Case Study 01 · UX/UI · Mobile App Design

Pop! Goes St. Louis

A mobile app concept designed to help users discover and attend local pop music events — hyper-local, personality-driven, and built around the slightly quirky character of the St. Louis music scene. The challenge: make something functional that also felt genuinely fun.

The Challenge

Build something useful that also has a personality.

Pop! Goes St. Louis needed to help users quickly discover local pop music events, introduce them to new artists, and capture the slightly quirky character of the St. Louis music scene. That's a lot to ask of a mobile interface.

The harder challenge: apps like Bandsintown and Songkick already handle the functional side well. The only way to differentiate was to lean hard into personality — which meant the visual design, the mascot, and the interaction patterns all had to feel cohesive and intentional, not gimmicky.

A mandatory constraint — incorporating a cow mascot — became the creative anchor for the whole project. Rather than fighting it, I used it as a tool for emotional engagement: splash screen introduction, and reward moments at confirmation.

UX Decision

Bottom nav over complex structures

Prioritized bottom navigation for quick, repeat use — the core task is "find event, buy ticket," not deep exploration.

Design Decision

Bold + playful visual system

Rounded shapes, bold colors, and a 90s-inspired aesthetic that reflects the energy of pop music without overwhelming the core task.

Tradeoff

Clarity over social features

Chose speed and simplicity over adding social discovery features — kept the core experience lean and effective.

Strategy

Mascot as delight tool

Used the mandatory cow mascot strategically at brand introduction and confirmation moments — emotional reward, not visual noise.

My Process

Lean research. Strong point of view. Prototype everything.

I used a lean research approach — studying competitive apps for baseline expectations, then deliberately departing from them. The prototype was central from the beginning, not a final step. I tested how users moved from discovery → decision → purchase and refined transitions until they felt natural.

Competitive Analysis

Audited Bandsintown and Songkick to define baseline expectations, then identified exactly where to break from convention.

UX Flow Design

Mapped the core user journey: browse → event detail → ticket purchase, with a secondary path for artist discovery.

Visual System

Developed the 90s-inspired color palette, custom event card design, and mascot integration strategy.

High-Fidelity Prototype

Built interactive flows in Figma — tested transitions, refined micro-interactions, validated the discovery-to-checkout experience.

View the Prototype →

Outcome

A playful, functional experience that proves personality and usability aren't opposites.

The final concept delivers a music discovery experience that feels distinctly St. Louis — community-driven, a little quirky, and easy to use. The mascot went from a constraint to a memorable brand moment. The prototype validated that the discovery-to-checkout flow works smoothly without social feature bloat.

Core constraint turned into the

strongest brand moment

Core flows prototyped and validated

end-to-end

Unnecessary features

clarity won every tradeoff

Reflection

💡

Constraints are often the best brief. The mandatory cow mascot forced a creative decision that ended up being the most memorable part of the experience.

💡

Prototyping reveals what wireframes hide. Several transitions that looked fine in static frames felt clunky in the prototype — and vice versa.