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Finding digitally augmented experiences that are relevant, refreshing, and fun
We were excited to build something new in a very specific and promising niche, but with a small team and limited resources, navigating this landscape required an extra strategic approach. My first instinct was to initiate a lean product discovery workshop to uncover assumptions, problem statements, hypotheses, and goals.
With our assumptions at hand, it was time to stress-test them in the real world. We then gathered insights from surveys and user interviews, we crafted story maps to identify gaps and proposed solutions through a high-fidelity prototype. This testing provided valuable feedback, guiding our initial decisions and refining our approach.
The prototype was also useful for uncovering other usability and feasibility risks, helping us improve our understanding of why people liked certain experiences or not, whether they understood the concept of a digital-only product, and whether it made sense to offer extra experiences during the checkout process.
After this research, we reprioritized our MVP list and moved on. I created wireframes to be reviewed by our back-end dev and head of product, giving me time to start working on UI directions that could fit our goals and the needs of our users. We chose a bold UI direction that resonated with our audience.
Example of how one of our wireframes looked like, paired with the final versions after several iterations and tests within the chosen design direction.
Card-palooza: I did this in a crazy-8 format to generate many possible UI directions, which I then narrowed down into 3 stylescapes I presented for the team: regular, medium, and bold—based on our research, we were comfortable going with bold.
Serving also as the solo front-end developer of the team (all vanilla, by the way), I created a design language that is flexible and code-friendly, matching the Figma structure to the CSS architecture for seamless expansion whenever needed.
A fun little detail for our empty-cart state 👻
In addition to design and development tasks, I worked on defining a cohesive brand voice that permeated across all touchpoints, from website content to email marketing campaigns.
Some screenshots of interface components after implementation and real-world usage.
And in December 2023, Cityfans was born! We created a marketplace that connects locals and travelers with a range of digital experiences, from self-guided tours to interactive city riddle games. Our design language was bold and fun, matching the adventurous spirit of our users. This platform has empowered travelers to create memories that will last a lifetime—and I’m glad I was invited for the ride.
