A product to design
The need is clear, but the journeys, screens and priorities still have to be designed before development starts.
Expertise
UX/UI design:
clear interfaces, designed with
the people who build them.
UX/UI design for mobile and web applications: user journeys, prototypes, interfaces and design systems, with assumptions tested with users where the scope allows. Design is done by the same team as development and delivered in a form developers can use.
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ERROR STATE SELECTEDJOURNEYS · PROTOTYPE · DESIGN SYSTEM
Situations
What brings a design project to us.
Journeys where users drop off
Reported drop-offs, hard-to-use screens, interface inconsistencies accumulated release after release.
An interface without a system
Each screen was designed separately. Components drift apart and every change means redesigning.
Design lost in development
The mock-ups exist, but the delivered product departs from them for lack of specifications and shared components.
Scope of work
What we design.
One team for design and development: what is designed accounts for what gets built, and the other way round.
Usage and discovery
Users, usage contexts, priority journeys and success criteria. Assumptions are tested with users where the scope allows.
Journeys and information architecture
Screen flow, navigation, empty states, errors and edge cases, defined before working on the interface.
Prototypes
Interactive prototypes to test a journey and make decisions before development starts.
Mobile and web interfaces
iOS, Android and web interfaces that follow each platform's conventions.
Design system
Components, typography and colour rules, states and variants, shared between design and code.
Specifications for development
Mock-ups, components and interface specifications ready for the team that builds, yours or ours.
Method
From usage to the delivered interface.
- 01
Understand usage
Who uses the product, in what context and to do what. Priority journeys are agreed with you.
- 02
Structure the journeys
Screen flow, content, states and edge cases, approved before working on the visual design.
- 03
Design and prototype
Interfaces, components and prototypes. Assumptions are tested with users where the scope allows.
- 04
Support development
Specifications, design system and review of the built interface, so the delivered product matches what was approved.
Responsibilities
Who decides what.
A typical division of responsibilities, agreed for each engagement.
| Topic | Your team | Black Tide |
|---|---|---|
| Users | You share what you know about them and ease access when possible | We structure the journeys and assumptions |
| Brand identity | You provide the brand and its existing guidelines | We apply them to the interface |
| Approval | You approve journeys and interfaces | We propose, prototype and document trade-offs |
| User testing | You decide its place in the scope | We prepare it and report what we learn |
| Development | Your team or ours builds | We deliver usable specifications and review the result |
Selected work
Products created end to end.
Vibly
Created a student social network, from the news feed to ticketing and messaging, on a shared Flutter codebase for iOS and Android, run for more than three years.
Read the Vibly caseFantasy Alley
Created an application that brings together a catalogue, an EPUB and PDF reader, a library, a marketplace and a social network in one product.
Read the Fantasy Alley caseEach case describes the work delivered, its scope and the current status of the product.
Budget and next steps
How a design project is priced.
What discovery establishes
The journeys to design, the number of screens and platforms, the place of user testing and the expected deliverables.
What makes up the budget
Discovery, design and prototyping days, the extent of the design system and support during development.
Design and development together
Design can be commissioned on its own, or followed by development by the same team, with nothing lost in between.
Join at the stage you need
UX audit of an existing interface, design of a journey, a design system or the complete design of a product.
Useful questions
Before a design project.
Do you do design without development?
Yes. Mock-ups, components and specifications are delivered in a form your development team can use.
Can you rework an existing interface?
Yes. We first examine the existing journeys and screens and find where users drop off before proposing changes.
Who designs the interfaces?
Océane Darras Gioia, co-founder and holder of the Google UX Design Professional Certificate, leads art direction and UX/UI for the products the studio works on.
Do you deliver a design system?
When the product must evolve and be maintained over time, yes: components, rules and variants shared between design and code.
Next step
Tell us about your users.
Who uses the product, the journeys that matter and what gets in the way today: the starting point for useful discovery.