Co-op
Product Design · Art Direction

About

Co-op is a collaboration-first social network built to replace passive networking with active work. Instead of connecting on a follow or a handshake, users earn access to someone's wider network by completing a "Collab" with them first, so every connection is backed by real collaboration rather than a follower count.

I was founding designer and art director, owning product strategy and visual identity end to end, and designed the full MVP in two months.

User profile

Experience

The core idea was to make networking something you earn, not something you collect. Users move through tiers (Initiate, Connector, Influencer) as they complete real collaborations, and until then, parts of a person's profile stay blurred, so access has to be earned rather than assumed. Status is marked visually with custom 3D frosted glass medallions for each tier.

For discovering opportunities, I moved away from the standard vertical feed and designed a 360° scrollable map instead, letting users browse horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, with three zoom levels for switching between a broad overview and specific project detail. Cards stayed in a familiar, standardized layout so the new navigation model didn't come at the cost of clarity.

The home page and profiles were built to balance networking utility with personal expression, custom color profiles and intro quotes for identity, alongside built-in chat and timelines so collaboration didn't push users off-platform. "Collab" rooms worked as a lightweight project space, with native milestone and deadline tracking, to keep people working inside the product rather than just meeting through it.