A creator-first live streaming platform built from scratch — going live in under 3 taps.
Overview
JV Live (Just Vibing Entertainment) is a creator-first live streaming platform built for musicians, comedians, fashion influencers, and hobbyists. Designed from 0→1 with 100+ high-fidelity screens covering real-time broadcasting, virtual gifting, audience interaction, and a full social layer that keeps communities engaged between broadcasts.
Role
Solo UX/UI Designer: designed 100+ hi-fi screens, interactive prototypes, and developer handoff specs for a creator-first mobile live streaming platform.
Duration
1–3 months
Team
Solo designer, collaborated with developers
Deliverables
100+ high-fidelity screens, interactive prototypes, developer handoff specs
Tech Stack
The Problem
Content creators — musicians, comedians, fashion influencers, hobbyists — lacked a dedicated mobile platform that combined live streaming with social community features. Existing apps either prioritized passive video consumption (short-form feeds) or treated live streaming as a secondary feature buried inside a larger ecosystem.
Creators needed a space where going live was the main event, not an afterthought. They wanted tools for real-time audience interaction, monetization through virtual gifting, and a social layer that kept communities engaged between broadcasts.
Design a full-featured mobile app from scratch that makes it effortless for creators to broadcast, build an audience, and earn — while giving viewers a rich, engaging experience that keeps them coming back.
Research & Discovery
Without formal user research resources, I leaned on competitive analysis and close collaboration with stakeholders who had deep knowledge of the creator economy.
Competitive Landscape
I audited live streaming features across TikTok, Instagram Live, Twitch, and BIGO Live to identify patterns and gaps.
Key Insights That Shaped the Design
Ideation & Design Decisions
Information Architecture
I structured the app around five core tabs — Feed, Home, Create (+), Chats, Profile — with the "Create" action anchored at the center of the navigation bar using a distinctive pink icon. This placement ensures content creation is always one tap away, reinforcing the platform's creator-first philosophy.
The Home screen uses a layered content hierarchy: live user avatars at the top (social proximity), a Spotlight carousel (editorial curation), Top Lives (trending), and Browse by Category (intentional discovery). I also designed empty states for when no lives are active, gracefully falling back to category browsing so the experience never feels dead.
Onboarding & Authentication
The registration flow is a multi-step process with a progress bar to reduce abandonment: email → OTP verification → password creation (with real-time strength feedback) → interest selection → personal details → success. Each step is a single, focused screen to reduce cognitive load.
I designed three parallel auth paths — email/password, social login (Facebook, Google, Apple), and the full registration flow — along with a complete forgot-password recovery journey. A cancel registration modal with a warning ensures users don't lose progress accidentally.
Content Creation Pipeline
The Create Post flow supports three modes — Video, Photo, and LIVE — accessible via a shared camera interface with a bottom toggle. For video, I designed duration presets (15s, 30s, 60s), AR filters, flash toggle, front/rear camera switching, and a full post-recording editing flow: trim video, edit cover image, add sounds (searchable by mood: Happy, Funny, Playful, Sad, Dramatic), select a category, add hashtags, and set privacy (Everyone vs. Only You).
Every destructive action has a confirmation modal — discarding a video, discarding a photo — to prevent accidental content loss.
The Live Streaming Experience
This was the most complex design challenge. I designed the live experience from both perspectives.
Multi-person rooms scale from 2 to 6 participants with adaptive grid layouts — this required careful attention to how video tiles resize and reflow as participants join.
Feed & Social Layer
The Feed tab uses a vertical, full-screen swipe format (similar to TikTok/Reels) with tabs for Spotlight, LIVE, For You, and Following. Each post displays engagement actions on the right rail — heart (with count), comment, mute, and share. The share sheet includes both in-app contacts and external platforms (Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, TikTok, Copy Link).
Comments support threaded replies and inline liking. Post management gives creators access to Save, Edit, Privacy, and Delete via a "More" action sheet, with delete requiring confirmation.
Profiles & Social Features
I designed two profile variants: self-view (with Edit Profile and Share Profile CTAs) and other-user view (with Follow/Following toggle and Message CTA). The profile header features a cover photo, avatar, and stats (Posts, Followers, Following), with content filterable by tabs: All Posts, Videos, Photos, and LIVE.
The Edit Profile flow breaks each field into its own dedicated screen (Name, Birthday, Gender, Address, Email, Phone, Language, Bio, Connected Accounts) for focused editing on mobile. From another user's profile, the three-dot menu surfaces Block User and Report User flows — both with confirmation modals. Blocking shows a clear "This account is blocked" state.
Messaging
The chat system includes an inbox with message previews, unread indicators, and swipe actions (mute, block, delete). I designed flows for sending a first message (search for users, distinguish between "Following" and "People You May Know"), replying to existing conversations, and all management actions with their respective confirmation modals.
Trust, Safety & System States
Throughout the app, I prioritized user safety and clear communication.
Final Design & Visual Language
The visual system uses a dark theme as its foundation — a natural choice for a media-heavy app where content needs to be the focal point.
Typography is bold and uppercase for screen titles, creating clear visual hierarchy. The bottom navigation uses an icon-plus-label pattern with the central "Create" button elevated and styled distinctively in pink.
unique screens covering onboarding, authentication, home, feed, search, content creation (video + photo + LIVE), live streaming (viewer + streamer + rooms), profiles, messaging, notifications, settings, and system states.
Results & Impact
This project is currently in the development handoff phase and has not yet launched publicly. However, the design work achieved several important milestones.
Retrospective & Learnings
Tools & Technologies