Flikshop
(ongoing until May 2025)
Flikshop opens a conversations around the stigmatized topic of incarceration, and provides real support to those who are often overlooked.
I am redesigning the Flikshop app and website to make connections between incarcerated people, their families, and their community more seamless.
When I found out I could work on this project, I jumped at the opportunity. The Flikshop story is genuinely inspiring. The founder, Marcus Bullock, was sentenced to eight years in prison at just 15 years old. During that dark time, his mother sent him photos and letters to remind him that people on the outside loved him and were waiting for him.
After his release, Marcus created Flikshop to support his community. Flikshop has become a cornerstone for reentry support, bridging gaps between families and their incarcerated loved ones.
The problem
Despite widespread publicity and support from backers like John Legend, the Flikshop has experienced a low adoption rate among its target users. To understand why, I conducted research to learn whether to find more users or make sure the current users know about everything the app offers.
The outcome
I redesigned Flikshop app and website with a seamless user flow that allows exploration of all Flikshop services while creating a cohesive design system.
Role
UX Researcher
UX designer
Team manager
Methodology
Agile
Product
App & website
Time
Aug '24 - May '25
Team
6 members
What is Flikshop?
Flikshop started as an app helping people connect with incarcerated loved ones by sending personalized postcards with photos and messages directly from their phones.
It has since expanded into three main services:
Postcard delivery
Flikshop allows people to send photos, postcards, and albums to incarcerated family members and loved ones.
School of business
Former incarcerated people can sign up for business classes that helps them gain skills to launch startup, build enterprises, or advance your career.
Neighborhood
Businesses that want to support reentry for formerly incarcerated people can find information and connect with them through Flikshop Neighborhood.
Flikshop Impact
Source: Forbes.com
Marcus' TedTalk has over 1.8 million views on Ted.com
John Legend leads a roundtable with Marcus and other entrepreneur, FastCompany
“…it’s the only way for you to know that someone loves you on the other side of that fence.”
Marcus Bullock on getting mail in prison
My Role
As the team manager, I handled all aspects of planning, including setting objectives, creating timelines, and ensuring alignment with Flikshop's goals, while organizing and leading team meetings.
I facilitated meetings with all stakeholders, collaborating to define a project scope that balanced the client’s needs, our timeline, and the expectations of the hiring organization, ensuring change management adoption.
I crafted survey and interview questions, participated in user interviews, and analyzed the data.
During the ideation phase, I sketched potential solutions, and created both low- and high-fidelity prototypes.
I also facilitated multiple client meetings—walking them through our progress and aligning next steps. In other team meetings, I clarified the technical questions and ran demo sessions.
Minimum Viable Product
Each service is introduced in a different screen
One of the main solutions we incorporated was introducing an overview of Flikshop's services in the beginning of user journey,
Once users create an account, each service is introduced on a dedicated page, guiding them to the features they want to explore.
Services are accessible through the main app button
In Home Page, we designed a single app button that allows access to all three services, and an introductory tutorial directs users to the information and services they need.
Homepage presents news and stats for the user
Based on user needs, we incorporated relevant news and user statistics in Home page. This strengthens user connection, highlights the founder’s story, while showcasing the platform’s impact.
Project Schedule
Sprint 1
Understanding the Problem and User Research
Sprint 2
Project Definition and Design Ideation
Sprint 3
Design Iteration and Prototype Development
Sprint 4
Usability Testing and Design Improvements
Sprint 5
Packaging for Development and Documentation
Starting Sprint 1
The client came to us with a question:
I want more people to use the app
To figure out where to focus, we first needed to identify the biggest growth opportunity—either by attracting new users or improving engagement with existing ones. Since we had limited access to Flikshop users for direct interviews, we took a bottom-up approach, starting with data analysis to determine whether expanding the user group would be a viable growth strategy.
Sprint 1 :
Should we expand the user group, or focus on the current one?
Research
Methodologies
To decide whether Flikshop should expand its target audience, we used these research methods:
Competitive Analysis (8 competitors)
Flikshop’s landscape relative to competitors to identify growth opportunities.
Surveys (28 respondents)
Evaluate two potential user groups (Military families and Elderly people)for expansion.
Surveys questions, competitive analysis and results
Key Findings
& Next steps
After analyzing the research results, I found that there isn’t currently a market for Flikshop among military families and elderly people, as they have more access to digital platforms than expected. Additionally, the competitive analysis highlighted what sets Flikshop apart from its competitors and revealed where its potential lies. Based on these findings, we were confident about our next steps:
Focus on the current user group, making sure their core needs are fully addressed.
Shift marketing toward brand storytelling, highlighting the client’s unique story, customer testimonials, and the idea of “connecting loved ones”.
Modernize UX and UI to create an iconic, recognizable design.
Enhance onboarding, accessibility, and visual design for a more inclusive, user-friendly experience.
Starting Sprint 2:
Based on our research, the next step was to improve user engagement with the app. After analyzing the company’s user engagement metrics, we found that users weren’t interacting with the other services pages. To address this, we brainstormed multiple solutions and ultimately chose the most effective one:
Sprint 2 :
How can we introduce each service in the application?
Ideation
With all our findings in hand, we started the ideation phase, and every team member contributed.
1. Brainstorming
During a mapping session, we identified the company’s challenges and brainstormed “how might we” questions. Together with the client, we then voted on the top priorities to guide Flikshop’s focus.
2. Setting the Focus
Once the priorities were clear, we knew exactly what to tackle.
4. Sketching
I sketched multiple ideas and explored my favorites ones by using the Crazy 8 method.
4. Prioritizing
We presented each idea to the client and held a final vote to choose the best solution.
Final decision
Best sketched solutions
Here are the key ideas we chose. Each offer new ways to improve the app experience.
Seperated screens for different services like a carousel
Sections clearly show each service's audience and intended purpose.
News box area that rotates and shows recent news
Live Product
Prototyping
For app
Based on the selected ideas, we designed a new version of the app. Refining user flows, integrating fresh features, and enhancing the overall user experience in line with our findings.
Each service is introduced in a different screen
I designed an onboarding carousel to introduce users to the app’s services. Since the product supports reentry at different stages, it was important to ensure users understood the full range of available support, regardless of their primary need when using the app for the first time.
Services are accessible through the main app button
Switching between services should feel as natural as possible for users, so I placed the button in the center for easy access, allowing them to navigate between services quickly.
Homepage presents news and stats for the user
Design System
Since this project spans three platforms—app, desktop, and mobile web—I built the design system alongside the process to make sure all interfaces look consistent. The goal was to create a seamless experience, that allows users to easily find information as they use each platforms.
Designing the navigation bar
I designed three distinct navigation bars using the app’s main color palette to maintain cohesion while differentiating them visually. Since the current app primarily uses orange for Flikshop Postcard, I kept it unchanged and used purple for the two new services.
User Testing
Goals
After designing our minimum viable product I conducted user testing to gather data about how users feel about the following:
Overall Aesthetic – Ensuring a clean, engaging look.
Instant Transition – Making switching between platforms feel seamless.
Guided Onboarding – Improving clarity and ease of use.
User Interests at Sign-Up – Tailoring the experience based on whether users want to send mail, explore the
Neighborhood Datahub, or join the School of Business.
Results
We conducted a small usability test with 3 individuals including the client. We was looking to test clarity, completion and comprehension of the different features. Here are their feedbacks:
• Users enjoyed the guided tutorials explaining the functions
• Text and button size should be bigger for easier reading
• Reduce clutter on the home screen
“I really like the idea of getting a user acquainted with the app at first as well as using the intuitive platform switcher!”
Pilot Study Participant
Next Steps
for Sprint 3 & 4
• User testing sessions with employees and current Flikshop users
• Redesigning the app and changing one of the main services based on client request
• Taking the approved user flow and design assets and applying it to the Flikshop website.
Retrospective
Half way there…
We first explored expanding the user group, but a better approach would have been to assess whether the app fully meets current users' needs. This would have provided a stronger foundation for growth decisions.
Since we needed to design three user journeys for 3 different services, due to time constraints, we chose to test one design instead of conducting A/B testing.
Explain technical terms to your client to avoid confusion and unnecessary emails.
If real users aren’t available, use employees or “trained” users as stand-ins.
End each discussion by repeating the conclusion or next steps to stay aligned with your client.