StreetJams: Designing a more reliable way to discover free items locally

Overview

StreetJams is a location-based mobile app for discovering, sharing and collecting free items left in the street.

Role

Product Designer · UX Researcher · Developer

Tools

Figma · React Native · Expo · Supabase

Discovery

Designed map + list navigation to support both spatial exploration and quick scanning of nearby items.

Reliability

Introduced item status tracking to help users judge whether a find is still worth the trip.

Contribution

Simplified the posting flow to make sharing a street find quick and low-effort.

Fragmented

People rely on Facebook groups, community platforms or chance encounters to find items.

Uncertain

Items can disappear before someone arrives, making online information difficult to trust.

Time-sensitive

The value of a street find depends heavily on location, timing and availability.

Reliability

Users were willing to compromise on item quality, but not on outdated or unreliable information.

Discovery habit

Users liked quickly scanning what was available nearby, especially while already out and about.

Contribution

Posting needed to be quick and low-effort to encourage people to contribute.

Discovery

Supporting two discovery behaviours

Problem: Users discovered items in different ways — some preferred spatial exploration, while others wanted to quickly scan nearby options.

Decision: I introduced map + list views, using the map as the default while keeping the list one tap away.

Trade-off: More UI complexity in exchange for supporting different discovery behaviours.

Reliability

Making availability visible

Problem: Users could travel to an item only to discover that it had already been collected or was no longer available.

Decision: I introduced user-updated item states such as collected and unavailable.

Validation: Users consistently checked availability before deciding whether to travel.

Impact: The status system makes availability part of the core decision-making experience rather than secondary information.

Contribution

Making posting effortless

Problem: Sharing a street find requires enough location context for someone else to find it, but too much input can discourage contribution.

Decision: I minimised required inputs while preserving the location information people naturally use when describing street finds.

Trade-off: Less structured data in exchange for lower contribution friction.

Wireframing

I translated the research insights into core user flows before moving into high-fidelity design. This helped keep each screen tied to a specific user need and MVP priority.

Sketching

I explored the information architecture and navigation patterns through low-fidelity sketches before committing to visual design.

Design system

I refined typography, colour, iconography and component patterns alongside the product design, creating a visual system that could support both the prototype and production implementation.

High-fidelity prototype

I built an interactive prototype in Figma with key states and interactions represented so usability testing could focus on realistic product behaviour rather than static screens.

Gallery

Finding: Users couldn't identify a clear scenario for viewing item history.

Response: Removed the Gallery feature and replaced it with a Favourites screen aligned with a clearer user need.

Item status

Finding: Partial collection introduced confusion around item states.

Response: Simplified status handling to reduce cognitive load.

MVP scope

Finding: Partial collection created a complex edge case.

Decision: I deferred the problem rather than adding complexity to the MVP. The priority was to validate the core collection journey first.

Validated

Users consistently checked availability before deciding whether to travel, and posting was perceived as a low-effort task.

Expected impact

Reduce unnecessary trips, increase confidence during discovery and make contributing easier.

Next to measure

Collection success rate, posting completion and availability accuracy.