product, growth & marketing design
PRODUCT DESIGN · UI/UX · PRINT & DIGITAL · MARKETING · CAMPAIGNS & FUNNELS
WEBSITE DESIGN · SOCIAL & EMAIL
Project Overview
Buddyng is a global travel app designed to connect travellers, helping them find companions, share plans, and discover new experiences. Launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform required a shift in positioning and strategy to support early growth in a challenging market.
I worked across product, brand, and marketing to help shape the app experience, establish a cohesive visual identity, and drive user acquisition across international markets.
Brief
Buddyng needed a clear product experience, a consistent brand, and a scalable marketing approach to support launch and growth.
The challenge was to build credibility and attract users within a competitive travel market, while adapting to changing behaviours during the pandemic.
Role & Approach
My role combined product design, brand development, and growth strategy.
I redesigned the app experience, creating user flows and UI across key features for the app. Alongside this, I developed growth strategies across paid and organic channels, combining performance marketing with influencer partnerships to drive user acquisition.
I also took ownership of developing and maintaining the brand across all touch points, ensuring consistency as the product and marketing scaled.
product design & ui/ux
I redesigned the core Buddyng app experience, creating user flows and UI across key features to improve usability, clarity, and engagement.
I also developed wireframes for a new ‘Trips’ feature, a web-native extension allowing users to organise trips, manage budgets, discover activities, and collaborate with other travellers.
This work was supported by user testing and research, using feedback to refine the experience and align the product more closely with user needs.
brand & platform development
I played a key role in shaping and evolving Buddyng’s brand across all touchpoints.
I oversaw freelance designers during the initial rebrand phase, ensuring alignment with the product vision and overall direction. Building on this, I developed and extended the visual identity across the app, website, and marketing materials, defining how the brand was applied in practice.
This resulted in a cohesive and scalable brand system used consistently across product, digital, and campaign outputs.
marketing & growth
I led marketing and growth initiatives across both paid and organic channels, establishing early user acquisition strategies across international markets.
This included managing app store and Meta ad campaigns, achieving strong performance metrics with higher click-through rates and lower acquisition costs compared to industry benchmarks.
I also developed influencer partnerships, sourcing and managing travel ambassadors to increase brand visibility and drive app downloads.
campaigns & community engagement
Campaigns were designed to drive both user acquisition and ongoing engagement.
This included ambassador-led campaigns, competitions, and targeted content, supported by partnerships with travel influencers to expand reach and increase app sign-ups and app engagement.
To support engagement, I also created onboarding and educational assets, including app store visuals and in-app guidance, helping users understand the platform and encouraging active use. Print and digital materials were distributed across hostels and travel hubs to increase visibility among key audiences.
investor, business & strategy materials
A range of investor and business materials was created to support fundraising, strategic direction, and growth.
This included pitch decks and one-pagers used to communicate Buddyng’s vision, market opportunity, and product offering to investors and partners.
Alongside this, I developed strategic materials including customer segmentation, competitor analysis, brand positioning, USPs, and user personas, as well as analysing churn to identify gaps and inform product and marketing decisions.
outcome
The work supported Buddyng’s early-stage growth, establishing a clear product experience and a consistent brand across digital and marketing channels.
Integrated marketing strategies and campaigns contributed to user acquisition across multiple regions, while product and UX improvements created a more engaging and intuitive platform.
From investor materials to app design and growth campaigns, the work helped position Buddyng as a credible player within the travel app space during a highly challenging launch period.