DAYBLIZZ
Role:Head of Product and Design
Completed:MVP, 400+ final mockups, Prototype, Branding
Timeline:September 2018-June 2019
Dayblizz is a social media mobile app designed for creating, sharing, and monetizing content while connecting with fans and followers. Featuring a vertical full-screen format for images, videos, and discussions, Dayblizz allows users to tailor their experience by filtering content types or focusing on posts from friends. With built-in monetization tools like subscriptions, tipping, custom requests, and shop sales, it empowers Gen Z creators and consumers alike.
OUTCOME
Dayblizz launched on Product Hunt, landing #5 Product of the Day. Recognized for its outstanding design, Dayblizz received three awards: the DotCOMM Award, the Web Excellence Award and the Online Design Award. The platform successfully attracted thousands of users and facilitated over five figures in earnings for its creators.
#productmanagement #productdesign #prototyping #branding #naming
Awarded by
The rise of content creators as modern-day icons mirrors the impact movie stars had in the 80s and 90s. These creators drive engagement across social platforms, yet many struggled at the time (2018) to earn sustainable income, as platforms such as Twitch and Youtube took almost a 50% cut of their earning. Content monetization was not mainstream yet.
With ad-revenue sharing creating a major dependency on these platforms, creator’s ability to create freely was cut into, as they had to fear guideline changes, leading to the sudden demonetization of their content. On the other hand, algorithm changes could quickly cut into their reach, with sudden drops of up to 90%.
Creators often had to rely on unpredictable brand deals with almost 60% of creators not earning a livable income.
How we solved the problem
Empowering creators and fans with dayblizz
Dayblizz was created to bridge this gap, a platform designed to empower creators by seamlessly integrating social interaction with robust monetization tools. It combines a dynamic user experience with features that allow creators to profit directly from their work, creating a more equitable and rewarding environment for all.
Dayblizz was a social media app that helped creators earn money through tips, subscriptions, custom requests, and shop sales while connecting with their fans. The app promoted fair discovery for all creators, ensured full audience reach, and offered a customizable, vertical full-screen experience for photos, videos, and discussions. By focusing on real, stress-free interactions, Dayblizz created a platform that supported creators and delivered a better social media experience for everyone.
Surrounding context
A product I wished I had as a content creator in 2018
I began my first “business” journey as a content creator, growing my audience from 0 to 50,000 followers within 18 months and eventually surpassing 300,000 in the years that followed, becoming one of the Top 10 in my niche in Germany. At the time, many creator activities were unpaid, with platforms taking significant cuts and offering little value to subscribers. Changes in Facebook’s algorithm abruptly reduced my reach by 90%, bringing my thriving platform to a near standstill. This experience sparked my ambition to build a creator-centric social media app, one that truly empowers creators with the tools they need to succeed and thrive.
Market validation
Understanding Social Media and the creator economy in 2018
In order to validate the idea for Dayblizz and come up with a clearer and cleaner solution, I conducted quantitative and qualitative research:
Surveys and Interviews: Engaged 200 participants, revealing dissatisfaction with existing platforms’ lack of monetization tools and overly generic user experiences. A large segment sought platforms where creators could connect more meaningfully with their audience while monetizing content seamlessly.
Market Analysis: Insights from Statista and Hootsuite indicated a 24% annual growth in social media marketing spend, demonstrating a strong opportunity for platforms supporting creators through innovative revenue channels.
Competitor Shortcomings: Established competitors like Instagram and Twitch lack a holistic approach, focusing either on content sharing or live streaming, but not on comprehensive creator support. Dayblizz identified this as a niche where it could differentiate itself.
Research, feedback and iterations
From the start, the focus was on understanding the needs of two primary user groups: consumers and creators. Through one-on-one interviews with individuals from these groups, the team gained valuable insights into their pain points, motivations, and expectations.
1. Creators expressed that they struggle with monetization, either because of a dependence on brand deals, demonetization issues, the large cuts other platforms take or because they weren’t even allowed to access those features. Additionally, they struggled with sudden loss of reach, due to algorithm changes.
2. Consumers wanted a more customizable and engaging content consumption experience. They voiced being overwhelmed with the amount of options and that they no longer see their friends content. They also voiced privacy concerns over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. Users also clearly voiced that they want better recommendations in their feed – which their usage data would be needed for.
We secured people from these groups as early adopters to use their on-going feedback to improve the app.
Monetization and improved user experience
Based on the feedback, I ideated solutions, that were set to solve the creator’s monetization issue, while creating a cleaner, gamified, interactive and more fun user experience than other platforms. These are some of the ideas:
Subscription Services: A feature allowing creators to monetize premium content through tiered subscriptions.
Unified Content Feed: A filterable feed integrating videos, blogs, images, and live streams, giving users flexibility and control over the content they consume.
Privacy Settings: Empowering users to manage visibility and interactions on their profiles.
Interactive Features: Gamified challenges and tipping options to foster engagement for live-streams. Reacting to other content and clipping it.
Creator Tools: Tipping features, shop sales, analytics and more.
Creating the minimum viable product
To create an MVP, features were prioritized based on user demand and their potential to enhance the user experience and value proposition of Dayblizz:
Key Features: Subscription services and the unified feed were given the highest priority as they directly addressed core needs for creators and consumers.
Medium Priority: Privacy settings and interactive features were next, as they provided additional value but were less critical for the MVP. Reactions, tipping and other creator tools.
Lower Priority: Advanced analytics, AI-based content recommendations, live-streaming and gamification
This approach ensured that the initial product launch addressed the most pressing user needs while laying the groundwork for future enhancements. Only key features were included in the MVP, while mid and lower priority items were considered for long-term strategy and were adjusted based on customer demands.
Iterations and Design Thinking
Dayblizz employed a structured and iterative design process grounded in design thinking:
1. Research: Insights from interviews and surveys revealed a need for unified content consumption and monetization options, forming the foundation for feature ideation.
2. Feature Ideation: Brainstorming sessions led to early concepts for the unified feed, subscription tiers, and tipping mechanisms.
3. Wireframes: Initial wireframes visualized workflows, like setting up a subscription or customizing the feed.
4. Mockups: High-fidelity designs were created using tools like Marvel and InVision, ensuring a sleek and user-friendly interface.
5. Feedback: Early adopters tested prototypes, providing insights that led to adjustments, such as simplifying feed filters and refining the tipping UI.
6. Polishing: Final designs incorporated animations built with Rive, adding fluidity and engagement to the interface.
7. Prototyping and Development: Interactive prototypes were tested in Marvel (see here) before transitioning to development, ensuring a seamless handoff to the engineering team.
This approach maintained a strong focus on usability and aesthetic appeal, resulting in a polished and intuitive product.
May 2019: The MVP and Prototype is fully designed
The process
The roadmap from 2018-2019
Dayblizz was my first design project in user interface and user experience design and my first product management project. As I singlehandedly ideated, conceptualized and designed everything, I taught myself the needed skills on the go. I iterated upon my designs many times, designing over 400 mockups – not including any iterations.
Collaborating as a team
While the design and product process outlined above was driven by me alone, for the implementation of Dayblizz, 2 developers joined the team in late 2019 / early 2020. In this team, my role was to oversee business, product and design, which also included conducting quality insurance and leading the team efforts. I managed the task creation in GitHub, set up Google Workspace and Slack for communication and created basic processes for our collaboration, including weekly meetings and check-ins.
This allowed me to build up valuable experience in process creation, communication, collaboration and team leadership, which later on proved to be very beneficial in my management position at VentureLabs in late 2020 for example.
The extra long version
More details on design and features
Want more of an overview of Dayblizz and it’s design? I included the explanations and reasoning behind many parts of the app here, as well as some in-app videos.
Dayblizz app
in-app videos
A short walkthrough showcasing some of the key features of the app.
Content Feed
The Dayblizz feed is designed for versatile and personalized content consumption.
The “News” feed functions as a mixed-media stream, displaying posts from friends, followed accounts, and discovery content. Users can filter the feed in real-time to show specific content types—such as images, videos, or interactive text—allowing them to tailor their experience to their preferences.
For a more personal connection, the “Friends” feed keeps users updated on their close network. A dynamic notification badge indicates the number of new posts shared by friends since the user’s last visit. This feed exclusively features accounts that have mutually accepted friend requests, ensuring a focused and private experience.
Dayblizz also promotes interactivity and engagement through reposts, which enable threaded discussions. Users can navigate back to the original post and explore all related responses by tapping on conversation “bubbles,” fostering a richer dialogue experience.
Immersive Content Viewing: Dayblizz enhances entertainment with an unobstructed viewing mode. By swiping or tapping the arrow icon in the lower-right corner, the interface disappears, providing full-screen access to videos, images, or text. A single tap on the eye icon restores the interface, allowing seamless navigation.
Interactive Features
Videos on Dayblizz can be muted, paused, and navigated by tapping on the video to reveal the interactive interface. This feature provides users with greater control over their video-watching experience.
Additionally, users can interact with content to view tags and participate in discussions through a built-in comment system, fostering community engagement.
Sharing content on Dayblizz is streamlined and intuitive. With just two taps, users can share their own creations by selecting the colorful “+” button, choosing the desired content type, and getting started.
Content-Sharing
When users decide to share content with the Dayblizz community, they first select the desired image or video.
Next, they can compose accompanying text, add relevant tags, adjust privacy settings (public or friends), and set a location to make the content discoverable.
Dayblizz also offers quick color adjustments through built-in filters and editing options, allowing users to enhance their content effortlessly before sharing.
Video-Editor
For video uploads, the editing options differ significantly from those available for images.
Users can record a new voiceover for their video or mute the background audio by selecting the provided checkbox. To create a voiceover, users simply hold the “Press to Record” button and speak to generate a custom audio channel.
Additionally, users can select a thumbnail or cover image for their video. This can be done by choosing a specific frame from the video or uploading a separate image.
As with other content types, users can compose accompanying text, add tags, adjust privacy settings (public or friends), and set a location to enhance discoverability.
Dayblizz also provides quick color adjustments and enhancements through filters and editing tools, ensuring that videos are polished before being shared.
Content Discovery
To discover new content, users can tap the search icon in the menu to access the discovery page, which showcases a variety of images, videos, and interactive text posts.
For more specific searches, users can navigate to the search page by tapping the search bar at the top. This page displays previous search results alongside recommended pages and hashtags.
Users can enter a search phrase to find accounts, hashtags, or locations of interest, providing a streamlined and intuitive way to explore content on Dayblizz.
Messaging System
By tapping the gray speech bubble icon in the lower menu, users can access Dayblizz’s notification and messaging system.
The messaging feature is organized into three inboxes: Friends, General, and Message Requests. Messages from users who are not followed or are not friends will appear in the Message Requests inbox. Once a message request is accepted, it moves to the General inbox alongside messages from followed users.
The chat offers a range of interactive features. In addition to text messaging, users can send images, videos, emojis, stickers, GIFs, and share content or profiles. The platform also allows users to quote specific messages directly, enabling seamless and comfortable interactions.
In-App Notifications
Dayblizz ensures notifications are organized for ease of use. Users can view all new notifications in one place or filter them by category, such as likes, comments/replies, follows and friendship requests, tags, and shares.
With the entire notification history accessible, Dayblizz ensures users never miss anything important.
Creator Accounts
To become an earning creator on Dayblizz, users must set up a creator account by tapping “Join Premium Creators.” The onboarding process includes completing a KYC (Know Your Customer) verification through Stripe before being redirected back to the app.
The creator account is divided into several sections. The Creator Account Settings provide options for updating billing information and managing shipping tiers within the shipping center.
Creators can control their Premium Subscriptions with ease. Subscriptions can be toggled on or off with a single button, allowing creators to temporarily or permanently pause their offerings. For example, when going on vacation, creators can halt subscriptions, ensuring that active subscribers are notified and not charged during the downtime.
The subscription settings include customizable features. Creators can set a tagline to succinctly describe their offerings and provide a detailed description to introduce themselves and their work to fans or potential subscribers. Additionally, creators can choose whether to display or hide their number of supporters and earned income, offering flexibility in how they present their success.
Creator Profiles
Subscribing to creators on Dayblizz is simple. Users can click the “star” icon on a creator’s profile to access their dedicated creator profile.
The creator profile displays the description and tagline crafted by the creator, along with their available subscription tiers.
Subscriptions are presented in a horizontal row, with details displayed when a specific tier is selected. Each subscription page includes the subscription name, a feature image, the price, the number of active subscribers, and an explanation of the content offered.
When users choose to subscribe to a tier, they are redirected to Stripe’s secure checkout process to complete their subscription safely.