Sanctuary, a modern astrology app, is known for its user-friendly interface and playful, conversational tone, making it a favorite among younger audiences seeking spiritual guidance through daily horoscopes and live readings.

My Responsibilities (Sole Product Designer):

• Developed and maintained a design-system across iOS, Android, web and branding materials.

• Research & Analysis

• User Flows & Mid-Fi Designs

• UI/UX Design

• Engineering Collaboration

• Quality Assurance Testing (QA)

Results:

• 4,000% YOY growth of Instagram followers to ~1M in a year 😱

• 4x Apple’s 'App of the Day' recognition

• Featured in the NY Times, WSJ, Vogue, Time, and more.

• Partnerships with Urban Outfitters, Soho House, and Bumble… and more.

Improving Sanctuary’s Live Astrology Reading experience to reduce friction for users, live readers, and the internal team.

Reducing friction for users, live readers, and internal team.

SANCTUARY ASTROLOGY OVERVIEW

Sanctuary, a modern astrology app, is known for its user-friendly interface and playful, conversational tone, making it a favorite among younger audiences seeking spiritual guidance through daily horoscopes and live readings.

As the sole Product Designer and Art Director, I created tools for our team, including comprehensive brand guidelines, illustration styles, and cross-platform design systems, enabling rapid iterations and ensuring consistency across print, digital… and beyond!

Sections:

1. Summary

2. Research

3. Ideation

4. Design

5. Testing
   

See:
• Challenges
• Process
• Learnings

SUMMARY

Sanctuary’s free horoscopes drove impressive downloads and daily active users, but we needed to integrate paid, live readings as a key revenue generator.

A prime, time-sensitive partnership with NYC’s Transit Wi-Fi ignited urgency for our Engineers to deliver an MVP of the Readings platform. Adopting a 'launch swiftly, learn faster' approach, we used one of the world’s largest cities as our testing ground to refine this pivotal feature.

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CHALLENGES & CONSTRAINTS

1. Everything in the app was a chatbot, making it unclear when you were speaking to a live person.

2. Limited UX involvement with our release (me: 😱), as our concern was with it functioning first, refining it with learnings after launch.

3. Engineering was heads down ensuring connections were properly working in the simplest form and developing their MVP with the design components on hand.
   (ie. App > Users click “Free Reading > ZenDesk > Alerts Live Astrologer > Activates Live Chat)

PROBLEM

Users were unclear that readings were 15 minutes long, involved chatting with a live astrologer, and required a consistent Wi-Fi connection. This confusion led to frequent disconnections, frustrated astrologers, and a high volume of refund requests.

FAST RESEARCH

ZenDesk was filled with qualitative and quantitative data, sitting alongside the VP of Opps, I watched as she user tested a live reading as a new user to the platform (providing me with screenshots). Together, we reviewed ZenDesk data, analyzed user refund request emails, and gathered astrologer feedback to identify what users needed to know and what astrologers required to maximize the 15-minute reading experience.

FAST IDEATION NOTES

What do users need and what do Astrologers need to stop the influx of refund requests?

Astrologers: What are common questions users would have questions on who are new to astrology?

• Love

• Career

• Life Path

• Major Transits

• Other

IDEATION, USER FLOWS & MID-FI DESIGNS

Taking this info, I went directly into exploring the user flow and where and when Users and Astrologers needed the required information. Using the component library I had built and previous screens we had created, we went more swiftly to design than iterations to show the team:

1. Design “Does this work to solve X? And is the UX writing correct?”

2. Team Feedback & Revisions

3. Email Shipped to Product Manager x Eng Team for implementation

This is how we went about plugging holes in the flow the entire day, with the Eng Team really delivering swiftly. By the end of the week, we had designs implemented that defined our Readings Tab for the remainder of its existence – which was really impressive.

LEARNINGS

1. Working with a collaborative team to put out fires was really energizing and proved successful.

2. The overall metrics for people engaging with reading and recurring readings went up, while refund requests went down.

3. We learned that we needed a new UX Design for when a queue built up during reading spikes and Astrologers were engaged in other readings (good problem to have)

NEXT STEPS

1. Refining design elements with the Eng Team to close “Readings” looking their best.

2. Touching base with team that nothing was missing to improve the Reading Experience for both Users or Astrologers.

ART DIRECTION

The art direction is a nod to the nostalgic nightlife scene of the 70s as well as the perfectly imperfectness of everyday life, but through a Figlia lens — all the glam, without the regrets.

WEB DESIGN

RoAndCo designed a digital experience that was a reflection of the brand's distinct vibe: sophisticated yet playful, inviting, and informative. This unique website highlights the product as well as the founder’s story, creating an intimate web experience.