CineLink - A Casting Call Platform
Cinelink
Landing page, Mobile app
2025
CineLink is a specialized casting call platform designed to connect production teams with artists and emerging talents across the entertainment industry.
The platform helps producers discover suitable artists for upcoming projects, while giving artists a dedicated space to showcase their portfolio, experience, and apply for relevant opportunities.
Instead of building a massive, bloated entertainment network right out of the gate, we focused the first phase of this project strictly on the fundamental marketplace exchange: a producer posts a role, an artist discovers it and applies, and a producer reviews the submission. Features like real-time chat, automated scheduling, and contract negotiation were intentionally pushed to later phases so we could nail the core experience first.
My role: Product Designer (UX Research, Information Architecture, Interface Design)
Scope: Responsive web landing page, end-to-end mobile user flows, low-fidelity wireframes, and high-fidelity interactive prototypes
Platform: Native mobile application (iOS and Android) and responsive web views
Status: Pre-launch interactive prototyping and usability evaluation
Context & Problem
Understanding the two-sided platform
The first step was to understand the two main user groups and what each side needs from the platform.
CineLink serves two very different users:
Because both sides depend on each other, the product needed to balance supply and demand. A producer will only trust the platform if artist profiles feel credible and easy to review. An artist will only return if opportunities feel legitimate, clear, and worth applying for.
This became the core product tension of the project:
How might we create a simple first version of a casting platform that feels trustworthy and useful for both producers and artists, without overloading the MVP with too many social or communication features?
Key user problems
After mapping the initial experience, I grouped the problems into four main areas.
1. Fragmented discovery
Casting opportunities and artist portfolios are often spread across different channels. This creates friction for both sides. Producers have to manually search across networks, while artists may miss opportunities because they are not posted in one reliable place.
2. Lack of structured information
In informal casting posts, important details are often missing: role requirements, project timeline, compensation, location, submission deadline, or required materials. This causes back-and-forth communication and low-quality applications.
3. Trust and credibility
Both sides need confidence before taking action. Artists need to know whether an opportunity is real and professional. Producers need to know whether an artist profile is complete, relevant, and worth shortlisting.
4. MVP scope control
The platform could easily grow into a full networking or talent management product. However, for phase one, the design had to focus on the most valuable core loop: post, discover, apply, and review.
Solutions
Product goals
Based on the project context, I defined four design goals:
Make the platform easy to understand from the first visit
The landing page should clearly explain what CineLink is, who it is for, and why it is different from generic job platforms or social media groups.
Help artists build application-ready profiles
Artist profiles should not feel like empty social profiles. They need to support portfolio, experience, skills, and relevant personal details for casting.
Help producers post clear and structured opportunities
Project and role postings should guide producers to provide enough information for artists to decide whether to apply.
Keep the first phase focused and scalable
The design should support future features like chat, interviews, saved talent lists, and deeper collaboration, but not depend on them to make the MVP useful.
Defining the product structure
I separated the experience into two layers:
Public-facing landing page
The landing page introduces CineLink, explains the value proposition, and builds initial trust for both producers and artists.
Mobile app experience
The app supports the core marketplace actions: profile creation, project posting, opportunity discovery, application submission, and basic application review.
This separation was important because the landing page and mobile app serve different jobs.
The landing page answers: “What is CineLink, and why should I trust it?”
The mobile app answers: “What can I do here, and how do I move forward?”
Information Architecture
The mobile app is structured around the two user types.
The challenge was to support both sides without making the app feel like two completely separate products. Navigation stays simple and role-based, so each user sees the most relevant actions after onboarding.
Design Concept
Landing Page
The landing page follows a simple journey:
Understand CineLink → choose a perspective → preview the app → download the app.
Key Design Decisions
Role-based messaging: CineLink serves both producers and artists, so the landing page uses a Talent / Producer switch to keep the message relevant. This makes the same page feel personal to different users without splitting the experience into two separate flows.
App-first conversion: The landing page was not designed to replace the app. Its job is to introduce the product, show enough value, and move users toward downloading the mobile app.
Cinematic visual direction: The darker visual style, production imagery, and green accent color help CineLink feel connected to the entertainment industry. The design direction supports a professional, cinematic, and industry-specific tone.
Category-led storytelling: Instead of presenting CineLink as a broad marketplace, the landing page shows specific entertainment categories. This makes the product feel more relevant to real casting use cases.
Mobile App
Sitemap
The sitemap was created to define the main structure of the CineLink mobile app. Since the product serves both Artists and Producers, the app is organized around shared navigation areas while still supporting role-based actions.
The main sections include Home, Discover, Projects, and Profile. Artists can browse casting calls, view role details, manage applications, and update their portfolio. Producers can create projects, add casting roles, publish posts, and review applicants. Shared areas such as profile, settings, verification, and role switching help keep the account experience consistent across both user types.
User flow
The full user flow maps the complete mobile app experience from onboarding and authentication to role-based journeys for Artists and Producers. After login, users select their role and complete the required profile setup before entering the main app experience.
The Artist flow focuses on profile creation, portfolio management, opportunity discovery, and successful application submission. The Producer flow focuses on company setup, project creation, casting role posting, and applicant review.
For the MVP, I focused the design around the core loop: Producer posts a role → Artist applies → Producer reviews applicants, while keeping supporting flows like verification, settings, password updates, and role switching available in the overall structure.
Project Status
CineLink was completed as a design phase and later continued by another vendor. The current product interface has been updated from the version shown in this case study.
Due to resource limitations, the project direction shifted to focus on the web experience first, while the mobile app remains in the planning stage. The mobile screens shown here represent my proposed MVP design and user flow at the time of handoff.
