Bestie
A mobile app that gives young women practical tools to feel safer in nightlife — built around lived experience, not lectures.
- Year
- 2025
- Role
- Concept · UX · Research
- Category
- UX Design · Inclusive Design · Safety
Context
The project was born from a personal experience as a bartender at Mahane Yehuda market — daily exposure to the dynamics of nightlife. These spaces tend to be characterized by hyper-masculinity, alcohol, density, and dim lighting — combinations that quietly blur the line between consent and discomfort.
The concept asks: how can design help young women recognise the moment when a boundary is being crossed — and equip them with the tools to respond, restate that boundary, and reclaim their sense of safety and control? Developed as my final B.Des project under the mentorship of Yifat Kinan.
Process
- 01
Research at the source: observations, mapping, surveys, and in-bar interventions. A community of 40 women aged 17–40 took an active role in the process — sharing experiences, giving feedback, voting on design decisions, and testing prototype features.
- 02
User journey: mapping the full arc of a night out — getting dressed at home, the entrance, the moment of an unwanted approach, the way home — identifying app opportunities at every stage.
- 03
Design language: a visual world drawn from nightlife culture — combining a timeless aesthetic with iconic Y2K influences reinterpreted for today’s young audience. Accessible, recognisable, never infantilising.
Outcome
Bestie — an app for women and girls aged 16–33. Features include real-time push notifications, a quick-access widget for the moment of need, and direct emergency contacts. The goal: pull the user out of a “victim” identity, return a sense of control, and offer practical tools through fun, step-by-step practice.
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