Community platform UX design: Sync'd
Sync'd was a passion project: a digital hub where South Africa’s emerging artists, writers and podcasters could show their work and meet each other. Our founder co-founded it and, as product lead, shaped everything from the editorial direction to the UX. When the app idea proved too heavy, the team moved to a web-first platform built on three pillars: Read, Listen, Connect.
- Client
- Sync'd
- Category
- UX/UI & Product Design
- Timeframe
- 2021–2022
- Role
- Co-founder and product lead: UX/UI, web design, business planning and operations
The situation
Talent wasn’t in short supply. Attention was. Established names dominated galleries, airtime and search results, and new voices struggled to find an audience or collaborators.
What we built
- 01ReadA magazine-style layout that puts artwork front and center, without distractions.
- 02ListenA podcast page with one-click playback and short interviews tagged by discipline and location.
- 03ConnectA networking event flow to RSVP, swap details and chat in small themed breakout rooms that opened 15 minutes before each event.
- 04Curated spotlightA rotating Artist of the Week banner that brought in applications and page views for new talent.
What happened
Early feedback from creative Slack groups and social comments pointed to two needs: visibility (work front and center, not buried in a feed) and community (low-pressure ways to meet peers). The platform was built around both.
A platform’s power isn’t in having more features. It’s in solving the right problems simply. Three pillars beat thirty features.
What we’d tell you
