This week, we’re diving into one of the most crucial steps in UX/UI design—user personas—and some major tech choices for building this wedding planning platform.
User Personas: Who Are We Designing For?
A wedding planning platform needs to cater to multiple users, each with their own unique needs. Here are the key personas we’re keeping in mind:
Understanding these personas ensures that our design isn’t just functional but empathetic to the different user journeys.
Icons Matter: Why I Chose Tabler 🎨
A good UX isn’t just about functionality—it’s about clarity. That’s why I am using Tabler Icons:
✔ Clean, lightweight, and easy to scale.
✔ Helps differentiate between rituals, budgeting, and planning tools at a glance.
✔ Bonus: They just look great! Aesthetics matter, especially for a wedding app.
Our Approach: Build, Test, Iterate 🔄
Rather than spending months perfecting a system before launch, we’re taking the agile approach:
Build a lean version of the platform.
Release it to an initial test group (brides/grooms currently planning their wedding).
Gather feedback, iterate, and enhance usability before full launch.
This avoids the common trap of overengineering too soon—real users will tell us what they actually need!
Partnering with a Software Engineer (aka My Husband 👩💻❤️👨💻)
A project of this scale needs a solid development team. Luckily, I have an in-house software engineer (read: my husband) who shares my vision for designing this the right way, rather than taking shortcuts.
Our shared goal:
Build a sustainable platform.
Ensure that UX/UI is a priority, not an afterthought.
Avoid hacky fixes that cause technical debt later.
We’re in this for the long game.
React vs. React Native: The Showdown 🥊
A major question when building a product is: What’s the right tech stack?
We debated between using Material 3 (for web) vs. React Native (for mobile-first design). After much deliberation:
We’re starting with Material 3 because our initial user base will likely access the platform via desktop (hello, spreadsheet superusers!).
React Native is on our radar for the mobile version once we validate core features.
This ensures we don’t overbuild too soon—we iterate, we learn, we grow.
How AI Fits into the Future 🤖
While we’re focused on the first launch, we’re already thinking ahead:
Predicting Costs: AI models could help couples estimate wedding expenses based on location, vendor pricing, and wedding size.
Automating Scheduling: Imagine an AI-powered timeline generator that adapts to family rituals and guest availability.
Smart Planning Suggestions: AI could surface reminders and insights based on past weddings.
While these features won’t be in version 1.0, they’re definitely on our radar.