UI/UX
UI/UX design for apps and websites, focused on usability and interaction.
UI/UX design for apps and websites, focused on usability and interaction.
Coastal Nomad App
Coastal Nomad is a travel-focused social networking app designed to connect travelers around the world. The platform enables users to discover destinations, follow fellow travelers, share experiences, and build meaningful connections based on shared interests and journeys.
Services
UI/UX Design
Product Design
Visual Design
Interaction Design
Goal
The goal of Coastal Nomad was to design an intuitive and visually engaging social networking platform that connects travelers worldwide, enabling them to discover destinations, share experiences, and build meaningful connections based on shared interests and journeys.
To provide immediate visual context, a high-fidelity interactive prototype was created in Principle, illustrating the app’s navigation, layout, and key user interactions.
Persona
After conducting user research and analysis, I identified Marcos Lópes as the primary persona for Coastal Nomad. Marcos is a 27-year-old graphic designer from San Diego, California, with a strong passion for travel and adventure. As an avid surfer and scuba diver, he enjoys documenting and sharing his experiences but finds that traditional social media platforms are not tailored to travelers. He seeks a dedicated space where he can share travel photos and stories, discover new destinations, and connect with like-minded individuals. Marcos is adventurous, spontaneous, and outgoing, yet he becomes easily bored with platforms that lack meaningful engagement. His needs and frustrations informed key design decisions, guiding the creation of an intuitive and community-driven experience that fosters exploration and authentic connections among travelers.
Problem Statement
Travelers like Marcos lack a dedicated social platform tailored to their needs. Existing social media apps are too broad and do not effectively support discovering destinations, connecting with like-minded travelers, or sharing travel experiences in a meaningful way. This results in fragmented interactions and missed opportunities for building a community centered around exploration and shared journeys.
User Flow
To translate user needs into a seamless experience, a user flow was created to map Marcos López’s journey through the Coastal Nomad app. The flow outlines the key steps a traveler takes—from onboarding and profile creation to discovering destinations, connecting with fellow travelers, and sharing experiences. This process helped define the app’s information architecture and ensured an intuitive navigation structure that supports meaningful interactions and exploration.
Wireframes
Based on the user flow, low-fidelity wireframes were developed to establish the foundational structure and layout of the Coastal Nomad app. These wireframes focused on organizing key features such as onboarding, profile creation, destination discovery, and social interactions. By prioritizing usability and clear information hierarchy, this stage allowed for rapid iteration and validation of the app’s navigation and functionality before moving into high-fidelity visual design.
App Screen Design
Building upon the low-fidelity wireframes, high-fidelity app screens for Coastal Nomad were designed in Sketch, translating the established user flow and information architecture into a polished and intuitive interface that supports seamless navigation, social interaction, and exploration for travelers.
Timeline
On the left of the navigation bar is the icon for the Home screen (timeline).
This provides access to the main feed of posts posted by the people you follow.
Search & Explore
By selecting the Search icon which is second from the left, takes you to the Search & Explore section..
Landing Page Design & Color and Typography
