Animal
Brand / Strategy / Product
Designed centralized plant-based discovery platform—never launched, but taught critical product thinking and feature prioritization.
Overview
Finding plant-based options—restaurants, clothing, personal care—fell into a gap. Google returned unfocused results and niche apps had outdated information and poor UX. I saw an opportunity to design a centralized lifestyle hub that matched how people actually discover and adopt plant-based living.
Year: 2020
Role: Entrepreneurial
Tools: Adobe, Figma, Mailchimp
Problem
There was no platform combining strong UX, accurate information, and wider reach beyond just food. Existing solutions failed in different ways: HappyCow was narrow and outdated despite being subject-focused. Google or other mainstream search was too broad and didn't serve the community's needs.
Solution
To confirm the gap, I conducted research with 13 participants across a spectrum of vegans, flexitarians and plant-curious people. Key insight: 83% showed purchase intent, but the real opportunity was information and access. People wanted lifestyle guidance: "I'm interested in veganism—what can I do? How do I access this?"
I developed:
- Brand positioning (strong UX + comprehensive scope + current info)
- Low-fidelity prototypes testing core flows
- High-fidelity wireframes spanning search, curated content, commerce, and community features
Outcome
The project was shelved—I couldn't find a dev partner to build it (AI tools would've changed this). But it taught me critical product design lessons: how to prioritize features for a multi-feature platform, balance competing use cases, and design for phased rollout even when immediate launch isn't possible. The research revealed that plant-based adoption isn't just about finding restaurants—it's about accessible entry points into a lifestyle shift.
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