Stage

Stage is a website that helps local stage professionals connect faster and with less friction. Directors gain access to a searchable pool of talent to fill roles, while actors get equitable representation and exposure to opportunities they'd otherwise never hear about.

Problem

Directors find it difficult and time-consuming to locate the right actors for specific roles. Actors, in turn, struggle to discover auditions for local productions unless they already have industry connections or stumble across a post on social media.

Solution

A centralized platform with searchable actor profiles based on traits and skills — so directors can identify and compare talent efficiently, and actors gain visibility into local opportunities.

Over a three-week design sprint I moved from understanding the problem to a validated solution — researching the space, defining the MVP, and testing the design with the people it's for.

Personas

Two personas anchored the work on either side of the marketplace: Sam Write, a stage director who recently struggled to find French-singing actors and wants faster discovery and side-by-side comparison; and Ayda Rad, a stage actress who relocated without an established network and wants to find local openings and get on directors' radar.

Competitor SWOT analysis

I ran a SWOT analysis on Backstage to understand the competitive landscape — its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats — and to find where a focused, local-first platform could win.

Survey research

I surveyed both sides of the market to test my assumptions against real experience. Actors relied on Google, Facebook, and word-of-mouth to find opportunities — a process they found time-consuming and inefficient. Directors leaned on existing networks and typically spent one to two months finding the right actor.

User interviews

I ran structured Zoom interviews with ten participants — a mix of working actors and directors — to go deeper than the surveys.

Actors

I asked actors which tools they use, how they discover openings, and how effective today's search really is.

Actor pain points:

• No centralized place for audition announcements.
• Time-intensive, scattered search experiences.
• Inefficient, network-dependent processes.

Directors

I asked directors how they source actors, which traits matter most, and how long the process usually takes.

Director pain points:

• Severely limited casting choices.
• Time-consuming candidate audition processes.
• Extensive email coordination for scheduling.

User stories

I split the stories by role to keep both sides of the marketplace in view.

As an actor, I want to…

• See all stage-acting openings in my area so I can find more auditions.
• Have an online profile so directors and agents can find me.
• Upload photos and video reels to showcase my abilities.
• Search opportunities that match my skills and interests.

As a director, I want to…

• Review a candidate's experience and abilities before scheduling auditions, to save time.
• Find and compare all available actors in one place for better decisions.
• Post jobs publicly so qualified, interested actors can apply.

Defining the MVP

I scoped the MVP around the features that address the highest-priority needs on both sides:

User flows

I mapped the highest-priority user stories into detailed flows covering both sides of the platform:

• Create and update an actor profile.
• Search for stage-acting openings.
• Post a job or audition.
• Search and compare candidates for a specific role.

Wireframes

Sketches evolved into digital wireframes in Figma. Informal testing with two actors and two directors drove the refinements — for example, the home page moved from a bare search bar with an incomplete footer to a cleaner layout with organized, categorized footer content.

I tested the prototype with ten local actors and two working directors over Zoom, focusing on navigation, profile creation, the clarity of the design, and search. The response was enthusiastic:

Navigation and search filtering were the standouts, and the enthusiasm validated the product's demand. Testing also surfaced specific features to enhance in future iterations — the long-term success of a two-sided platform depends on sustained engagement from both actors and directors.