Folks. The real way.

A city discovery platform designed to connect people with the most authentic side of their city through local businesses, community and editorial storytelling.​​​​​​​
Client
LCI Barcelona (Final Degree Project)
Year
2023
Stack
Figma
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Ilustrator
A more human way to discover cities
Most discovery platforms are built around popularity, algorithms and mass reviews.
Folks explored a different direction.

The project was designed as a more emotional and community-driven way to discover cities through authentic local businesses, cultural recommendations and the people behind them.

Instead of treating places as simple listings, the goal was to create a platform that felt more human, editorial and connected to the identity of each city.
The real way.
The visual identity was designed to give maximum protagonism to the businesses, places and people featured across the platform.
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The combination of editorial typography, monochromatic interfaces and photography-driven layouts helped create a more emotional and timeless aesthetic.
Onboarding
Personalising discovery from the beginning
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The onboarding experience was designed to personalise discovery without creating unnecessary friction.

Instead of forcing users through a rigid setup process, the onboarding remained lightweight and optional, allowing users to immediately explore the platform while gradually shaping their experience through interests, behaviours and preferences.
Home
Designing discovery around curiosity
The home experience was designed around exploration rather than search efficiency alone.

Instead of overwhelming users with dense information, the interface progressively revealed more detailed recommendations based on the user’s interests, behaviour and familiarity with the city.

Photography and atmosphere played a central role in the experience, helping discovery feel more emotional and immersive than traditional marketplace platforms.
Search
Flexible and personalised exploration
The search experience combined structured navigation with more flexible forms of discovery.

Users could explore businesses through categories, locations and curated suggestions while also using tags, keywords and recent searches to create a more personalised experience.

The goal was to make exploration feel fluid, intuitive and adapted to different ways of discovering a city.
Lists
Community-driven discovery

Lists were designed as more than a bookmarking feature.

The goal was to encourage users to curate and share meaningful collections of places based on personal taste, interests and experiences.
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Tags
Community-driven discovery

Tags added a more flexible way to categorise businesses while making discovery feel more organic and community-driven.

Together, these systems transformed exploration into a more collaborative and culturally connected experience.
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Reviews & Ratings
Prioritising trust and authenticity
The review system was designed around transparency and credibility.

Instead of treating reviews as anonymous opinions, the platform connected feedback to real purchases and experiences, helping users better understand the context behind each recommendation.

The goal was to create a more trustworthy and valuable review ecosystem focused on quality rather than quantity.
User profiles
Bringing personality into the platform
User profiles were designed to make the platform feel more human and socially connected.

Beyond basic information, profiles included interests, recommendations and personal details that encouraged users to express their personality and connect through shared tastes and experiences.

The intention was to create a stronger sense of community while making interactions between users feel more natural and authentic.
Web Experience
Expanding the ecosystem beyond the app
Alongside the mobile experience, the project also explored how the web could expand the platform into a broader digital ecosystem.

The website acted not only as a gateway to the app, but also as a space for editorial content, curated discovery and business tools that benefited from a larger and more flexible format.

The goal was to create a connected experience where product, content and community could coexist naturally.
Editorial & Stories
Editorial storytelling as part of the product

One of the most important parts of the ecosystem was the editorial layer of the brand.

The platform introduced interviews, documentaries and long-form stories focused on the people behind local businesses, transforming the experience from a utility product into a more cultural and emotional platform.

This approach helped strengthen the identity of the brand while building a deeper connection between users, businesses and the city itself.
Social Media
Building a brand beyond the product
The social media strategy was designed as an extension of the platform rather than a separate marketing channel.

Instead of focusing only on promotion, the content aimed to build a stronger emotional connection between the brand, local businesses and the community behind them.

The strategy combined product-focused content, curated recommendations and editorial storytelling to create a more cultural and human experience around the platform.

This approach helped transform Folks from a simple discovery app into a living ecosystem shaped by people, stories and local culture.
Final thoughts

Looking back, Folks was probably the first project where I stopped thinking only about interfaces and started thinking about systems, emotions and the people behind digital experiences.
More than designing an app, it became an exploration of how technology could feel more human, cultural and connected to real life.

Sergi