Emberglow
Project Overview
Emberglow was created as a COVID-19 lockdown project. It was aimed at creating a marketplace for Atlanta-based black-owned businesses.
Status
Complete
Role
Owner/Designer/Developer
Skills
Interface Design | UI/UX Designer | No-Code Tools | Brand Design
Year
2020
Problem Statement
During this time there was a strong desire amongst Atlanta residents and the internet at large to support black-owned businesses. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic as it disproportionately impacted black-owned businesses. Between February and April 2020, black business ownership dropped by 40%.
Challenges
Creating a scalable architecture that can support newly-added businesses, products, and customers.
Ensuring the objective of ordering products is a frictionless experience.
Discover Phase
The process began with researching the Atlanta culture, and gaining insights into the challenges faced by black-owned businesses in the area.
A crucial aspect of the Discover Process was fostering strong partnerships with local activists, community leaders, and business owners themselves. Their feedback and involvement in the development journey ensured that Emberglow truly addressed the community's needs while respecting the diversity and richness of Atlanta's black-owned business landscape.
As Emberglow evolved through multiple iterations and user testing, I fine-tuned its features, making it a seamless experience for both businesses and supporters. The final result was a revolutionary app that fostered a sense of community and empowerment, amplifying the voices of black-owned businesses in Atlanta and providing a powerful platform for customers and activists to contribute to positive change.
Defining
During the discover phase, the community let me know that there were a few specific problems that they were hoping Emberglow could resolve.
Visibility of black-owned businesses is not as strong as other national or international businesses. The platform must be affordable for them, while ensuring their visibility and discoverability.
COVID has drastically reduced income and profits for these businesses, so maximizing their income through the app is paramount.
Design Phase
I knew the app had to put these businesses first and foremost. In doing so, I had the app focus on 3 main features:
Home: This tab was dedicated to highlighting specific ad spots, as well as highlighting a Business of the Week each week. Then to trending businesses across the app.
Businesses: This tab providing users with a list of all Atlanta businesses in the app, with the ability to filter them by type of businesses.
Shop: This tab is where businesses could post their own products to the problem.
Post-Release
Emberglow saw moderate success as a small-scale app with a very specific niche, tied to a specific geographical community. After a year on the market we had:
762 users
With 316 users using the app on a monthly basis.
133 businesses listed
Ranging from real estate agents, attorneys, restaurants, and clothing.
204 products sold
By connecting users directly to the businesses, we brought over $9,233.24 to 5 businesses that had their products listed within the app. Totaling $1,846 on average for each business.
Takeaways
Emberglow was my first application listed on the iOS App Store and from ideation to release took around 1 month. While the app is no longer live, largely in part due to the geographic limitations and inability to expand nationwide, I do consider the app a success. Providing nearly $10,000 to 5 local businesses, with an untold number of customers to the remaining 128 businesses listed in the app, Emberglow was successful in it's initial goal: Connecting customers and activists with Atlanta-based black-owned businesses during a time of precedented economic hardship to those business owners.