Project Vision
This project addresses a real gap in the market: creating a product for professionals who constantly network, seek new business connections, and rely on relationship-building as a core tool. Sure, LinkedIn exists, but let's be honest — nobody loves LinkedIn's templated posts and clunky user experience. CRM systems are out there too, but they're typically bloated and designed for large enterprises.
What if there was a service where you could maintain your business relationships, discover new connections, track relationship quality, and do it all through beautiful design? That's exactly what we set out to build.
First concept of app
Start of work
The client had worked with other designers before but wasn't satisfied with their generic solutions. That's when he came to us. For the test assignment, I pitched the orbit concept instead of a traditional feed. The idea: all new activities from your contacts appear on this orbit interface. With a simple hover, users can see what's happening with their contacts and get contextual notifications — emails, events, you name it.
The concept resonated so strongly that it became the foundation for an entire year of collaboration.
Let's start with the fundamentals. A project this ambitious demands a robust design system to maintain consistency and streamline future development. Our current design system didn't emerge overnight — it evolved organically as components and styles multiplied.
Here's where things got interesting: while I was building the design language, developers started creating the alpha version. Due to communication gaps, we ended up with two parallel design systems — mine and theirs. This became a serious threat to the project's integrity.
The solution? A complete overhaul. I systematized every component, style, and typeface into a unified file. I leveraged design tokens extensively—both global and component-specific — ensuring consistency while enabling rapid iterations. This flexibility proved crucial for a startup where details constantly evolve.
UX Design
This design required creating numerous screens and workflows that simply didn't exist elsewhere. The UX challenges were substantial — anticipating user behavior, prioritizing information hierarchy, and crafting intuitive interactions from scratch.
Every decision had to be deliberate, every flow had to feel natural, and every feature had to earn its place in the interface.
UI Design
The client wanted something exceptional — a genuinely beautiful interface. We decided on a dark theme by default, enhanced with glassmorphism and gradient accents. The result speaks for itself in the interface you see here. I'm genuinely proud of how it turned out.
This aesthetic didn't happen overnight. The style evolved significantly over the year, and I believe it evolved for the better.
This isn't the end
This case study is intentionally high-level, without detailed screen examples or granular breakdowns. Here's why: our collaboration is ongoing. The project is still in active development and hasn't launched yet, which means many details remain under NDA.
As the project progresses and more elements become shareable, I'll be updating this case study with additional insights, detailed screens, and deeper dives into the design decisions.
If you're curious to see how this evolves, follow my social channels — I'll be sharing updates as soon as I'm able to pull back the curtain on more of this work.
Additional Work
Landing Page Design
A great app deserves a great landing page. I designed it in the same visual language as the application, showcasing the product's key benefits.
This is where I leveraged my 3D and animation expertise. The hero section features interactive 3D elements, followed by smooth Lottie animations throughout the page. Looking back, I'd probably use Rive for this today and suggest building the landing page in Framer for more flexibility. But the results were solid — you can see for yourself at the link.
3D and Animation
Working on this project gave me the perfect opportunity to dive deep into Rive animation techniques, which I still actively use today (including on this very portfolio site). The project also let me flex my 3D skills, as mentioned in the section above.
These technical explorations weren't just about adding visual flair — they were about creating memorable, engaging experiences that help users connect with the product on an emotional level.