Role
In my role as a UI and UX designer at Spotlas, I developed detailed user journeys and upheld high design standards to create responsive user experiences and enhance accessibility and engagement with the Spotlas app. I contributed to the development of a newly evolving design system, developed incredibly detailed designs, and thoroughly tested developed features to ensure design consistency, evaluate usability, and report bugs.
In collaboration with our design manager, I aided in the coordination of design tasks to ensure timely delivery of projects. Find out more about our comprehensive redesign further down. |
Progression
My journey at Spotlas began in the role of Junior UI/UX Designer. I worked closely with the head of design as a team of 2 before being joined by another junior designer a few months later. After 10 months, I was promoted from my junior role and adopted the new title of Designer, where I took on a range of new responsibilities and claimed greater ownership over the projects in which I was assigned.
|
For each of the following features, I was involved in design and testing. For many user experiences I built incredibly detailed user flows. In collaboration with a small team of developers, I aided in the development of a robust set of features through a comprehensive bug testing and reporting system. This system was designed to iron out usability issues and ensure a smooth user experience from end-to-end, across both iOS and Android. With multiple devices on-hand, I stress tested these experiences to ensure users could enjoy Spotlas it in the way we had intended.
|
The Home Screen
Spotlas launches directly to a map of the user's current location. Swipe to navigate the map and view Spot recommendations from members of the community. Swipe up to explore a personalised feed with search and custom filtering. |
User Profiles
User profiles are heavily inspired by Instagram. They are home to each user's spot recommendations, with optional links to other social media profiles. Follow family, friends and influencers to see their posts in the home screen feed. Use contextual filtering to consolidate the feed. |
Spot Profile
Explore Spot Profiles to find hidden gems and recommendations from other Spotlas users. Browse images, view posts, check out restaurant menus, and contact venues easily. Use the map feature to navigate directly to a Spot, or add it to a Spotlist to revisit at a later time. |
Spotlas 3.0
When I joined the team, Spotlas was still very much in its infancy. To attract and keep new users, the team was tasked with taking Spotlas to the next level with a comprehensive overhaul for version 3.0.
Spotlas 3.0 brought a striking visual refresh with brand new features. I worked closely with the head of design and other members of the design team to shape these new experiences with detailed user flows, and participated in weekly brainstorming sessions to discuss the ways in which we could further improve our user's experiences.
|
Welcome to Spot Profile. Imagine an Instagram user profile, but for a place of interest or restaurant. It contains everything from a description, to contact information, navigation directions, images, user posts at the location, and more. This simple but functional user experience became a target for a much needed redesign to elevate the utility of the Spotlas app.
|
3.0 overhauled the entire experience. Spot Profiles introduced a new visual experience influenced by the brand's primary colours. It also introduced new features to benefit restaurants, including a built-in menu viewer, and quick links to book or order for delivery. Tags show key venue features at a glance and an upgraded directions feature makes finding nearby spots a breeze.
|
How I contributed to this project:
|
Welcome to User Profile, it's similar in format to an Instagram profile. User profiles feature a profile image, short description, and a tag-based filtering system for user posts. Users can follow others easily, and a direct messaging feature is also accessible.
|
Version 3.0 brought a new appearance and new functionality. Top spots live in a banner above the user profile. A swipe expands this to a full screen view. Posts are now larger and contain a caption preview. Users can also link to other platforms to expand their social reach.
|
How I contributed to this project:
|
Hello, Yellow
Yellow introduced a dramatic shift to the ways in which we collectively operated as designers. The Spotlas company shifted its focus to a wider perspective, asking the question - how can we bring what we've learnt from making Spotlas and make this instantly and easily accessible for everyone? Yellow was the answer, its goal was to automate all digital creation, with the benefit of eliminating the barriers of time, cost and expertise - all of which are barriers that have the potential to limit ideas from reaching their full potential.
|
Our Design System Overhaul
A bold new mission required a bold new approach to designing. A comprehensive, structured, and incredibly detailed set of rules was devised primarily by our head of design, with influence from myself and other members of the design and development teams.
This new system for design evolved regularly, with new ideas being presented by both myself and my colleagues, all with the aim of streamlining how we operate, and adding greater power to our methodologies for design. We didn't want the rigidity of this new system to limit our creative potentials, so we needed to be creative in the ways in which we structured this system. The ever evolving system required constant and consistent meetings with my team, some led by myself, some led by others. I regularly filled in the developers whenever we made significant changes to the way we worked as designers, making sure to keep everyone in the loop wherever possible. |