CASE STUDY
Helping users quickly find reliable resources in moments of immediate need.
ROLE
Designer
COMPANY
Snap Inc.
TIMELINE
2 Weeks
YEAR
2024
A quick look at the final experience
OVERVIEW
As one of two designers on a cross-functional team, I worked on the onboarding, filtering, and resource detail flows, collaborating closely with engineers to ensure everything was feasible within a two week timeline.
Snap Design Academy cohort 2024
THE PROBLEM
People needed support they could find instantly and trust without second guessing.
Which led us to ask…
How might we help users quickly find reliable resources and feel supported within their community?
INSIGHTS
Our conversation with Alex Zablocki shifted our perspective. I went in thinking about features. I came out thinking about urgency.
Research synthesis and stakeholder insights
FINDINGS
01
Ephemeral
Snapchat's ephemeral quality limits lasting impact — we needed a reliable, enduring feature.
02
Lack of access
Gaps in essential resources like Wi-Fi and food highlight the need for extensive access.
03
Paycheck away
Severe financial instability means users need immediate support — not navigation steps.
04
Connection
Users need community and resources together — they need to feel they're building toward something.
THE BREAKDOWN
We initially planned to build SafeHaven inside Snapchat's Community tab. It felt like a natural fit. But feedback from Snap executives was clear: most team members hadn't heard of the Community tab. If insiders didn't know it existed, users in crisis certainly wouldn't find it.
Initial concept - Community tab
Why it didn't work:
Low user awareness — even Snap staff didn't know it
Too many steps to access in a moment of crisis
Buried inside profile page — too hidden
Improved concept - Map tab
Why this works better:
One of the most-used surfaces in Snapchat
Location is already the context — zero extra navigation
Resources immediately visible on the map
This shift changed the experience
From something users had to search for to something they could act on immediately.
SOLUTION
I worked closely with our engineers daily — sharing Figma frames, testing interactions, and working as a team to make scope calls when needed.
Defining how users navigate and access resources
Translating the solution into a clear, usable interface
A simple and supportive flow designed to help users quickly understand the feature, filter resources, and access relevant information.
FLOW 1
Onboarding
Users get introduced to SafeHaven and where the feature lives
FLOW 2
Resource Filtering
Users can then filter through essential resources
FLOW 1
Filtered Result
Users are provided with information on filtered result.
OUTCOME
SafeHaven was presented at Snapchat’s Final Showcase to an audience of over 250 attendees, including Snap executives, team members, and community partners.
The project showed how small structural changes to familiar surfaces can make support feel immediate and usable in real moments.
Snap Academies FInal Showcase 2024
Snap Design Academy Cohort at Final Showcase
REFLECTION
What I'll carry from this project isn't any single screen, it's what I learned about working across disciplines under real constraints.
This project reshaped how I think about visibility and how small structural decisions impact access and trust. Working across design and engineering showed me how much collaboration shapes whether an idea actually ships.
