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Collaboration Credit Tracker

Creative professionals lose portfolio opportunities and professional credibility when collaborative work goes unattributed, leading to disputes, damaged relationships, and inability to showcase team projects with confidence.

App Concept

  • AI-powered system that automatically tracks individual contributions in collaborative creative projects
  • Integration with design tools (Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, Miro, Frame.io) to capture who created, edited, or approved each element
  • Smart attribution algorithm that weights contributions by complexity, time investment, and creative decision-making
  • Generates universally agreed-upon credit reports that all collaborators sign off on before project completion
  • Portfolio integration that displays verified team project credits with collaborator endorsements
  • Prevents disputes by establishing clear contribution records before projects go live
  • LinkedIn-style endorsements for specific skills demonstrated in collaborative work

Core Mechanism

  • Team admin creates project and invites collaborators (each gets free contributor access)
  • Desktop/web plugins track creative tool activity: file creation, edits, comments, approvals
  • AI analyzes contribution types: concept development, execution, feedback, revision, final touches
  • Real-time contribution dashboard shows each person's involvement across project phases
  • At project milestones, system generates draft credit report: "Designer A: Visual concept 40%, Designer B: Production 35%, Art Director C: Creative direction 25%"
  • Team collaboratively reviews and adjusts percentages before final sign-off
  • Blockchain timestamp on finalized credits (optional, for legal weight)
  • Portfolio showcase mode: Display project with verified collaborator credits, get mutual endorsements
  • Social proof: "Verified by 4 collaborators" badge on portfolio pieces
  • Reputation system: Creatives who consistently collaborate and properly credit build trust scores

Monetization Strategy

  • Free for contributors: Anyone invited to a project can participate at no cost (reduces friction, encourages adoption)
  • Project Creator ($9 per project or $29/month for 5 projects): Team admin who sets up tracking and exports credit reports
  • Pro ($49/month): Unlimited projects, advanced analytics, blockchain verification, portfolio integration
  • Studio ($149/month): Agency account with team management, client-facing reports, white-label credits
  • Enterprise ($499/month): Custom integrations, legal-grade reporting, API access for large studios
  • Portfolio platforms: Licensing fee ($2K-10K/year) to display "Verified Collaboration" badges

Viral Growth Angle

  • Invite mechanics: Each project requires inviting collaborators, who experience the product firsthand (high conversion potential)
  • Portfolio showcase: Verified collaboration badges make portfolio pieces stand out on Behance, Dribbble (free marketing)
  • Dispute resolution case studies: "How [Agency] avoided $20K lawsuit with verified credit trail"
  • Industry publication outreach: "The collaboration credit crisis in creative industries" thought leadership
  • Award show integration: Partner with design competitions to encourage credit transparency (Webby Awards, Cannes Lions, etc.)
  • Ethical branding: "We believe in fair credit for all creatives" resonates with industry values
  • LinkedIn integration: Verified project credits auto-populate LinkedIn with collaborator endorsements

Existing projects

  • Figma version history - Shows edit history but no contribution weighting or credit attribution
  • Frame.io - Video collaboration with comments/approvals (no contribution tracking or portfolio integration)
  • Monday.com / Asana - Project management with task assignment (no creative tool integration or automated attribution)
  • IMDb - Film/TV credits database (manual entry, no verification, not for design/photo/other creative fields)
  • LinkedIn Recommendations - Manual endorsements (not project-specific, no automated tracking, subjective)
  • Traditional contracts with credit clauses (legal, time-consuming, often disputed or ignored)

Evaluation Criteria

  • Emotional Trigger: Be original (showcase true contributions), limit risk (prevent disputes and career damage), evoke magic (transparent collaboration feels revolutionary in opaque industry)
  • Idea Quality: Rank: 7/10 - Solves critical but often-invisible pain point, strong network effects through multi-party adoption, some adoption friction (requires team buy-in). High value in agencies and recurring collaboration situations.
  • Need Category: Recognition & Respect (proper credit, portfolio validation, peer endorsements), Connection & Community (healthy collaborative relationships), Stability & Opportunity (portfolio quality impacts client acquisition)
  • Market Size: Estimated 60% of creative work involves collaboration. Target markets: 1) Freelancers who occasionally collaborate (3M+ globally), 2) Creative agencies with teams (50K+ agencies × avg 10 creatives = 500K users), 3) In-house creative teams at brands (Fortune 5000 companies, avg 5-person team = 25K teams). High-intent users: Anyone who's experienced credit disputes or portfolio attribution issues (estimated 40% of target market).
  • Build Complexity: Medium-High. Requires: 1) Plugins/integrations for Figma, Adobe CC, Frame.io, Miro (multiple SDKs and APIs), 2) Activity tracking and analysis without compromising file security, 3) AI-powered contribution weighting algorithm (custom ML model), 4) Multi-party approval workflow, 5) Portfolio platform integrations (Behance, Dribbble APIs), 6) Optional blockchain verification. Main challenges: Creative tool integration depth varies by platform, balancing automated tracking with privacy concerns, achieving consensus on contribution percentages.
  • Time to MVP: 4-6 months with AI coding agents. Phase 1 (2 months): Figma plugin with basic activity tracking and manual contribution entry (largest collaboration platform). Phase 2 (1 month): Contribution dashboard and team approval workflow. Phase 3 (1 month): Basic AI weighting algorithm based on edit counts, time, and element complexity. Phase 4 (1-2 months): Portfolio export feature and Behance integration. Expand to Adobe CC and Frame.io post-MVP.
  • Key Differentiator: Only platform combining automated contribution tracking across creative tools, AI-powered attribution weighting, multi-party consensus workflow, AND verified portfolio integration - transforming opaque collaboration into transparent, dispute-free team work with portfolio-ready credits