InSpark
Mission ———
InSpark aims to build a vibrant community that empowers travel enthusiasts to share journeys, discover new destinations, and connect with fellow explorers—sparking daydreams into real adventures.
Project overview ———
The project completely transformed the product from a basic website into a full-featured native app. Along with a new name and tagline, “Inspiration to spark your next journey,” the rebranding gave the product a clear identity that resonated with its audience. The move to a native app improved functionality, allowing for faster, more efficient user interactions. As a result, the product now stands out in the market, drives higher user adoption, and supports a more engaged community of diverse travelers.
Disclaimer: For confidentiality, some details have been adjusted. The process, strategies, and outcomes remain true to the core of the actual project.
Project Tactics
- Competitor Analysis
- Market Research
- Distinctive Branding Strategy
- Website Strategy
Project Deliverables
- Brand Identity Development
- Branded Icon Set (Taxonimy Refinement)
- Comprehensive Brand Guidelines
- Native App/Product Design
- Social Media Marketing Templates
Inspark’s currently lacks strong branding or distinctively memorable graphics. In a crowded market, 86% of consumers prioritize brand authenticity, achieved through consistent and genuine branding. Our brand identity must clearly convey our unique value proposition and be instantly recognizable. This refresh will align with InSpark’s mission and values, creating a distinctive identity for a dynamic application (Renderforest).
With a user base of 10,000, our goal is to significantly boost engagement, retention, and new user adoption. Engaged users are four times more likely to become loyal and recommend the app to friends. As a social app dedicated to building a community, we need to prioritize opportunities for interaction and ensure dopamine-inducing affordances within their own interactions (Adapty).
As we transition from a website to a native app, maintaining feature parity is crucial. Users expect at least 80% of the website’s features to be available in the app. Poor performance can lead to 90% of users abandoning the app. As we move into the Product Design, we will prioritize accessibility, simplicity, and continuous feature improvement to ensure a seamless transition, retain users, and enhance satisfaction (MoldStud).
InSpark aims to redefine travel exploration by creating the premier social platform, empowering travelers and adventure seekers to seamlessly share their journeys, discover new destinations, and engage deeply with a global community of like-minded explorers. A successful social product for InSpark, means fostering authentic connections, sparking inspiration, and providing valuable travel insights that enhance every adventure. Through intuitive design, robust features, and a commitment to user engagement, InSpark will inspire a new era of global exploration, where every journey is enriched by shared experiences and cultural discovery.
Deliverables included
- Final Logo Concepts
- Supporting Tagline
- Accessible Color Palette
- Web-optimized Typography
- District Iconography
- Branding Sheet & Guidelines
- Final Logo Files (Horizontal and Vertical: PNG, EPS, SVG, JPG)
Tools Used
- FigJam
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Indesign
- Google Suite Tools
- WCAG Accessibility Guidelines (508/AA)
InSpark’s logo embodies a vibrant synergy of adventure and purpose. The paper airplane symbolizes stories of shared journeys and adventures, with its dynamic 45-degree tilt conveying forward motion and excitement. Meanwhile, a spark replaces the tittle over the ‘i’, symbolizing inspiration that drives the brand’s mission, seamlessly integrated into both the logo mark and written name. Together, these elements evoke a profound sense of exploration and connection across continents, staying true to it’s tagline,”Inspiration to Spark your next journey.” This iconic emblem, paired with meticulously crafted visual elements like our brand pattern, iconography, and color palettes, ensures a cohesive and inspiring brand presence, setting the stage for a captivating product.
Paper Airplane: Serving as our emblem, the paper airplane symbolizes shared journeys and adventures worldwide, with a dynamic 45-degree tilt conveying excitement and progress.
Spark as Tittle on “i”: Integrated into the logo, it symbolizes the inspiration driving our brand forward, visible in every detail of our visual identity.
Strategically chosen for its recognizability, the primary brand color #9747FF stands out across various environments. It is complemented by accessible shades of white and black, our other primary brand colors.
Using the spark as our brand pattern, we’ve crafted a subtle yet distinctive asset that enhances our brand across all platforms. This dynamic pattern adds depth to our visual identity, whether as a background or a reusable motif, embodying our brand’s energy and creativity, and leaving a lasting impression.
Syncopate provides a unique and recognizable appeal, while Manrope’s simplicity complements Syncopate’s flair. We chose Google Fonts Syncopate and Manrope for their accessibility and seamless integration with our website. These fonts enhance readability and maintain a cohesive visual identity across all mediums, ensuring a user-friendly experience.
Deliverables included
- High-fidelity Designs
- Interactive Prototyping
Tools Used
- Figma
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- Google Suites
With a deep understanding of our audience and a solid brand foundation, I focused on designing a native app experience that truly resonates with users desires and organizational goals.
Initial research revealed several key UX challenges to consider when transitioning the product from a website to a native app. While native apps come with their own unique considerations, the insights gained from our website discovery were invaluable. We needed to create an experience that not only embodied the brand’s presence but also addressed critical usability issues. These included overcoming:
- Unintuitive navigation
- Lack of an onboarding or new feature introduction process
- Poor accessibility rankings
- Difficulties in community engagement and collaboration
- Excessive scrolling with oversized imagery
- Inconsistent iconography representation
These challenges became the cornerstone of the design process, ensuring that the app would resonate with our audience while enhancing usability.
Due to an expedited timeline, my UX design process deviated from the norm after our initial research and discovery phase. Extensive collaboration and a data-driven strategy during brand creation allowed me to jump directly into design and high-fidelity prototypes. Rapid visualization and iteration ensured the final app was visually compelling and aligned with our brand’s mission. Despite skipping traditional stages, thorough groundwork ensured a user-centric and effective design.
In the profile image, you’ll see a preview of the transformation from a weak to a stronger brand presence across the product. The updated design features vibrant colors, harmonious typography, smooth gradients, and universally recognizable iconography, creating a balanced environment where the platform’s content and visuals shine without overwhelming users. By prioritizing accessibility and usability, we addressed core concerns surfaced during the initial discovery. This refreshed brand helps InSpark stand out in a competitive market, driving user retention and fostering a more inclusive community of diverse travelers.
To solve the issue of a hard-to-navigate webpage with actions buried at the top or nested in child pages, the navigation was strategically redesigned during the application’s development to bring key actions to the surface. Primary navigation now sits at the bottom for easy thumb access, optimizing usability and ensuring key actions are easily accessible. Less frequent actions, like profile settings, are nested to streamline the interface. This design allows users to take intentional actions without multiple clicks or cognitive information recall interrupting the flow of navigation, resulting in a smoother and more intuitive experience.
The landing page design now enhances the browsing experience with a streamlined image grid that highlights contextual details like preview captions. Quick actions—such as liking, sharing, and exploring—are tucked neatly into a “+” symbol for easy access. By transitioning to a two-column layout, content becomes more visible, reducing scrolling and simplifying navigation. This improved structure fosters deeper engagement, allowing users to interact seamlessly while creators enjoy greater exposure.
Initially, the website allowed only one image upload at a time, making board creation cumbersome. To improve this within for the app, an advanced board creation feature was introduced. Users can now create boards by country or region, upload multiple images, provide overviews, flag itinerary items, and add travel tips. Once the board is created, users can edit or add new places later. This optimized screen allows for bulk uploads, eliminating the need to reopen the “add item to board” option, resulting in a more efficient and user-friendly experience.
The rebranding effort, featuring the new logo mark and the tagline “Inspiration to spark your journey,” has significantly strengthened the brand identity and resonates perfectly with consumers. Building on this foundation, the final product is a cohesive, user-centric native app that deeply connects with the audience and supports the brand’s mission.
Key improvements include enhanced usability with intuitive navigation, better accessibility features, and more interactive elements for an engaging user experience. By surpassing basic usability, we executed an environment that makes the product lovable and engaging. The app’s modern, dynamic design contrasts with its previous sterile look, creating a visually appealing interface. The strong, consistent branding ties everything together, resulting in an enjoyable and memorable product that users appreciate and want to return to, fostering long-term loyalty.