01 -
Overview
Buz was hitting a plateau in user growth. Through user feedback on the App Store and Play Store, we identified key areas of friction that were impacting satisfaction—particularly around usability, accessibility, and the visual interface.
Roles
Lead Designer for Landing Project Management User Research Visual Design Micro Animation Moblie
User Experience User Research Visual Design Micro Animation
Tools Used
Project Summery
01 — Research & User Needs
Studied how users interacted with Buz’s Push-to-Talk (PTT) functionality, identifying friction and opportunities to improve the experience. Led user A/B testing to determine which interaction and visual styles best supported the experience.
02 — Workshops & Product Strategy
Hosted product workshops to translate user needs into actionable improvements for Buz, balancing user value, product goals, and implementation feasibility.
03 — Design & Development
After validating the direction, led an international design team in creating a new visual design for Buz. Strengthened the interaction design and micro-animations, using AI to produce dev-ready Swift and Kotlin assets that helped the development team hit the ground running.
04 — Launch & Iterate
Following design validation, partnered with development through implementation, QA, and launch, refining the experience and ensuring the final product matched the validated design direction.
Impact
Impact
4.5 To 4.9 Stars App Store Rating
Refined The Visual Identity
WCAG 2.1 Compliant
Reduced Misclicks
02 -
Problem
Buz was struggling with growth, as it hadn't had a major UI update in over a year. This was largely due to a lack of updates addressing user concerns.
03 -
New Feature Effort Mapping
During the Jobs-to-be-Done workshop I hosted, I conducted an idea generation exercise and then mapped the best ideas onto an effort-impact matrix. This helped me identify solutions that could be implemented without requiring significant resources from our development team, while still having a strong impact on Buz. The next step was to gather evidence of user need for these features as part of a potential UI redesign.
"I love the idea of Buz, but the tiny text throughout the app makes it so hard to use. I find myself squinting just to read basic instructions."
"Accidentally sent a voice message while testing the app and realized there’s no way to cancel it. Really wish there was an undo or delete option!"
Reading The Comments
To validate my ideas, I collected over 100 user reviews from the App Store. This helped demonstrate to stakeholders that there was a clear user need for the updates identified in the effort-impact matrix.
Real Buz reviews from the App Store
"The concept is great, but the design feels very bland. The colors and layout are dull and don’t feel modern at all. Needs a visual refresh."
"I wanted to like Buz, but it looks like an early beta. The UI is boring, and it's hard to figure out how anything works. No polish or cancel features."
Testing A New Design
I took the opportunity to talk with both people in the office as well as Buz's community. I perform a round of A/B testing with the new prototype design.
In office preferred a new design
87.5%
A/B testing with users preferred a new design
81.26%
The feedback was clear!
Users thought the app felt dated and visually flat.
04 -
Visual Exploration
I explored a few new designs to share during qualitative user testing sessions to help determine the direction we should take.
Contact Card
Users consistently gravitated toward a sleek, card-based layout that felt more modern and easier to use. With these discoveries and a direction chosen, we moved on to drafting the final designs.
Telagram
Signal
Competive Anyisis
While working on the initial designs, I found that our competitors all embraced a simple flat style, occasionally incorporating 2D illustrations.
Direct Messaging Apps
All of our direct messaging app competitors use vertical profile pictures, with call and message functionality being an additional 1 to 2 screens of friction away.
Zello
Ten Ten
Noon Light
Push To Talk Apps
Other PTT applications use a flat design style and rely on animation to indicate when a message is being recorded or sent.
A/B Testing
I presented both flat and skeuomorphic design options to 20 potential users, and 85% of them said they preferred the skeuomorphic design because it felt fresh and captured their attention more effectively.
85%
preferred the skewmorphic design
The Take Away
The survey takers preferred a skeuomorphic design for Buz, which distinguished it from the competition by providing a unique look.
05 -
Final Designs
06 -
Improving Accessibility
With the visual structure improved, the next step was to ensure the experience was inclusive and accessible. Several quick wins were implemented:
Clearing Up Interaction Zones
A major issue in the previous version of Buz was frequent misclicks and accidental swipes due to unclear interaction areas. The new card-based layout introduced clear visual boundaries for each contact, significantly reducing misclicks, boosting user confidence, and streamlining navigation.
Message and Contact Sync
A unified component brought together contact images, message previews, and interaction options—replacing a scattered interface and surfacing more context at a glance, so users spend less time opening individual threads.
A wave animation on the PTT button makes it immediately clear when the app is recording—removing guesswork and keeping every user in control.
Users felt stuck once recording started—no way out meant mistakes felt permanent. A swipe-to-cancel gesture fixes that without changing how PTT works. Same speed. Same simplicity. Zero embarrassment.
07 -
Conclusion
Once I had designed solutions for these problems, I led the development process by collaborating closely with developers and conducting QA. After launch, the redesign of Buz was a success across the board:
The refreshed visual design helped reposition the brand as more modern, thoughtful, and accessible.
User confidence increased, especially around message control and recording.
Refined The Visual Identity
Improved App Store rating from
4.5 To 4.9 Stars
Buz’s landing experience is now
WCAG 2.1 Compliant
Reduced Misclicks
on the homepage through clearer interaction zones
“I was really impressed that John took the initiative to push for the recent optimisations of Buz. Over the last year, John has pushed for what he believes in, and the team is better for it.”
James Hwang: CEO of Vocalbeats
Check out more
Check out more
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