Designing a real-time marketplace for instant, location-based tasks
Year
2024
Role
Lead Product Designer
Team
Myself + Founders + Developers
Timeline
3-4 weeks
Platform
Mobile App (iOS & Android)
Overview
Quik is a two-sided marketplace app designed to connect users with local taskers in real time. Unlike traditional platforms, Quik introduces “instant tasks”: time-sensitive jobs matched based on live location and urgency.
I was initially brought in to review early designs. Following my feedback, the founders engaged me to redesign the product end-to-end within a tight timeframe.
I owned the full product design process, including UX flows, system logic, UI design, and component creation, transforming an incomplete and inconsistent product into a structured, scalable experience.
The Context
The initial product had been partially designed and developed, but lacked clarity and cohesion.
Key issues included:
• Onboarding that failed to explain the product’s core value
• No clear distinction between posters and taskers
• Incomplete and inconsistent user flows
• Overly simplified account setup for a complex product
• Poor discoverability of tasks and users
• Limited filtering and sorting functionality
• Missing critical information across task and profile views
The app introduced a strong concept, but the experience didn’t support it.
Clarifying the Opportunity
At its core, Quik is a complex system:
• A two-sided marketplace (posters + taskers)
• Supporting both real-time and scheduled tasks
• Dependent on location, urgency, and trust
• Requiring payments, verification, and profiles
Without clear structure, this complexity quickly becomes overwhelming.
The opportunity was to:
• Bring clarity to how the system works
• Make roles, actions and flows intuitive
• Prioritise key interactions
• And focus design effort where it would have the greatest impact
Structuring the Product
Designing for Dual Roles
One of the most important decisions was supporting dual-mode users.
Unlike competitors, Quik allows users to both:
• Post tasks
• And complete tasks
This removes friction and increases engagement; users don’t need separate accounts or workflows.
To support this, I:
• Introduced clear mode switching between Poster and Tasker
• Designed distinct home experiences for each role
• Used colour-coded UI systems to reinforce context
• Ensured users could easily switch modes at any time
This created clarity within a flexible system.
Making Instant Tasks Work
“Instant tasks” were the product’s key differentiator — but initially underdeveloped.
An instant task is:
• Time-sensitive
• Location-based
• Designed for immediate completion
For example:
“Clean my house before guests arrive – within 2 hours.”
Designing for this introduced new challenges:
• Communicating urgency
• Prioritising visibility
• Supporting real-time location awareness
• Managing time constraints during and after acceptance
To address this, I:
• Prioritised instant tasks within feeds and maps
• Introduced timers to communicate urgency and expiry
• Strengthened map-based interactions for proximity
• Created a distinct visual identity for instant tasks
The goal was to make these tasks feel immediate, actionable, and valuable for both sides of the marketplace.
Designing Core Flows
Given the complexity, I mapped and restructured all key user flows, including:
For Posters:
• Posting a task (instant vs flexible, pricing, location, preferences)
• Reviewing and managing offers
• Tracking active tasks
• Discovering and favouriting taskers
For Taskers:
• Browsing and filtering tasks
• Viewing instant opportunities nearby
• Submitting offers
• Managing active and completed tasks
• Building profile and trust
Simplifying Task Creation
The original “post a task” flow was overwhelming; all inputs on a single screen, yet still incomplete.
I redesigned this into a multi-step flow, allowing users to focus on one input at a time.
Key improvements included:
• Clear separation of task type (instant vs flexible)
• Structured inputs for pricing (hourly vs total)
• Category selection for better matching
• File uploads for clarity
• Preferences (skills, language, requirements)
This reduced cognitive load while improving data quality.
Improving Discovery & Matching
To support a marketplace, discovery needed to be significantly improved.
I introduced:
• Advanced sorting (price, distance, time remaining, etc.)
• Category-based filtering
• Personalised recommendations
• Favourites for both tasks and taskers
• Dedicated search functionality based on user mode
This transformed browsing from a static list into a flexible, user-driven experience.
Fixing Onboarding & Activation
The original onboarding failed to prepare users for the product.
I reworked it to:
• Clearly explain the two roles and how the app works
• Introduce key features early
• Avoid overwhelming users upfront
Given the amount of required account information (verification, payments, profiles),
I also:
• Deferred complexity
• Introduced progress tracking (“3 steps to go”)
• Encouraged completion over time
• Reinforced progress with positive feedback
This balanced simplicity with necessary depth.
Key Design Decisions
Colour as System
To reduce cognitive load, I introduced a colour-coded system:
• Poster mode: Lavender
• Tasker mode: Lime
• Instant tasks: Watermelon
This allowed users to quickly understand context and state, particularly when switching roles.
Focused Prioritisation
Given the tight timeline, I made deliberate trade-offs.
I prioritised:
• Core flows (posting tasks, submitting offers)
• Home experiences
• Navigation and structure
• Onboarding and activation
And intentionally limited scope on:
• Messaging functionality
• Earnings calculator
• Map/list redesign (beyond improving filters)
This ensured the most critical parts of the product were resolved first.
Constraints
This project was shaped by several constraints:
• A highly compressed timeline (3–4 weeks)
• Inherited, inconsistent design files
• Limited budget
• No development QA within scope
As a result, some areas, such as deeper onboarding education and payment transparency, were identified but not fully explored.
Outcome
The final outcome was a complete product redesign, including:
• End-to-end UX flows
• Full UI system and components
• Structured, scalable design logic
• Developer-ready files with annotations
The founders approved the full direction and moved forward with development.
While the product has not yet launched in its intended form, the redesign established a clear, functional foundation for the platform.
Reflection
This project reinforced the importance of structure in complex product systems.
Marketplace platforms require careful balance: between flexibility and clarity, speed and trust, simplicity and depth. Without clear flows and hierarchy, even strong ideas struggle to translate into usable products.
Designing within a tight timeframe also required strong prioritisation. Leveraging familiar UI patterns allowed for speed, while focusing innovation on key differentiators ensured the product retained its uniqueness.
If taken further, I would prioritise:
• User testing to validate assumptions
• Deeper onboarding to explain real-time mechanics and payments
• Additional support and education layers to build trust
Designing for real-time systems highlighted the importance of immediacy, clarity and feedback, particularly when users are making quick decisions based on location and time.
Design System
Theodore Hamalis
Co-founder, Quik App
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