Balloon

In 2020 I had a chance to work as a product designer on the Balloon app. Balloon is a web app for discovering, attending and organizing virtual events. The work started right after the COVID-19 pandemic hit our planet and many people needed a new way of socializing through virtual events. We’ve managed to design, develop and release the MVP just in a couple of months. Here’s how we managed to do it…

Persona

I started with creating a persona to feel more connected to the end-user. That’s a simple and great way to make sure you are solving people’s real problems, not just developing a product for the sake of releasing anything.

Structure

At the very initial stage, we defined the structure of the future product. The main sections are: Home, Watch, Network, Activations, Exhibitions, Participate.

From any of those places, the user should be able to reach 4 other modules:  sponsors of the event, agenda, speakers, and chat.

Sketching

When we had a basic structure, we needed something to sparkle the brainstorming and creative process. Thinking out loud, sketching on paper, and showing your drafts to each other usually helps like no other technique.

Wireframes

The early drafts later turned into the first version of wireframes which revealed a couple of problems: lack of branding customization and not a very clear networking model. The second one was the toughest one but it was solved with a few rounds of user testing.

Desktop Version

When wireframes were tested with potential users we moved on to preparing the high-fidelity designs. These designs were later connected into a clickable prototype and went through another round of user testing.

Animations

To show how the app works I created a fully clickable prototype using Protopie.

Mobile Version

The main challenge on mobile screens was to have clear navigation. This was solved mainly by introducing the bottom tab bar.

Landing Page

Almost any digital product would require a landing page for testing your assumption that this product is desired by people. The Balloon app wasn’t an exception. While we were busy building the app, the landing page was collecting sign-ups.