Zesty is one of those apps you use when you're bored, yes, bored! I feel like apps like Instagram and TikTok can make your brain melt. I miss the days of having random conversations with people I didn’t know. So, I thought, why not create something that anyone can use, where everyone can talk about whatever they want?

I started this project like I do with any other project, by creating a sitemap to map out all the screens I would need to design. For this project, I didn’t create any wireframes because, since this is a concept project I’m building just for fun, I wanted to focus on practicing my creativity and designing the UI, as well as exploring how the micro-interactions would work.

The idea of the app is simple: you create an account, and if you are older than 12 years old, you gain access to the app. From there, you can immediately start conversations. Every 10 minutes, the chat resets, and the conversation begins again with random people in the same chatroom. Maybe 10 minutes is too little or too much time for a conversation, but the idea is to keep it fast paced and enjoyable.

You can’t send photos or links, only text and emojis. The concept is to create a safe space where people can enjoy nice conversations without resorting to doom scrolling on Instagram or TikTok.

I don’t get to design apps like this on a daily basis because my focus and the work I do is mostly product design, like SaaS dashboards and corporate apps. So, the idea of designing something different and in this style is super exciting to me. I chose to design it in dark mode because I felt the design direction would look cooler this way.

I didn’t do any user research or anything like that because sometimes, to truly explore your creativity, you have to take a leap of faith.

If you read this far, send me a message on LinkedIn saying "Cowabanga!"

All animation I did for this project was using After Effects.

I’m not a logo designer, but I ended up creating something I really like for this project. The logo is pretty simple, featuring small lemon seeds (inspired by the name "Zesty") alongside a small-caps typeface. I also designed some stickers that can be used for Instagram stories or WhatsApp.

If you’re reading this, here’s a little Easter egg for you: I have a dog named Jake, and his name was inspired by the cartoon Adventure Time. Before my girlfriend and I actually got him, we were planning to call him Barney, as a reference to the TV show How I Met Your Mother. But we decided against it because we knew everyone would ask if it was Barney the purple dinosaur.