First changelog, and as you can imagine there’s a fair bit in it. New Portfolios, ABN on board, light mode, a UX overhaul, and a partnership that got some nice press.
Cheers for sticking with us, all 401 of you. We’ve got a lot more work to do, so we appreciate the support and feedback as we iron out the rough edges. More gigs coming your way soon. Without further ado, let’s get into the good stuff.
Side note: Some of you might not know this, but most of our brand was made by freelancers just like you, from the logo to the character. Big props to Louis in Sydney for Wiggly, our brand mascot.
Unjumble Portfolio
Man, did we get some shocking feedback on our first crack at the portfolio. But we listened, as much as it hurt. We chatted to 30+ freelancers about it.
Portfolios are a hard one.
Loads of you don’t want the hassle of filling out yet another thing, you’ve already got a PDF or a website. And plenty of you are analytics, marketing or strategy people who don’t have a visual catalogue to show off. But a portfolio, or just a simple way for a business to see what they’re getting into, is bloody important.
So we set out to solve two things:
- Ease. Filling out your portfolio should be quick. If you can get a decent one done in under five minutes, that's a win, and we reckon we're there. It's built around a 4:5 card structure (like a lot of the social apps you already use), with optional text inputs.
- A way for non-visual professions to show off too. This one was tough. Behance and others have nailed the purely visual portfolio, but we haven't seen anyone crack the non-visual one. We think we've taken a step closer. Three card types to mix and match:
- Visual (flip for more info)
- Result (hero a key result from a campaign or piece of work, with a description to match)
- Copy (for the copywriters out there who want to showcase a line and why it mattered)
Have a play, you can mix different types across your set of six.
We didn’t want to strip all the personality out of it either. So there’s room to add your own take and feel, and we’ll keep building on that, more ways for the freelancers who want to spend a bit longer to really sell themselves.
ABN Register API connection
We now require all freelancers doing work on Unjumble to have connected their ABN through the ABN Register API. Goes without saying, this is our whole positioning. Every freelancer here is a verified local, and it helps businesses trust who they’re working with.
It’s something we’re looking at implementing on the business side too.
Next time you log on, expect a pop up. Super easy, just copy and paste in and done. You can do it anytime, but it is required to complete any gigs on the platform.
Friction
Enemy number 1...well maybe behind Fiverr, Upwork and offshoring agencies.
We’ve had around $20,000 of gigs left on the table this month. A lot of that is down to our systems, how we notify the right people to bid, and us being a relatively new platform with less freelancers than the big gig guys like Fiverr and Upwork. But also the dirty word: friction. So we worked on removing some.
You used to have to sign up for Stripe before bidding. Now you can bid and work without going through the hassle, but you will have to sign up to get your money out.
And you can now view gigs without needing an account, so get sharing. Here is one we put up, we need help with a launch video!
UX/UI overhaul
We spent a lot of time here. If you were on early and remember the old system, you’ll appreciate the difference. A few bits are still on the old format, like Business Profiles, and we’re getting to those next.
Being dark mode, the big thing to get right was how much green we used. We now have very specific rules around where and when the green should be used. And then gig cards, they got a tidy up too. We focused on where to bring you the right information so you can decide whether a gig is worthwhile reading into more or not. Let us know what you think.
Light mode
We’re dark mode first, always have been, it’s a love letter to the designers, marketers and devs who actually live there. But a fair few of you asked for a lighter option, so it’s here. Flick it on in settings and use whichever suits you.
New CRM system
We also overhauled our CRM. Business and freelancer chats now run on separate chains. That means freelancers get a nudge when a gig matching their Skills goes live, and both sides stay in the loop as you work through a gig together. No more guessing when someone’s messaged you.
A shout out: our new partnership with EAT
Who are EAT, I hear you say. The Experience Advocacy Taskforce is an advocacy group taking on a problem our industry doesn’t talk about enough: experienced marketers and advertisers getting pushed out far too early. Their report, The Silent Exit, found more than half of departures happen between 45 and 54, often through redundancy. That’s decades of hard-won experience walking out the door.
We’re partnering with them to connect that experience with the 2.6 million Aussie small businesses who need it, and keep the work, and the know-how, here at home.
Bugs and fixes
We introduced a cute little bug in the bottom right corner. Click it to give us feedback, share a bug, or write us a love letter.
- Fixed a funny one where the gig cards weren't telling Projects and Retainers apart properly. Sorted now.
- Fixed a nasty one where some freelancers were seeing $0 earned even after getting paid. Your real figures show up now.
- Sorted a sign-up bug that could get your account stuck at the password step. Smooth run-through now.
- The app could get stuck on a blank or stale screen after we shipped an update. It recovers on its own now.
- Logging in with your email no longer dumps you on a blank home page.
- When a file upload fails, we now tell you why, instead of a vague "try again".
- Error messages no longer spit out cryptic system gibberish. They actually make sense now.
- Date fields were running off the edge of the screen on iPhones. Reined them back in.
- Fixed a chat bug where one odd thread could blank out the whole header.
- Notifications got a tidy-up: cleaner panels, snippets that fit, and rows you can actually click through.
- Portfolio cards now read properly on a phone, card backs and call-outs included.
- Cleaned up a bunch of the smaller bugs you flagged through that button. Keep 'em coming.
What’s to come
- A new homepage for freelancers and businesses (work in progress)
- An iOS app (a simple version to track gigs, update your profile and chat is on the way)
- Updated dashboards
- More profile badges
- Direct quoting. We will be allowing businesses to search and reach out to freelancers for direct quotes. So get that profile complete!
Jump in, have a play around and let us know what you reckon. Keep the brutal feedback coming, it’s helping us make Unjumble better for you all.
Cheers,
Zac from Unjumble
