Buzzit
Making Side Hustles Accessible to Every Student
Team
CEO, 2 designers, 2 developers
Timeline
3 months
My Role
Founding Product Designer
Type
Startup Project - UCD Big Bang Competition
Tools
Figma, Balsamiq, Google Forms, Zoom
THE WHY
College students spend millions on haircuts, nails, and photography—mostly off-campus—because they can't find talented peers literally living next door. Meanwhile, student providers struggle to get clients beyond word-of-mouth. How might we make discovering campus talent as easy as scrolling Instagram?
THE SOLVE
A Pinterest-inspired marketplace exclusively for verified college students where discovering services feels like scrolling for inspiration, booking takes 5 taps, and trust is built into every interaction through .edu verification and secure payments.
THE IMPACT
Students spend $14M annually on campus services but can't find talented peers. We created a Pinterest-inspired marketplace that makes discovery 10x easier and won UCD Big Bang 2025.
Want to see how we got here? Scroll to explore the journey ↓
RESEARCH
Understanding the Competition—And Finding the Gaps
Before designing anything, I needed to understand: why aren't students already using existing platforms?
I spent two weeks analyzing Fiverr, TaskRabbit, Instagram, and Facebook Groups. I pretended to be a student looking for a barber and a student trying to offer services.
Here's what I discovered:
The lightbulb moment: Nobody had combined Instagram's visual discovery with Fiverr's booking power, wrapped in a campus-exclusive community.
That gap? That's where Buzzit lives.
USER INTERVIEWS
50+ Students Revealed What Really Mattered
I knew my assumptions weren't enough. I needed to hear real stories.
Over three months, my team and I talked to 50+ students: people who needed services, people who provided them, and people who'd tried both.
What Service Providers Told Me:
What Service Providers Told Me:
Sarah, Nail Artist:
"I could probably do 5-10 nails a week, but I only do maybe 2 because people don't know I exist. Word-of-mouth is so slow. I wish I could just... be found, you know?"
Marcus, Photographer:
"Instagram is great for showing my work, but booking is a mess. DMs back and forth, checking calendars, Venmo... I just want it in one place."
PROVIDER PAIN POINTS
Limited to word-of-mouth
No professional portfolio
Can't scale their side hustle
Payment/booking is messy
What Service Seekers Told Me:
Jake, Looking for a Barber:
"I heard there's a guy in Tercero who's good, but... how do I even find him? I'm not knocking on random doors."
Emma, Needed Photography:
"I don't trust random people from Facebook groups. I want to see their work and reviews from other students first."
SEEKER PAIN POINTS
Discovery takes forever
Can't verify quality/trust
Expensive off-campus options
No convenient way to book
The 4 Insights That Shaped Everything
DISCOVERY > SEARCH
Students don't want to "search" for services, they want to discover them by browsing visually, like Pinterest or Instagram.
TRUST IS NON-NEGOTIABLE
.edu verification and reviews aren't nice-to-haves—they're dealbreakers. Students need to know providers are real verified peers.
IT'S ABOUT BRAND, NOT JUST MONEY
Gen Z providers see this as building their personal brand. They want beautiful portfolios, not just transaction lists.
CONVENIENCE IS EVERYTHING
They want ONE app for discovery, booking, payment, and scheduling. Jumping between Instagram, Venmo, and Google Calendar = no.
These conversations didn't just validate my idea—they shaped the entire product.
DESIGN
I Started Sketching What "Easy Discovery" Could Look Like
Armed with real student stories, I grabbed my ipad and started sketching.
My guiding question
How can finding a service feel less like searching Craigslist and more like discovering inspiration?
DIGITAL WIREFRAME
So I Opened Figma and Started Building
After 50+ conversations, I had clarity: students wanted visual discovery, not search bars.
But insights don't equal interfaces. I needed to translate "make it feel like Pinterest" into actual screens. So I started wireframing—structure first, style later.
USABILITY STUDY 1.0
What 5 Students Taught Me About My Design
I thought I had it figured out. Then I watched real students struggle.
I built a high-fidelity prototype in Figma and conducted structured usability testing with 5 students. Each completed 8 tasks while I observed, timed, and noted every frustration.
Test scenarios:
Book a service (seeker perspective)
Edit/cancel appointments
Add a service (provider perspective)
Manage listings and announcements
Post content
Success rate
100%
Average confidence
3.4/5
Average booking time
27.5 sec
Critical Issue #1:
The "Cancel" Button Confusion
4 out of 5 participants were confused by the "Cancel" button when cancelling/rescheduling appointments
"Is this to cancel the editing process or cancel the actual appointment?" — Participant 01
Impact: Eliminated confusion between "cancel editing" vs "cancel booking"
Critical Issue #2:
Edit/Delete Flow Confusion
Participants were confused by multiple action points (pencil icon, 3 dots, buttons)
"Confused by the pencil on the left and the 3 dots on the right... suggests allowing users to click a listing then modify or delete it"— Participant 04
Impact: More intuitive interaction model matching mental models from Instagram/other social apps
BEFORE VS AFTER ITERATIONS
Add Service task time: 35s → 18s (-48%)
Add Service confidence: 3.4 → 4.8 (+41%)
Edit flow clarity: Confusing → Clear
Button confusion: 4/5 confused → 0/5
Overall satisfaction: 8/10 → 9.5/10
What this taught me:
Small UI decisions have massive impact on user confidence. The "Add Service" button placement difference of 2 taps (buried vs visible) meant the difference between a 3.4 and 4.8 confidence score—and ultimately, whether providers would actually use the platform.
DESIGN SYSTEM
Colors
Why teal? Our competitors all used blue. We needed energy and approachability that resonated with Gen Z while differentiating Buzzit. Teal was perfect.
Why dark backgrounds? Saves battery on OLED phones, makes service photos pop, and feels premium—like Spotify or Netflix.
Typography
Why Roboto? Works perfectly on Android (60% of our users), stays readable at tiny mobile sizes, and gives us hierarchy without complexity.
Components
FINAL DESIGNS
The Final Product: Where All The Research Led
Customer Onboarding Flow
I designed the customer flow with one goal: get them browsing fast. Six screens collect the essentials—authentication, address for nearby services, and category preferences to personalize their feed. No lengthy explanations, no overwhelming forms. Just enough to make discovery relevant from the first scroll.
Business Onboarding Flow
Providers need a different experience—they're building something. Nine screens guide them through setting up their business: what services they offer (with visual category selection), where they work, and personal details. The flow ends with "Congratulations!! You're all set!"—a moment that says you just took the first step toward growing your side hustle. Every step is skippable, but the guidance is there when they need it.
Discovery Feed: Where Talent Meets Opportunity
Visual-first cards showcase actual work (nails, haircuts, photos)
Smart metadata shows distance, pricing, time posted
Infinite scroll for serendipitous browsing
Provider Profile: More Than a Listing
Portfolio showcase leads (your work speaks first)
Verification prominent (.edu email + student ID)
Social proof (reviews, ratings, completed services)
Personality section (about, story, what makes you unique)
Clear service details (pricing, what's included, availability)
Booking Flow: 6 Taps to Scheduled
Tap service card → Full profile loads
Tap "Book Now" → Calendar view appears
Select date/time → Available slots highlighted
Review & Pay → Secure payment (held in escrow)
Confirmed → Auto-syncs to calendar
REFLECTIONS
What I Learned By Building This
DESIGNING FOR TWO SIDES IS LIKE JUGGLING WHILE RIDING A BIKE
Every decision affects both service seekers and providers. Early on, I was so focused on the seeker experience (pretty feed! easy booking!) that I almost neglected providers. Research reminded me: without happy providers, there's no marketplace.
CONSTRAINTS AREN'T LIMITATIONS — THEY'RE SUPERPOWERS
Designing for a specific community (college students) let me make bold choices like requiring .edu verification. A general marketplace couldn't do that. Narrow focus = stronger design.
50+ CONVERSATIONS SAVED ME FROM BUILDING THE WRONG THING
If I'd just designed from my assumptions, I would've missed calendar sync, undervalued brand-building tools, and probably launched a feed sorted wrong. Listening is the best design tool.
STORYTELLING ISN'T OPTIONAL — IT'S WHAT MAKES DESIGN MEMORABLE
The Pinterest-inspired feed isn't just functional—it makes discovering services feel exciting. That emotional layer is what turns users into advocates.
WHAT I'D DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME:
I would prioritize a more formal developer handoff earlier in the project. As designs evolved quickly, clearer documentation around component behavior, interaction states, and edge cases would have improved implementation efficiency and reduced iteration cycles during development.
Thanks for following along on this journey. Building Buzzit taught me that great design isn't just about making things look good—it's about deeply understanding people and crafting experiences that genuinely improve their lives.
