. The goal was to establish a design language that felt approachable, modern, and intentional.
Final Designs
After trial, error, and many revisions, I delivered a product that struck the right balance between constraints and creativity. To improve our brand and product perception, we ensured a seamless experience that aligned with the brand’s educational and trustworthy feel.
One of the registration screens and an article page on mobile