Discover
What’s on near you — interests first.
01 / Problem
Meeting people shouldn’t start with a profile.
Most apps lead with faces. GatherUp leads with something to do — padel, coffee, board games.
Typical social apps
- 01 Profile
- 02 Swipe
- 03 Maybe meet
Faces first. Plans optional.
GatherUp
- 01 Interest
- 02 Book
- 03 Meet
- 04 Faces unlock
Guest list private until after.
Story / GatherUp
From wanting plans to actually meeting.
01 · The Problem
02 · The Struggle
03 · The Turning Point
04 · A Better Reality
02 / Product
The loop
Discover → join → meet → connect. Hover a step.
01
Discover
02
Join
03
Meet
04
Connect
Hover a step
Discover — activities near you, this week
Join — book free, or pay via InstaPay
Meet — show up. Small groups by default
Connect — chat unlocks. Faces after
03 / Thinking
Product questions came first.
Hover a question.
Hover a question
Who is this for? People new in the city — or restarting their social life. Not dating.
Why join? A concrete plan this week — not a maybe calendar.
What lowers anxiety? Come for the activity. Guest list private until after. ~8 people.
What does a host need? Fill seats, verify payments, run a series without chaos.
What brings people back? Familiar faces. Chat after. Next week’s drop.
How do they pay? InstaPay host↔attendee. GatherUp isn’t merchant of record.
04 / Experience
Making meeting strangers feel easy.
Hover to play.
Context
Place, time, price, size — before you commit.
Book
One gold CTA — free hold or pay.
Connect
Chat unlocks when it matters.
05 / Design system
One system. Three surfaces.
Flutter · web · admin — EN + AR from the same tokens.
Tier 0
Primitives
Brand gold
Night
Chalk
Sage
Tier 1
Foundations
Semantic light/dark
Lexend + IBM Plex AR
4px spacing
Motion tokens
Tier 2
Core components
Buttons & chips
Cards & lists
Sheets & nav
~25 blocks
Tier 3
Surfaces
Flutter app
Next.js web
Admin
Tier 4
Patterns
Book sheet
Interest hub
Feed rail
Privacy unlock
Color
Brand
#E5B84A
Night
#000000
Chalk
#FBF7F1
Light · dark
One token set. Brand gold stays put.
EN · AR
Lexend + IBM Plex Arabic. RTL first-class.
Type
Lexend
Pull up a chair.
IBM Plex Sans Arabic
قابل ناس بيشاركوك اهتماماتك
Components
~25 blocks — live from the app.
Buttons
Primary gold CTA with press spring.
Chips
Filter by interest — activity first.
Sheets
Book a Spot — confirm in place.
06 / Motion
Shared motion language
Same durations in code. Reduce Motion respected.
Micro~150msPress
Quick~250msTab · chip
Standard~350msSheet
Screen~500msPush
Tab
Push
Sheet
Privacy
07 / Design + code
I also built what I designed.
Figma → Flutter → Widgetbook → App Store.
01DesignFlows · UI · system
02CodeTokens · components
03ShipiOS · Android · web
Constraints shaped simpler UI. Changing a token updated the live app.
08 / Iteration
What shipping changed
Fixes Figma never caught.
Before
Bottom snackbars
Feedback hid behind the floating bookings bar.
Learned
One feedback channel — from the top.
After
TopSnackBar as a system rule.
Before
Magic spacing numbers
8, 12, 14, 16 — almost the same, never quite.
Learned
Close enough looks like a bug.
After
4px token scale + DsGap.
Before
Faint text on dark cards
Captions failed WCAG AA (~3.6:1).
Learned
Contrast is a token problem, not a one-screen hotfix.
After
inkFaint lifted to pass AA.
Before
Fabricated social proof
Vanity counts that weren’t real.
Learned
Store audit + trust — fake numbers had to go.
After
Honest counts only. Or none.
09 / Results
After launch
Real usage in Cairo and beyond.
1,516
Users
150 new this week
1,522
Total bookings
95.7%
Show-up rate
Past events
29%
Repeat booking rate
201 of 692 members booked again
170
Weekly bookings
+29% vs last week
4.3%
No-show rate
Shipped · iOS · Android · Web · Admin · Widgetbook
Where members are
Greater Cairo first — city on profile
Top interests
Most common picks during onboarding
Designed and shipped end to end.