Overview
blinkoo is the #1 Italian travel-tech startup dedicated to helping travelers uncover unforgettable places. The platform allows users to explore thousands of authentic travel videos created by real travelers. As a Founding Product Designer, I played a pivotal role in taking the product from concept to reality, developing a cohesive design system and crafting seamless experiences on both web and app platforms. Within just one year, blinkoo gained over 100,000 users and over the course of my tenure secured €6.5M in funding.
The travel industry was lagging behind
Initial research revealed the need for an authentic video-based platform where content creators could tell their stories, one spot at a time.
Our goal was to simplify the path that leads people to discover new destinations, collect useful information, and book some of the activities that comprise it. Usually the process of organising a trip is unstructured and is very often fragmented.
How it works
Dynamic tags help users navigate content and broaden their search. Each video contains all necessary information to find, book & visit a location or travel experience.
The information architecture from the onboarding experience was centred around the main home section for the discovery of content, supported by an advanced search section, a video upload functionality, a personal profile area, and a section to save and organise content.
From MVP to a successful launch
I supported blinkoo creating materials for the successful crowdfunding campaign on the platform backtowork24, which raised ~100,000€.
In order to build a flexible and scalable Design System, I creamaintainedantained a curated collection of reusable components, guided by clear standards to guide other designers and developers through a consistent source of truth.
Discovering the need for tailored content
Through user research (e.g., user interviews, in-app testing) we saw the need for tailored content and the desire to find “hidden gems” that very few people know. A lean feature has been added called "playlists" to the search page area of the app. By creating these compilations, the user retention nearly doubled over the span of one month.
Road to smooth implementation
I worked closely with engineers and developers to ensure a smooth design and copy implementation.
Working with Agile methodology, we had daily stand-ups, weekly demos, and would often sit together and cross-check details of implementation with the final designs.
Tools like Zeplin were used to upkeep a consistent Design System, along with Jira for product management.
