Water Street Market
A community-centered app designed to enhance local discovery and connection.
Project Overview
Water Street Market is a European-inspired shopping village in New Paltz, NY, known for its independently owned shops and strong sense of community. Despite its charm and loyal following, the market struggled with limited digital visibility, leading to overlooked businesses and missed opportunities for engagement.
Our goal was to design an app that would increase online presence, strengthen shopper-business connections, and improve the overall visitor experience.
Challenge
While Water Street Market offers a variety of shops, services, and dining experiences, many visitors are unaware of everything it has to offer.
We asked: How can we help users better navigate the space, discover local gems, and engage with shop owners—digitally?
We asked: How can we help users better navigate the space, discover local gems, and engage with shop owners—digitally?
The app would serve as a:
Directory of shops and services
Platform for exclusive deals and reviews
Tool for wayfinding and community-building
Key Features
Real-time updates from shop owners
Customizable store profiles with reviews and promos
Shared user experiences (comments, feedback, favorites)
Interactive market map for easier navigation
My Role
As Project Manager, I oversaw the user experience from research through delivery. My contributions included:
• Organizing and analyzing research (personas, affinity diagrams, card sorts)
• Conducting user testing and synthesizing findings
• Designing interface elements in Figma
• Choosing typefaces, refining color palettes, and building the opening screen collage
• Collaborating with the team on layout, UX hierarchy, and screens
User Research
Personas
Each team member developed a persona based on user frustrations and goals, which helped us define user needs ranging from navigation ease to communication preferences.
User Flowchart
We created a comprehensive user flowchart outlining how visitors would move through the app, from browsing shops to redeeming promotions. This ensured each interaction felt purposeful and intuitive.
For a more in depth view, check out our case study!
Affinity Diagram
Using an affinity diagram, we grouped major user concerns and opportunities.
Card Sort
A card sort helped us organize app content into screens and informed the app’s navigation structure.
Information Architecture
We defined the structure of each screen, focusing on clarity, consistency, and intuitive access to shop information, maps, and updates.
Design Evolution
My Initial Design
Each team member proposed a design direction. My approach leaned into warmth and visual storytelling, favoring an organic feel with light textures and inviting colors.
First Group Design
Our first team design prioritized:
• An organic color palette with tasteful accents
• Simple layouts for easy browsing
• Tools for feedback, ordering, and social connection between users and shop owners
Second Group Design
Working with Kim Blum and Claire Riis, we revisited the app a year later to modernize the visuals. We:
• Switched to cleaner typefaces
• Refined the color system
• Simplified the interface for a more contemporary, polished feel
Design System
We created a design system to ensure consistency across screens, including:
• Color palette & accessibility standards
• Typography hierarchy
• Button states & icons
• Component variations
In future iterations, I aim to expand this into a full component library for streamlined development.
Deliverables
• A clickable prototype (see below)
• UX documentation including research synthesis, flowcharts, and diagrams
• Fully designed app screens for testing and presentation
Main Takeaways and Future Goals
The Water Street Market app brings digital visibility to a beloved physical space. By connecting small business owners with their community through a thoughtfully designed interface, it supports both economic growth and personal connection.
Next goals:
• Add a walkable interactive map that mimics a real-time market experience
• Build a receipt and promo history for users
• Develop a fully functional component library in Figma for future design handoffs
This project strengthened my leadership in UX strategy while reinforcing the power of design to connect people to place.
