Bubbl - Life offline
Overview
Bubbl addresses the challenges associated with planning social activities and sharing event photos by offering a platform that simplifies the planning process, fosters social connections, and centralizes event memories. With a mission to create meaningful and memorable experiences, Bubbl aims to revolutionize how people engage with social activities, streamlining communication, reducing inefficiencies, and providing a centralized hub for event photos. By enhancing the overall user experience, Bubbl makes it easier than ever to plan and relive memorable moments, fostering stronger social connections and creating lasting memories. With the slogan 'Life Offline,' Bubbl encourages users to disconnect from the digital world and embrace real-life experiences, while still enjoying the convenience and organization provided by the app
My Role and My bubbl Story
As a committed designer, I've had the privilege of playing a key role in the Bubbl team since October, contributing to the shaping of our product and working towards achieving market fit. Joining the team at a crucial stage without clearly defined goals presented an exciting challenge that I wholeheartedly embraced. During the initial phases, I collaborated closely with two talented colleagues, Alejandra Rodriguez and Stephanie Tweddle, who are also friends and user designers. Together, we focused on understanding the current development and evaluating its effectiveness. Over the past several months, I have taken on the primary designer role.
Throughout my extensive involvement, I have immersed myself in research, conducted user interviews, and embraced a trial-and-error approach. These efforts have been pivotal in gaining profound insights and refining our understanding of user needs. By discovering what truly resonates with users and identifying areas for improvement, we have been able to make informed design decisions and iterate on the existing app. These experiences have not only fueled my professional growth but have also played a significant role in guiding the overall direction of the project.
In addition to research and interviews, I have actively tested the app, identifying and reporting bugs to the development team. This close involvement in the testing process has allowed me to provide valuable feedback and contribute to the overall quality and stability of the product.
Collaborating closely with the development team, I have faced the challenge of aligning design decisions with the available development resources. With limited development power, we had to be resourceful and pragmatic, making the most of what we had. Effectively communicating and justifying design choices became crucial to ensure their implementation and advocate for the importance of design consistency.
Working on an existing app brought its own set of challenges. It required uncovering what had already been developed, identifying successful elements, and pinpointing areas that required improvement. This process involved constant discovery, analysis, and adapting our design approach accordingly. Overcoming these obstacles demanded flexibility, adaptability, and a willingness to learn from the strengths and weaknesses of the existing app.
By navigating these challenges, conducting extensive research, actively testing the app, and collaborating closely with the development team, I have been able to contribute significantly to the evolution and success of Bubbl. My dedication to refining the user experience, aligning design with development resources, leveraging user insights, and ensuring the stability of the app through rigorous testing has been instrumental in driving the project forward.
Furthermore, I had the privilege of working alongside the CEO, Santiago Pozuelo, the CTO, Gabriel Lobl, and the CMO, Hernan Cueva, in making crucial branding decisions for Bubbl. Alongside my friend and talented art director, Tania Kopper, we crafted a cohesive visual identity and brand strategy that aligns with the essence of the app. This collaborative effort ensured a consistent and impactful brand presence across all touchpoints.
Additionally, Hernan Cueva, our CMO, has played a vital role in expanding the app's reach through strategic partnerships and alliances. Through these partnerships, Bubbl has had the opportunity to host events and collaborate with renowned organizations. These events not only increased app usage but also provided valuable testing grounds to assess the effectiveness of various features. The strategic partnerships have further fueled our growth and provided valuable feedback to refine and improve the app. The release of event photos within the app generated further engagement and allowed us to gather essential feedback from both users and our partners.
The meaningful partnerships have been instrumental in introducing Bubbl to new markets and gathering valuable insights. The feedback received from these partners has played a crucial role in shaping the app's development and enhancing its overall user experience.
In summary, my role as a designer at Bubbl has encompassed various responsibilities, including shaping the product, conducting research and interviews, actively testing the app, aligning design decisions with development resources, contributing to branding and strategic decision-making, and collaborating closely with a talented team of individuals. Working within this small but dedicated team.
Problem statement
Planning Social Activities: Coordinating and planning social activities can be challenging and inefficient. Existing methods, such as casual group chats, often lead to miscommunication and difficulties in conveying event details effectively. Formal event applications can be intimidating, deterring users from creating events due to complex interfaces and rigid structures. Bubbl aims to provide a user-friendly platform that simplifies event planning and coordination, enabling efficient communication and engaging social experiences.
Event Discovery and Joining: Finding and joining events or activities can be an awkward and time-consuming process. Users often resort to texting group chats or individual friends to explore available plans, resulting in limited options and scattered information. Bubbl addresses this problem by offering a centralized platform where users can easily discover events based on their location and friends' attendance, fostering a sense of community and facilitating seamless event participation.
Event Promotion for Organizers: Event organizers face challenges in reaching and communicating with their target audience while promoting events. Platforms like Instagram, commonly used for event promotion, suffer from limitations such as content saturation and lack of filtering options. Bubbl aims to provide event organizers with a dedicated space to connect with their community, promote their events effectively, and provide a curated experience focused solely on social experiences and events.
Event Photos and Memories: Photographers capturing event moments often struggle to provide attendees with access to their photos, leading to lost or scattered memories. Existing methods rely on sharing links from cloud storage platforms, lacking a centralized and organized solution. Bubbl addresses this problem by offering a dedicated feature where photographers and event organizers can easily share event photos, allowing guests and attendees to access and preserve their cherished memories conveniently within the platform.
Design Process, feedback and testing.
The design process at Bubbl embraced a build-fast, fail-fast approach due to the startup nature of the project. Working with limited resources, we took a flexible and adaptive approach, integrating designs in parts and variants. To ensure user-centric design decisions, I conducted over 100 user interviews and testing sessions, gathering valuable feedback. I also maintained documentation and performed analysis to present to the team, enhancing their understanding of the feedback and its impact on design decisions.
By actively participating in user testing and feedback sessions, I collaborated closely with the development team to align design decisions with available resources. The feedback collected helped identify pain points, usability issues, and areas for improvement. Through thorough analysis and documentation, we gained a deeper understanding of user needs and preferences, guiding our iterative design process effectively.
The shared insights from the analysis informed design iterations, prioritized development efforts, and ensured a holistic understanding of user perspectives. This approach resulted in enhanced user experiences and allowed us to refine our design approach based on user behavior and preferences.
In summary, our design process involved a build-fast, fail-fast approach supported by extensive user interviews and testing. By actively participating in these activities, documenting feedback, and performing analysis, we gained valuable insights and guided the design process.
Brand book
Video edit of bubbl launch party
Shot by Ayush Gupta. Edit & Motion graphics by Domenica Basantes