case study

TapIn

UX Design | UX Strategy | Research | Brand & Product Partner

TapIn is a hardware-enabled platform that allows users to unlock personalized digital experiences with a simple phone tap, no apps, logins, kiosks, or powered hardware required.

As TapIn gained early traction, the company needed to evolve from a promising product into a scalable, cohesive platform that could clearly communicate value across customers, partners, and investors.

Over a focused 3-month engagement, we led UX, product strategy, brand alignment, and go-to-market design to transform TapIn from a feature-driven product into a unified experience ecosystem.

project goals

The Challenge

TapIn faced several common early-stage startup challenges:

  • The technology was powerful, but difficult for first-time users to immediately understand
  • Messaging varied across audiences
  • The website explained features, but not value
  • Product, marketing, sales, and brand lacked a unified narrative
  • Content and social storytelling lacked consistency and experiential clarity

The goal wasn’t simply to redesign a website, it was to create alignment between product, story, and experience.

Objectives

  • Clarify TapIn’s value proposition across industries
  • Rebuild TapIn.me into a conversion-focused platform
  • Create scalable storytelling systems across web, video, social, and sales
  • Establish foundational brand guidelines for long-term consistency

Our Role

We acted as UX designers, strategists, researchers, and brand partners across:

  • Product UX & experience design
  • Website architecture and design
  • Messaging and positioning
  • Content and video strategy
  • Brand system development
  • Sales and investor communications

Key Workstreams

Product & Experience Design

We reframed TapIn from a technology product into a moment-based experience platform.

UX Principles

  • Design around real-world behavior
  • Reduce friction and cognitive load
  • Communicate value within seconds

Outcomes:

  • Defined the core experience model:
    Tap → Experience → Action
  • Designed customer, business, and partner flows
  • Connected physical TapIn placement to digital outcomes

SEO & Web Content Architecture

We approached SEO as a UX challenge focused on discoverability and clarity.

Work Included

  • Rewriting site content using search-informed language
  • Developing industry-specific keyword structures
  • Creating scalable page architecture
  • Improving accessibility, metadata, and content hierarchy

Result:
TapIn.me became both a marketing platform and a long-term content engine.

“How It Works” Video System

Because Tapin is best understood through experience, we designed a scalable video storytelling system.

Audience-Specific Videos


  • Hospitality
  • Retail
  • Rentals
  • Small Businesses
  • Partners & Integrators

Each video followed a consistent framework:

  • The problem
  • The tap moment
  • The digital experience
  • The outcome

The system was designed for web, social, sales, and partner conversations.

Swag & Physical Brand Experience

We treated swag as an extension of the product experience, not just promotional merchandise.

Approach

  • Researched items people actually keep and reuse
  • Designed minimal, functional products
  • Reinforced TapIn’s simple, human-centered philosophy

Result:
Branded items that acted as conversation starters and product education tools.

Sales & Investor Communications

We developed separate communication systems for customers and investors.

Customer Messaging

Focused on:

  • Ease of use
  • Real-world outcomes
  • Simplicity

Investor Messaging

Focused on:

  • Market opportunity
  • Scalability
  • Defensibility
  • Vision

Both systems aligned under one consistent brand narrative.

Brand Guidelines

To support long-term scalability, we created a lightweight but enforceable brand system.

Included

  • Brand voice & tone
  • Messaging hierarchy
  • Visual standards
  • Video & content guidelines
  • Application across web, decks, social, and swag

This ensured consistency across every touchpoint as TapIn continued to grow.

Results (3 Months)

A unified product and brand narrative

Check.

A conversion-focused website experience

Check.

Scalable content and video systems

Check.

SEO-ready content architecture

Check.

Aligned customer and investor communications

Check.

A cohesive, experience-driven brand foundation

Check.

Most importantly, TapIn evolved from a product into a platform people could immediately understand.

Interested in building a cohesive product + brand ecosystem like this?

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