Building mobile products from scratch
How I designing 0-1 native products in direct collaboration with clients.
Context
Early in my career, I worked across multiple native app projects where I was responsible for shaping products from ambiguous briefs into tangible mobile experiences.
Working directly with clients, I helped define product vision, user journeys, interaction patterns, and full UI systems from scratch, often without an existing product, research base, or technical foundation.
These projects strengthened my ability to navigate ambiguity, structure ideas into clear product directions, and translate strategy into execution.
BrewDog – Electric IPA Activation (Pitch Concept)
As part of a competitive pitch, we were asked to design a native app to engage BrewDog’s existing customer base around the launch of Electric IPA.
The idea was to connect the physical product with a digital experience. Customers who purchased the beer would be introduced to the app and invited to vote on the flavour and style of the next Electric IPA release.
The challenge was to turn this campaign concept into a compelling mobile product experience.
Approach
We proposed using unique ID codes printed on each bottle. When entered into the app, these codes unlocked the ability to vote on the next beer style, creating a direct link between purchase and participation.
Working directly with the client, I translated this idea into a tangible product concept. I mapped the activation journey, designed the voting interaction, and explored ways to extend engagement through features such as local BrewDog bar discovery.
From early sketches through to high-fidelity UI, I shaped the experience end-to-end, defining the structure, interaction patterns, and visual direction for the app.
Applause Store – TV Audience Ticketing App
Applause Store wanted to launch the UK’s first free television audience ticketing app.
Their website struggled with two key issues:
Filling seats for less popular shows
Collecting essential attendee information required for studio safety and compliance
The opportunity was to design a mobile-first product that increased attendance while improving data capture and reliability.
Approach
I designed the app from scratch, defining how users would discover shows, apply for tickets, and manage their bookings within a native experience.
A key focus was introducing a rewards system to gamify participation. Users earned points and progressed through levels based on attendance and engagement, unlocking benefits such as priority access to tickets.
This created positive behavioural incentives, encouraging reliable attendance while helping production teams fill harder-to-book shows.
Through regular client demos and iterations, I refined both the user flows and the visual identity, shaping the experience from low-fidelity wireframes to final UI.
These projects laid the foundations for my approach to product design, navigating ambiguity, structuring ideas, and translating business goals into tangible mobile experiences.