Yodl: Designing a Multi-Audience Mobile App
Building the user flows and patterns that shaped the MVP launch
Client: Yodl Music
Industry: Entertainment
Role: UX and Product Designer, Brand Strategist
Team: UX Researcher, Client Stakeholders
Overview & Role
Yodl was a startup exploring how to bring artists, fans, and venues together through a unified mobile experience. The team had big ideas, but the product vision and scope were not yet defined.
I led UX strategy, user journeys, and mobile pattern development for the MVP. My role was to simplify the ecosystem, align stakeholders around a clear product structure, and shape a prototype that could support investor pitches and early engineering work.
Impact
The prototype became the anchor for Yodl’s seed investment round and helped secure interest from music industry partners. The UX work gave the engineering team a clear roadmap and helped the founders align on a realistic feature set for the first release.
The design principles and pattern work accelerated visual and product decisions that supported a 4.8 star rating at launch in the App Store.
The Challenge
Yodl needed to bring artists, fans, and venues together inside one mobile product, but each audience had different goals and expectations. The early vision included too many features for a realistic MVP, and the team did not yet have a clear definition of what to build first.
We needed to simplify the ecosystem, identify the core value for each user group, and define a focused MVP that could prove viability quickly. Investors were looking for a clear story, and engineering required a structure they could begin building without rework.
The Approach
I began by mapping the relationship between artists, fans, and venues to understand how each group created and received value. This helped identify the moments where their goals connected, which became the foundation of the MVP.
From there, I created simplified user journeys, prioritized features, and defined a clear information architecture. I shaped early mobile patterns for navigation, scheduling, profiles, and communication so the experience felt consistent across all user types.
Working closely with the founders, I turned a wide set of ideas into focused, testable flows and interactive screens. This gave the team a shared product structure, supported investor conversations, and provided engineering with a practical starting point for development.
An Experience For Artists
The journey to promote shows, manage bookings, and grow their fan base
An Experience For Fans
The journey to discover music, follow artists, and find events
An Experience For Venues
The journey to schedule talent, manage events, and fill their stage
Key Solutions
Three unified journeys shaped the MVP
I designed parallel flows that aligned around one interaction model, giving artists, fans, and venues a cohesive experience.
A scalable mobile pattern library
I defined reusable patterns for navigation, scheduling, profiles, calendars, and communication to accelerate engineering.
Role-based onboarding
I created entry points tailored to artists, fans, and venues so each group could get value immediately.
Event and booking workflows
To support artists and venues, I shaped a structured system for availability, requests, messaging, and payments.
Mobile-first discovery for fans
I designed a flexible experience for browsing events, exploring music, and connecting with favorites.
Sarah Vieweg, Stakeholder
“Jen is an astute, highly perceptive collaborator who cares deeply about users, how they interact with a product, and in ensuring that tasks or goals are accomplished in a seamless and straightforward manner.
In addition, she pays close attention to various factors that impact design; from accessibility to ally-ship, Jen is a thoughtful and insightful partner. I have greatly enjoyed working with her, I have learned so much throughout our collaboration, and would welcome a chance to work with her in the future.”
Ryan Nikolich, Stakeholder
“Jen is a thoughtful, considerate product owner with amazing design chops. She took a rudimentary wireframe app idea and brought it to life. This complex mobile and web application that she worked on was in partnership with some of today’s “A-List” country music stars who loved her work.
Jen is a business thinker who took our primary design considerations to a whole new level. She is a compassionate logical thinker, leader, and team player. Jen is a MUST have asset on every project team.”
Outcomes
The prototype anchored Yodl’s pitch to investors and helped secure seed funding for development.
The UX patterns gave the engineering team a clear foundation and accelerated the MVP build.
User testing confirmed the unified design helped simplify a complex ecosystem and supported early adoption.
Stakeholders credited the design process for aligning the vision and turning years of ideas into a clear, actionable product path.
Reflection
This project reinforced how vital clarity and prioritization are when designing early stage apps. By simplifying the ecosystem and creating patterns that could scale, the team gained the confidence and structure needed to launch quickly and learn from real users.