Made-Work

Background

Business owners still print paper cards, hand them out one at a time, and retype the contact details they receive. I set out to replace that with one profile people could share from their phone in a few taps.

Before designing, I compared the closest tools. Linktree and Feedlink share links well but offer no QR code or business card. Blinq has QR sharing and contact management, but no analytics and only one layout. No single product covered sharing, contact capture, insights and a profile that looks like the business.

What needed to change

• Reduce the cost of printing and the stress of swapping paper business cards.
• Cut the time it takes to manually enter contact details from other business owners.
• Give business owners a stress-free way to create a personalised business profile.
• Show users how many people view their business card.

Key decisions

Most card swaps happen face to face, where scanning is fastest and the other person does not need the app. So the share sheet puts the QR code first, then a copyable profile link, then Bluetooth, WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Telegram. Someone without the app can still receive a card.

The competitor gap was analytics, so the home screen shows lifetime views, clicks and contacts up front, and the analytics tab breaks activity down by date range and top clicked link.

Profiles had to look like the business, not like everyone else's. Users pick a template and a brand colour during setup. The free plan includes three templates: enough to give people a real choice before paying, while more layouts stay a reason to upgrade.

Setup is split into small steps (personal profile, company details, social links, QR code, template) so a business owner can get a working card in one sitting.

Scope of work

• Problem framing and competitor analysis (Linktree, Feedlink, Blinq)
• Onboarding, sign-up and password reset flows
• Profile setup: personal details, company details and social links
• QR code setup, profile templates and colour choices
• Sharing by QR code, link, Bluetooth and social apps, plus a QR scanner
• Contacts, analytics, notifications, subscriptions and settings
• Design system: cards, forms, navigation and social components

The product

Key screens from onboarding, profile setup, sharing and analytics.

Set up your card

Small steps, so a business owner has a working card in one sitting.

1. 1Personal profile
2. 2Company details
3. 3Social links
4. 4Links added
5. 5Style the QR code
6. 6Pick a template and colour
7. 7Card ready
8. 8First look at home

Share and follow up

The everyday loop: share the card, collect contacts, see who viewed it.

1. 1Home
2. 2Share by QR, link or apps
3. 3Contacts received
4. 4Contact details
5. 5Analytics
6. 6New contact alerts

What the recipient sees

No app needed: the card opens in the browser and the contact can send their details back.

1. 1The shared card
2. 2Send details back

Log in and reset password

Getting back in, including a full password reset by email.

1. 1Log in
2. 2Request a reset
3. 3Reset email
4. 4Set a new password

Settings, plans and help

Account, subscription and support, including cancelling and keeping a plan.

1. 1Settings
2. 2Edit profile
3. 3Subscription
4. 4Cancel subscription
5. 5Keep subscription
6. 6Help center
7. 7Help answer

What happened

I led the research and design from July 2022 to February 2023 and delivered over 70 screens and emails, covering onboarding, sign-up, profile setup, sharing, scanning, contacts, analytics, subscriptions, settings and help, plus a component library. The developers built the app from these designs, and it was used by over 70 business owners in North Carolina before it was discontinued when funding and priorities changed.

What I would do differently: put the setup flow in front of real business owners before designing analytics and billing. Testing the first few minutes of the product with real users would have shown us much earlier whether the core idea was strong enough.