Weekoos
Full-stack Product Design for Mobile Chat Ecosystem
It takes a whole village to raise a child.
Weekoos began as an early-stage concept inspired by the founder’s observation that many new parents felt isolated and lacked ways to connect locally. She saw an opportunity to create a safe, organic way for parents to meet and build community without the pressure of sharing personal contact information. The team set out to design an MVP prototype to validate the idea and test its potential in the market.
As the Lead Product Designer, I defined the brand foundation and visual identity, translating the app’s mission of building organic parent communities into a warm, trustworthy experience. I established the design system to ensure scalability and consistency across mobile interfaces. I led the end-to-end design of the MVP, from user research and flow mapping to prototyping and interaction design, collaborating closely with the founder to deliver a cohesive, intuitive experience that balances safety, ease, and connection.
Brand Development
Define brand foundation and visual identity
Design System
Develop design system and design standard
Product Design
Build strong UX flow for core service being offered
Discovery
Understanding the Vision
I started by aligning with the founder to define the product’s mission to help parents build authentic local connections without needing to share personal contact information.
Identifying Key Pain Points
1️⃣ Parents often feel awkward exchanging numbers with strangers at playgrounds.
2️⃣ New or isolated parents struggle to find nearby families for play dates and support.
Rapid Ideation with AI
To visualize the founder’s ideas quickly, I used AI tools to generate early mockups and ran a co-creation workshop. This helped turn abstract ideas into tangible screens and gather instant feedback.
Key Insight
Parents wanted simple, fast, and casual interactions, not complex group structures.
This insight led to an MVP focused on chat-based connections rather than rigid community forums or event calendars.
Weekoos flowchart
Design System Development
Building a cohesive design system was a key step in establishing a strong UI/UX foundation for Weekoos. I utilized Figma’s variable and component features to create a scalable structure that ensured consistency across wireframes and high-fidelity designs.
Guided by the brand values of trust, community, and care, I defined the visual foundation (typography, color palette, and iconography) to create a reliable tone.
From Wrieframes to System
Once the lo-fi wireframes validated the core app flow, I transformed them into a comprehensive design library, enabling rapid prototyping and consistent UI pattern
Scalable by Design
The system was built using Atomic Design principles, allowing components to adapt easily as new features are introduced and keeping the experience cohesive, modern, and easy to evolve. More detail on Atomic Design principles can be viewed here
Challenge
Throughout the design process, I faced two major challenges.
1. Balancing Vision and Focus
The founder had an inspiring long-term vision with many feature ideas. My role was to narrow the scope and define what truly mattered for the MVP, which was to validate if parents found value in connecting easily without personal info exchange.
2. Designing for Simplicity in Chaos
Parents are often on the go, juggling multiple things at once.
To honor the principles of “simple” and “easy,” I focused on minimizing effort and decision points in every flow
The Outcome
This simplification not only made navigation intuitive but also created a cleaner UI, aligning with the product’s mission to make connecting with other parents quick and effortless, reducing four layers of navigation into three and eliminating five pages.
Do’s & Don’ts:
Design Principles
Easy navigation and intuitive interaction were core principles for Weekoos. Through rapid mockup iterations and navigation mapping, I identified the need to consolidate all chat interactions into a single chat hub to reduce friction and cognitive load.
Key Challenges
1️⃣ How should secondary navigation between different chat types be organized?
2️⃣ Is an “All” view displaying all message necessary or redundant?
To answer these questions, I conducted quick A/B testing with six users, focusing on click efficiency and task completion. The findings emphasized that users preferred fewer taps and clear visual cues over deep menu layers.
Design Decisions
✅ Implemented chip-style navigation for effortless switching between chat types.
✅ Retained an “All” tab for a comprehensive overview, minimizing unnecessary clicks while preserving clarity.
These insights reinforced a key principle for the app: less structure, more flow to allow busy parents to connect and navigate with minimal effort.
The Outcome
The Weekoos MVP successfully brought the founder’s vision to life to parents connect organically and confidently without exchanging personal information. Through iterative design, rapid prototyping, and user testing, the app demonstrated strong potential for adoption and market validation.
User testing revealed a 83% reduction in navigation errors after simplifying the app’s flow. Parents were able to start new chats 7 seconds faster on average, with 65% fewer clicks. The intuitive chat hub and chip navigation improved clarity and engagement.
Feedback from the pilot participant group confirmed the app’s emotional resonance with 93% described the experience as trustworthy, easy to use, and welcoming.
These outcomes validated both the core product concept and the design system foundation, positioning Weekoos for future scaling and community growth.
