Appearix
Social Event Sharing Prototype
Appearix was a pre-seed startup exploring how friends could share and join future plans in a simple, social way. The app was designed as a cross between Twitter (social feed) and Eventbrite/Meetup (event discovery), letting users see where friends planned to be — from concerts and conferences to casual dinners — and easily join in.
While Facebook posted about what you did in the past and Twitter posted about what you were doing in the moment, Appearix aimed to be about what you were doing in the future.
My Role
Lead Designer on a 4-person team (me, 2 engineers, CEO).
Responsible for end-to-end design, from concept exploration and user flows to prototyping and visual design.
Collaborated closely with engineering to ensure feasibility and rapid iteration.
The Problem
People often rely on fragmented channels (text threads, social posts, group chats) to coordinate events. These tools make it hard to:
Quickly and easily discover what friends are planning to attend.
Share your own plans without spamming group chats.
Seamlessly join and track upcoming events in one place.
We wanted to create a mobile-first product that made “where will you be next?” easy to share and easy to join.
Design Approach
1. White Boarding, Working Out User Flows & Core Scenarios
Share future plans: A single tap to add an event.
Follow friends: Stay updated on what others are planning.
Discover new events: Browse by category or see what’s trending socially.
2. Exploration & Prototyping
Designed multiple flows around calendar integration & event feeds
Tested different navigation approaches, ultimately landing on a bottom tab bar with social, discovery, add, calendar, and profile sections.
3. Visual Design
Developed a clean, modern UI with a consistent palette (blue highlights, red branding accents).
Built event cards emphasizing date, time, location, and who added it — optimized for quick scanning.
Integrated familiar social patterns (followers, notifications) to encourage engagement.
4. Screens Designed
Profile: Followers/following counts, bio, notifications.
Calendar: Month view with integrated upcoming events.
Discovery Feed: Browse events by category or popularity.
Event List: Sort by date or by friends’ activity.
Landing Page: Search + trending events to drive onboarding.
Early registration flow: wireframes made in Sketch
Outcome
Built a clickable mobile prototype used for investor pitches and early user testing.
Validated core interest in a “Twitter for future plans” concept.
Highlighted design opportunities around event density, calendar visualization, and balancing social vs. event discovery.
Project ran for ~9 months before the company was ultimately abandoned pre-seed.
Key Learnings
Social + utility products must balance engagement features (followers, notifications) with core value (events in this case).
Calendar interfaces need stronger at-a-glance visualization for busy users.
Even in early prototypes, a polished UI and clear flows can elevate credibility with investors and testers.