- Role
- Solo — concept, UX, UI, prototype
- Timeline
- ~3 weeks, self-initiated
- Type
- Concept project
- Platform
- Mobile (iOS & Android)
- Status
- Designed & prototyped · not shipped
Context
Gripple started from a personal observation: mainstream social networks are engineered for time-on-app, not connection. Infinite scroll, algorithmic feeds and notification overload make them exhausting. The design question: what would a social app look like if it optimised for meaningful interaction instead of engagement time?
Constraints & scope
- Self-initiated, solo, ~3 weeks — a focused MVP, not a full platform.
- In scope: onboarding, feed, post creation, reactions, profile, notifications.
- Out of scope: DMs, groups, discovery, moderation tooling, monetisation.
- Design thesis fixed up front: no infinite scroll, no public vanity metrics.
- No user research budget — direction is driven by well-documented attention-economy critique, to be validated later.
Problem statement
Infinite scroll and algorithmic feeds trap users in passive consumption loops.
Notification overload creates anxiety and compulsive checking.
Public vanity metrics (likes, follower counts) distort self-expression and genuine connection.
Feature bloat — Stories, Reels, Shops, Ads — buries the core social experience.
Design principles
Intentional by design
No infinite scroll. The feed has a visible end. Users browse with purpose, not compulsion.
Content first
No like counts visible to others, no follower vanity metrics. Posts stand on their content alone.
Calm interface
Generous whitespace, a muted palette, grouped notifications. An app that respects your attention.
What I designed
Sign up / login with a short, clean onboarding
Create posts — text, photo, video — with minimal friction
A minimalist feed with no algorithmic manipulation
Thoughtful reactions beyond a single like
A follow system built around mutual connection
Profiles with bio and posts, no public vanity metrics
A calm notification center with grouped alerts, not red badges
Screens
Outcomes
Success criteria I designed against
- A session has a natural end — the feed stops instead of scrolling forever.
- No like counts or follower numbers are visible to other users anywhere in the UI.
- Notifications arrive grouped and calm — no red count badges.
- Posting a text update takes 2 screens and under 20 seconds.
How I pressure-tested the design
- Walked every screen against the two design-thesis rules to catch violations.
- Prototype run-through of the post, react and follow flows.
- Heuristic review focused on attention: what pulls the eye, what creates urgency, what can be removed.
Next step — Diary study with 5–6 heavy social-media users trying Gripple for a week, measuring perceived calm and whether the missing metrics are actually missed.
Reflections & what I'd do next
Gripple taught me how much a clear thesis and a few hard constraints can do for a design — removing features (infinite scroll, public likes) made the interface calmer and more honest. Next I'd run the diary study, design the moderation and reporting flows I scoped out, and test whether a bounded feed keeps people coming back.
“The most powerful decision on Gripple was what to leave out — every deletion was a deliberate act of respect for the user's attention.”