Cofounder and Product Designer | 2016-2019 | Purq is a startup I designed for small businesses to connect with customers on any platform. Purq gives SMBs a fast and fun way to manage marketing promotions across their digital stack.
A web-based admin portal was designed with the help of target customers, evolving to include features like guided onboarding, user notifications, widget customization features, usage analytics, and more.
As the product evolved, a mobile app was designed for iOS and Android, giving users the ability to post content on the go, create and save content while offline, and assign publishing permissions to various levels of users.
Purq's API gives 3rd party publishers access to real-time offers content from local businesses. Hotels, Resorts, Rentals, and Corporate offices can build applications and provide their guests/employees with a fun way to discover unique, local experiences.
Low fidelity wireframes were created and tested with a group of target users. High fidelity wireframes were shared with developers for assessing feasibility and development timelines.
The lightweight web-based application was built with Firebase + React. Users could create content, schedule publishing, and publish the content to their website. The content was then displayed in the "widget", a small plugin that could install on any website with 1 line of javascript.
Over time, a comprehensive component library and design system was built for designers, developers, and marketers to quickly build and launch consistent, on-brand assets.
Discovery - 6 months of UX research was conducted. I went door to door and interviewed 300+ business owners. The goal was to learn about our customers' current outreach strategies, frustrations, and core needs in a marketing platform.
User Testing - The research resulted in an InVision prototype. We learned what worked, what was flawed, and the essential feature set needed for an MVP.
UI Design - I created comprehensive user-flows, wireframes, and visual designs for a web-based content publishing platform. Through the design process came a breakthrough.
The Breakthrough - It became apparent that for a local business owner, updating their website(s) can be time-consuming, expensive, or simply impossible. Partnering with a team of developers, we created a "widget" and a CMS that made posting updates to any website simple, fast, and reliable. The Purq Widget was born.
Launch - We launched in mid 2016. By 2018, the product had 500+ active members and 3.5 million impressions on content generated by our users.
