I scrapped it, and I pivoted!

I scrapped the swipe-card style layout. For those who've been following along, you know I've been building an app and sharing pieces of the journey. UI has been a big focus for me, especially because so many local apps fall short in this area.

I wanted to do something "different": a swipe-based UI that felt fresh and unique in the problem space. Great in theory, view poll → interact → swipe, but in reality? It demanded too much from the user. Too much to learn. Too much to figure out. Too much friction.

It felt like I was using the wrong tool for the job. "It worked", but it didn't feel right. It would take too much mental effort to function.

So I scrapped it.

What started as an attempt to bridge the Caribbean data gap is now evolving into something more like a social platform:

• User profiles
• Commenting, liking, sharing
• Content creation
• Personalized, interest-driven feeds

So I pivoted.

What I have now looks familiar, and that's exactly why it works.

Good UX isn't always about breaking patterns. It's about understanding them. Familiar experiences lower the barrier to entry, speed up onboarding, and allow users to focus on what actually matters. No user manual necessary.

And this is what it means to iterate quickly. Not holding on too tightly to a design, but being willing to let it go when it's not serving the user.

Lesson learned: different doesn't always mean better.