Couldn’t find event details
Basic event info was buried in the navigation. Users had to hunt for what should have been obvious.
2023 · Mobile · Research led
Building trust into a high-value booking experience
Slove is a startup connecting musicians with venues for live event bookings. The original booking experience was a single, vague step: pay now, figure out the details later. No information on equipment, timing, or responsibilities. Users didn’t trust it enough to commit.
60% → 100%Task success
+15%Conversion rate
-18%Abandonment rate
+25%User confidence
My role
Lead Product Designer. Owned the full cycle from discovery calls and card sorting through to IA, prototyping, usability testing, and delivery. Shipped in 3 months.
- Lead designer
- User research
- Information architecture
- Usability testing
- Visual design
What the research surfaced
Hesitated to pay
Without upfront equipment needs, timing, or responsibilities, paying felt like a leap of faith.
Transparency > speed
Users consistently preferred a longer, clearer process over a quick one-click payment.
The insight
Every UX principle says fewer steps, less friction. The research said the opposite: more clarity, more trust, more conversions.
This became the guiding principle. I didn’t try to make the booking faster. I made it more transparent.
Round 1 — swipe > scroll navigation
Swiping felt too much like a dating app. Scroll + dark mode gave a more professional feel.
swipe · scroll
Round 2 — “likelihood” → “match %”
Made cards fully clickable, reduced info density, and rewrote confusing booking probability copy.
before · after
Round 3 — added credibility signals to profiles
Venue profiles felt unreliable. Added proof of played gigs, upcoming events, and social links.
no proof · now feels legit
No reviews · No history · No socials
adding proof
4.8(243)
0gigs played
3upcoming
Socials
feels unreliable
A deliberate trade-off
Booking time went up. Everything else went up too.
The new flow takes almost twice as long. But task success, confidence, and conversion all improved because users finally understood what they were agreeing to before hitting “pay.”
60% → 100%Task success rate
+15% conversion rate · -18% abandonment rate · +25% user confidence.
Reflection
When the research contradicts the playbook, trust the research. Conventional UX said “simplify.” The data said, “Be transparent.” Adding steps built the trust that a single payment screen never could.
This was the project that taught me to trust the research over the obvious answer. If you’re designing for trust in a high-stakes flow, payments, bookings, anywhere people hesitate before committing, I’d love to compare notes.
natalia.wlwsk@gmail.com →