Uptime App
Uptime transforms books, courses, and documentaries into 5-minute Knowledge Hacks. I worked on designing user flows and content layouts that boosted engagement, creating space for both readers and creators to connect more meaningfully with the platform.
Problem
Without visible creator profiles, Uptime had a trust and connection gap:
Readers couldn’t see who made the content or easily find more from voices they liked.Creators couldn’t establish a personal brand or grow an audience within the app.
This created a “one‑and‑done” usage pattern — readers would consume a hack and leave, with no pathway to deeper connection, and creators had little motivation to contribute consistently.
Design a feature that makes authorship visible and interactive, enabling readers to discover, trust, and follow creators they value, while giving creators the tools to curate their profile, showcase expertise, and grow an audience — all without disrupting Uptime’s clean, minimalist reading experience.
USER PERSONAS:
Reader Harry
USER PERSONAS:
Creator Leila
We had two main personas we needed to design a solution for:
"As a reader, I want to learn more about the creators of the bite-sized book hacks so I can trust their insights and follow voices I resonate with."
Reader | Age: 34 | Job: Startup founder
Needs: Curated content from experts; wants to follow thinkers with startup insights.
Pain Points: Doesn't know who made the summaries or if they're credible. Finds it hard to find creators similar to the ones he’s interested in and often forgets which hacks he’s read & the creators he’s interested in.
"As a creator, I want to curate my own profile and share my story and content, so I can build a following and establish my reputation."
Creator | Age: 28 | Job: Psychologist and wellness coach
Needs: Platform to share her book insights and gain a following, attract people to her page and her tips on the industry. Has more than 1 book and wants users to have more visibility on what she produces.
Pain Points: No visibility into her own impact or a way to build reputation on Uptime.
Problem
Without visible creator profiles, Uptime had a trust and connection gap:
Readers couldn’t see who made the content or easily find more from voices they liked.Creators couldn’t establish a personal brand or grow an audience within the app.
This created a “one‑and‑done” usage pattern — readers would consume a hack and leave, with no pathway to deeper connection, and creators had little motivation to contribute consistently.
Design a feature that makes authorship visible and interactive, enabling readers to discover, trust, and follow creators they value, while giving creators the tools to curate their profile, showcase expertise, and grow an audience — all without disrupting Uptime’s clean, minimalist reading experience.
UNDERSTANDING:
Mapping the journeys of both readers and creators revealed that authorship visibility and connection pathways were missing from the current experience.
For readers like Harry the solution needed clear entry points into profiles, a scannable and trustworthy layout, and frictionless follow/bookmark interactions to foster repeat engagement. The emotional flow revealed that interest and excitement peaked when they encountered credible, relatable creators, but without an easy way to explore more from those voices, engagement dropped off. This highlighted the need for clear, consistent profile entry points, trust signals such as bios and credentials, and frictionless follow/bookmark actions to keep readers coming back.
For creators like Leila, it needed to make profile setup quick and rewarding, enable easy content curation, and show audience growth signals to sustain motivation. The journey showed an initial motivation spike when given the opportunity to create a profile, sustained by seeing their best work pinned and audience numbers grow. To maintain that momentum, the design needed to make profile creation quick and rewarding, enable content curation, and surface follower growth metrics to encourage ongoing contributions.
By addressing these gaps, Creator Profiles become the bridge between content and community — helping Uptime shift from a one‑time learning tool to a social, habit‑forming product.
Why creator profiles?
We mapped the full experience from discovering content to coming back for more. The biggest opportunities we found were moments where trust and connection could grow: spotting a creator card, reading a short bio, seeing relevant tags, or getting a follow‑up notification. For creators, the key moments were setting up a profile, pinning their best work, and seeing their audience grow. These insights shaped the design: make profiles easy to find, quick to scan, and simple to follow — with room for future features like a personalised “From creators you follow” feed and basic analytics.
Visualise the emotional journey
The journey insights were translated into low‑fidelity wireframes, enabling rapid exploration of solutions before committing to visuals. Key flows included integrating creator cards directly into summaries, designing profile layouts with top content and tags above the fold, and adding follow and bookmark controls that feel instant and lightweight. These wireframes helped test the balance between added discovery features and Uptime’s minimalist reading experience, ensuring new elements felt native rather than bolted on.
Wireframes
Since launch, Creator Profiles have helped Uptime build stronger connections between readers and creators:
+28% increase in returning users week‑over‑week
+35% more summaries read per session from users who follow creators
+42% more creators publishing multiple summaries each month
Average of 1.8 creators followed per engaged reader
Profiles have turned casual users into repeat visitors, and given creators the visibility and motivation to keep producing high‑quality content.
Impact
