BETTER OFF SOCIAL - BRAND, PRODUCT, WEB
BETTER OFF SOCIAL - BRAND, PRODUCT, WEB
Building products for in-person connection
A product built for the age of
in-person connection
Role
Role
Product Designer
Product Designer
Collaborators
Collaborators
Chris Mitchell
Chris Mitchell
Katarzyna Babińska
Katarzyna Babińska
Bartosz Boruta
Ilya Dolotov
Duration
Duration
2024-2026
2024-2026
Tools
Tools
Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe Creative Cloud
Figma
Figma
A full product redesign for the platform betting on real life
A full product redesign for the platform betting on real life
Better Off is a mobile and web platform that connects people to real-world social experiences. From brunches and sports leagues to trivia nights and running groups, Better Off uses AI to match users to communities built around shared interests and lifestyle.
Better Off is a mobile and web platform that connects people to real-world social experiences. From brunches and sports leagues to trivia nights and running groups, Better Off uses AI to match users to communities built around shared interests and lifestyle.
Founded at a time when loneliness had become one of the defining cultural conversations of the decade, Better Off takes a deliberate counter-bet: that what people actually crave is to be in the same room.
Founded at a time when loneliness had become one of the defining cultural conversations of the decade, Better Off takes a deliberate counter-bet: that what people actually crave is to be in the same room.
Design challenge
Design challenge
People are more connected online than ever yet more isolated in real life than ever. Better Off was built to close that gap, but when I joined, the designs weren't living up to that mission.
People are more connected online than ever yet more isolated in real life than ever. Better Off was built to close that gap, but when I joined, the designs weren't living up to that mission.
The brand struggled to stand out, the experience felt forgettable, and the users it was built for weren't sticking around long enough to find out what it could be. Organizers hosting experiences on the platform had no real tools to manage them, holding the community together with workarounds.
The brand struggled to stand out, the experience felt forgettable, and the users it was built for weren't sticking around long enough to find out what it could be. Organizers hosting experiences on the platform had no real tools to manage them, holding the community together with workarounds.
The work was twofold: rebuild the brand identity and product experience from the ground up, and design the tooling that would give organizers the power to actually run their communities well.
The work was twofold: rebuild the brand identity and product experience from the ground up, and design the tooling that would give organizers the power to actually run their communities well.
Starting screens
Starting screens
Insights that shaped the redesign
Insights that shaped the redesign
Using data from 30 user interviews, we found that the current design was failing to communicate what made Better Off different. Users couldn't feel the personalization, so the platform felt no different from anything else they'd tried and abandoned.
Using data from 30 user interviews, we found that the current design was failing to communicate what made Better Off different. Users couldn't feel the personalization, so the platform felt no different from anything else they'd tried and abandoned.
Our findings were clear: users didn't just want to be matched, they wanted to feel matched. That meant the interface itself needed to carry the weight of that promise. We translated this into customizable profiles, event cards, and organizer pages where color, motion, and texture worked together to make personalization visible at every touchpoint.
Our findings were clear: users didn't just want to be matched, they wanted to feel matched. That meant the interface itself needed to carry the weight of that promise. We translated this into customizable profiles, event cards, and organizer pages where color, motion, and texture worked together to make personalization visible at every touchpoint.
Led redesign for dynamic user-side flows with animated gradients and interactions
Led redesign for dynamic user-side flows with animated gradients and interactions
A system that colors itself
A system that colors itself
To ensure every event card returned a unique visual overlay, I built an internal tool called VIBE (Visual Identity Builder for Events) using Color Thief, an open-source library that extracts dominant colors from images.
To ensure every event card returned a unique visual overlay, I built an internal tool called VIBE (Visual Identity Builder for Events) using Color Thief, an open-source library that extracts dominant colors from images.
I tested 40 images representative of content organizers typically upload to the platform, validating that the tool would generate distinct overlays consistently across every card, event page, and profile. Colors are intentionally derived from the content itself rather than Better Off's brand palette, giving each event and organizer their own visual identity and helping users orient themselves as they move through the platform.
I tested 40 images representative of content organizers typically upload to the platform, validating that the tool would generate distinct overlays consistently across every card, event page, and profile. Colors are intentionally derived from the content itself rather than Better Off's brand palette, giving each event and organizer their own visual identity and helping users orient themselves as they move through the platform.
I paired all of this with a rigorous color system and detailed handoff documentation to ensure nothing was lost in translation. The result: no two pages look the same, and every user, organizer, and community has a distinct presence automatically!
I paired all of this with a rigorous color system and detailed handoff documentation to ensure nothing was lost in translation. The result: no two pages look the same, and every user, organizer, and community has a distinct presence automatically!
Tools built for organizers
Tools built for organizers
Organizer tools was a suite was built from the ground up based on direct feedback from early hosts, addressing the real operational pain points of running leagues, groups, and recurring events.
Organizer tools was a suite was built from the ground up based on direct feedback from early hosts, addressing the real operational pain points of running leagues, groups, and recurring events.
The tools cover the full lifecycle of an experience: event creation and management, SMS, email and in-app messaging, scheduling, check-in, payments, analytics, and support. Designed to scale from an individual hosting their first event to an organization managing multiple leagues simultaneously.
The tools cover the full lifecycle of an experience: event creation and management, SMS, email and in-app messaging, scheduling, check-in, payments, analytics, and support. Designed to scale from an individual hosting their first event to an organization managing multiple leagues simultaneously.
The core design challenge was building something with real operational depth that still felt native to the consumer product. Every organizer screen had to carry the same visual language as the user side while communicating a completely different level of complexity.
The core design challenge was building something with real operational depth that still felt native to the consumer product. Every organizer screen had to carry the same visual language as the user side while communicating a completely different level of complexity.
Key mobile organizer tools and screens
Key mobile organizer tools and screens
From check-in to connection
From check-in to connection
To keep users connected to their plans without pulling them back into the app, I designed a Live Activity for Better Off that surfaces on the Dynamic Island and lock screen to help users track their event information and access event group chats easily in real time.
To keep users connected to their plans without pulling them back into the app, I designed a Live Activity for Better Off that surfaces on the Dynamic Island and lock screen to help users track their event information and access event group chats easily in real time.
After the event, the Live Activity transitions into a ratings flow where users can swipe to rate the people they met, the event, and the venue. Every rating feeds back into Better Off's matching algorithm, passively refining recommendations through real experiences. Organizers receive this data as analytics, giving them insight into event performance and venue quality.
After the event, the Live Activity transitions into a ratings flow where users can swipe to rate the people they met, the event, and the venue. Every rating feeds back into Better Off's matching algorithm, passively refining recommendations through real experiences. Organizers receive this data as analytics, giving them insight into event performance and venue quality.
iOS live activity for check-ins
iOS live activity for check-ins
News & updates feed
News & updates feed
News & Updates gives organizers a dedicated space to post directly to their community, keeping users informed and engaged between events. To support both quick reactions and deeper discussion, comments are ordered by relevance so high-engagement replies surface naturally.
Each comment also serves as the start of a threaded conversation, encouraging real back-and-forth between users. This balance between visibility and discourse means the feature works for a one-liner response just as well as it does for a genuine community conversation, giving every organizer page a living, social layer that extends beyond the events themselves.
Each comment also serves as the start of a threaded conversation, encouraging real back-and-forth between users. This balance between visibility and discourse means the feature works for a one-liner response just as well as it does for a genuine community conversation, giving every organizer page a living, social layer that extends beyond the events themselves.
Commenting built for community engagement with scroll animations and micro-interactions
Commenting built for community engagement with scroll animations and micro-interactions
Motion design for organizer web page
Motion design for organizer web page
Design system components
Design system components
Takeaways
Takeaways
After completing this redesign, Better Off's brand and product has strengthened user trust and increased usage among our core users as the visual system flexes to adapt to every event, organizer, and user without ever losing itself.
After completing this redesign, Better Off's brand and product has strengthened user trust and increased usage among our core users as the visual system flexes to adapt to every event, organizer, and user without ever losing itself.
Onboarding new organizers became measurably easier after launch, bringing more communities onto the platform and growing the user base alongside them. Organizer feedback pointed to the tools as a genuine upgrade to how they ran their communities, with early case studies describing the tools as intuitive and exciting.
Onboarding new organizers became measurably easier after launch, bringing more communities onto the platform and growing the user base alongside them. Organizer feedback pointed to the tools as a genuine upgrade to how they ran their communities, with early case studies describing the tools as intuitive and exciting.
As for next steps, further developing organizer tools is needed, especially Analytics for Organizers as well as further developing the web platform so that its as engaging as mobile.
As for next steps, further developing organizer tools is needed, especially Analytics for Organizers as well as further developing the web platform so that its as engaging as mobile.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to lead this project! Thank you so much for the CEO Chris Mitchell for trusting the vision, my design lead Katarzyna Babińska for support, and developers Bartosz Boruta and Ilya Dolotov for their patience and communication every step of the way.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to lead this project! Thank you so much for the CEO Chris Mitchell for trusting the vision, my design lead Katarzyna Babińska for support, and developers Bartosz Boruta and Ilya Dolotov for their patience and communication every step of the way.
