I co-founded Fika, designing and scaling the end-to-end product experience. After the pandemic, remote work made it harder for creatives to find community. Many professionals felt creatively drained from their day jobs, while city newcomers struggled to build meaningful connections.
Fika, a Swedish ritual for taking a break over a cup of coffee with another individual, was born as a solution—an application that helps creatives easily connect over coffee chats for collaboration, networking, and inspiration.
Team
Jamie Haberman (Co-Design) , Will Berman (Growth)
Timeline
6 months
Skills
Product Design, Project Management, Development, Hiring
Problem
"I'm looking for new experiences, collaborations, connections, and opportunities."
Henry DaCosta
Director
"[I'm excited to] have a creative community to share ideas and explore art with in the city."
Owen Davies
Photographer, Brand Strategist
"I want to improve my graphic design skills. I'd love to chat about my sources of inspiration, creative practices, tips and tricks"
Kiya Kim
Multidisciplinary artist
"I'm looking for potential collaborators in a new creative agency endeavor, with a strong interest in sharing knowledge and brainstorming ideas."
From our findings, I shaped our core problem statement.
How might we enable creatives to connect with one another in person?
What if we launch a tool that introduces creatives over coffee to find meaningful connection, collaboration partners, and new gigs?
Branding
Jamie and I crafted a brand identity that felt warm, inviting, and community-driven, mirroring the essence of grabbing coffee with a fellow creative at a cafe. The brand was fundamental to shape to influence the product experience and social media assets.
To validate interest, we launched a landing page where creatives could sign up to meet others in person. We hypothesized value props and abstracted our product to see if users were interested in the experience. Within the first 3 weeks, we saw ~200 creatives sign up, ranging from directors, graphic designers, and product designers.
