In a small town in El Salvador called Zona Rosa best-known commercial and cultural districts but visitors often arrive to closed shops, outdated hours, or scattered information across social pages and word of mouth. Tourists get frustrated, local businesses miss out on foot traffic, and there’s no single, reliable place to discover what’s open right now or what events are coming up.
In a small town in El Salvador called Zona Rosa best-known commercial and cultural districts but visitors often arrive to closed shops, outdated hours, or scattered information across social pages and word of mouth. Tourists get frustrated, local businesses miss out on foot traffic, and there’s no single, reliable place to discover what’s open right now or what events are coming up.
In a small town in El Salvador called Zona Rosa best-known commercial and cultural districts but visitors often arrive to closed shops, outdated hours, or scattered information across social pages and word of mouth. Tourists get frustrated, local businesses miss out on foot traffic, and there’s no single, reliable place to discover what’s open right now or what events are coming up.
This project set out to design a solution that works for both sides: travelers who need trustworthy, up-to-date info and merchants who need easier ways to be found, update hours, and promote offers.
This project set out to design a solution that works for both sides: travelers who need trustworthy, up-to-date info and merchants who need easier ways to be found, update hours, and promote offers.
This project set out to design a solution that works for both sides: travelers who need trustworthy, up-to-date info and merchants who need easier ways to be found, update hours, and promote offers.
Shops and night life and Tourists in Zona Rosa.
Shops and night life and Tourists in Zona Rosa.
Shops and night life and Tourists in Zona Rosa.
User research and testing | heuristic evaluations | Lead UX/UI designer | Usability Testing | information architecture
User research and testing | heuristic evaluations | Lead UX/UI designer | Usability Testing | information architecture
User research and testing | heuristic evaluations | Lead UX/UI designer | Usability Testing | information architecture
6 months
6 months
4 product designers.
4 product designers.
Where we began
Where we began
Where we began
Project Overview
Made for
Made for
Team
My responsabilities
Timeline
Despite being one of San Salvador’s most vibrant cultural corridors, Zona Rosa lacks a reliable way to communicate what’s open, when, and where. Business hours shift, pop-ups come and go, and information is scattered across Google entries, social posts, and word of mouth often outdated by the time visitors arrive. What should be an effortless night out too often becomes trial and error.
Despite being one of San Salvador’s most vibrant cultural corridors, Zona Rosa lacks a reliable way to communicate what’s open, when, and where. Business hours shift, pop-ups come and go, and information is scattered across Google entries, social posts, and word of mouth often outdated by the time visitors arrive. What should be an effortless night out too often becomes trial and error.
Basic activities checking if a café is open, finding tonight’s live music, or confirming a shop’s hours were surprisingly hard to do. Tourists arrived to closed doors; locals got frustrated; small businesses lost foot traffic simply because no central, trustworthy source existed.
Basic activities checking if a café is open, finding tonight’s live music, or confirming a shop’s hours were surprisingly hard to do. Tourists arrived to closed doors; locals got frustrated; small businesses lost foot traffic simply because no central, trustworthy source existed.
Main Challenge
Context & Challenge
Context & Challenge
Context & Challenge
How can we help people discover what’s nearby (food, shops, nightlife, culture) and help merchants be found by the right audience?
1
1
How can we help people discover what’s nearby (food, shops, nightlife, culture) and help merchants be found by the right audience?
How can we design a solution that helps visitors confidently explore Zona Rosa while giving shops control over their information?
2
2
How can we design a solution that helps visitors confidently explore Zona Rosa while giving shops control over their information?
How can we design an experience that encourages visitors to explore and give merchants meaningful visibility that translates into real foot traffic?
3
3
How can we design an experience that encourages visitors to explore and give merchants meaningful visibility that translates into real foot traffic?
Core Questions
Design Thinking
Empathize
Empathize
Desk Research
Desk Research
Define main problem
Define main problem
Wireframes and app flows
Wireframes and app flows
Wireframes and app flows
Responsive site for visitors and shops.
Responsive site for visitors and shops.
Test users and Businesses navigation
Feeback
Functional prototype
Functional prototype
Final usability testing
Feedback
Brainstorming
Brainstorming
Brainstorming
Proposed Info Architecture
Proposed Info Architecture
Proposed Info Architecture
Sketch dual user flows
Sketch dual user flows
Sketch dual user flows
Brainstorm features
Brainstorm features
Brainstorm features
Key insights
Key insights
User behavior
User behavior
Shadow visits
Shadow visits
Field observations
Field observations
User research
User research
Define
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Prototype
Test
Test
Reframing the Challenge
Reframing the Challenge
Design Process
Design Process
Design Process
Reframing the Challenge
Reframing the Challenge
Design Thinking
How can we design an experience that encourages visitors to explore and give merchants meaningful visibility that translates into real foot traffic?
3
How can we design a solution that helps visitors confidently explore Zona Rosa while giving shops control over their information?
2
How can we help people discover what’s nearby (food, shops, nightlife, culture) and help merchants be found by the right audience?
1
Information Architecture
Building the structure
Building the structure
Finding their needs
Finding their needs
Pain points and needs
Understanding the pain points of both tourists and businesses became our blueprint. We translated every need accurate hours, clear categories, visibility, filters into the information architecture so nothing important lived “off to the side.”
Understanding the pain points of both tourists and businesses became our blueprint. We translated every need accurate hours, clear categories, visibility, filters into the information architecture so nothing important lived “off to the side.”
When we set out to design a solution that worked for both visitors and businesses, we first mapped everything each side needed and used those shared requirements to build the platform’s information architecture.
When we set out to design a solution that worked for both visitors and businesses, we first mapped everything each side needed and used those shared requirements to build the platform’s information architecture.
UI
Designing the UI
Designing the UI
Great design starts with thoughtful wireframes.
Great design starts with thoughtful wireframes.
With the information architecture set and wireframes validated, designing the UI came naturally. We added character while honoring Zona Rosa’s existing visual cues preserving its recognizable colors and core features so the experience felt both new and familiar.
With the information architecture set and wireframes validated, designing the UI came naturally. We added character while honoring Zona Rosa’s existing visual cues preserving its recognizable colors and core features so the experience felt both new and familiar.
Wireframing
Wireframing came next as a crucial step in laying the foundation and an intuitive user experience.
We focused on creating each wireframe to simplify each each screen for the information, creating a logical flow between screens. The architecture information helped us map layout the wireframes for the best journey, ensuring that key actions were easy to find and required as few steps as possible.
This stage helped us to test and refine the structure before moving into building the UI.
Wireframing came next as a crucial step in laying the foundation and an intuitive user experience.
We focused on creating each wireframe to simplify each each screen for the information, creating a logical flow between screens. The architecture information helped us map layout the wireframes for the best journey, ensuring that key actions were easy to find and required as few steps as possible.
This stage helped us to test and refine the structure before moving into building the UI.
For the past four years, I’ve worked across B2B and B2C projects, uncovering user needs and translating them into practical solutions using Design Thinking.
Information Architecture
Building the structure
Finding their needs
Pain points and needs
Understanding the pain points of both tourists and businesses became our blueprint. We translated every need accurate hours, clear categories, visibility, filters into the information architecture so nothing important lived “off to the side.”
Understanding the pain points of both tourists and businesses became our blueprint. We translated every need accurate hours, clear categories, visibility, filters into the information architecture so nothing important lived “off to the side.”
When we set out to design a solution that worked for both visitors and businesses, we first mapped everything each side needed and used those shared requirements to build the platform’s information architecture.
Designing the UI
Great design starts with thoughtful wireframes.
With the information architecture set and wireframes validated, designing the UI came naturally. We added character while honoring Zona Rosa’s existing visual cues preserving its recognizable colors and core features so the experience felt both new and familiar.
Wireframing
Wireframing came next as a crucial step in laying the foundation and an intuitive user experience.
We focused on creating each wireframe to simplify each each screen for the information, creating a logical flow between screens. The architecture information helped us map layout the wireframes for the best journey, ensuring that key actions were easy to find and required as few steps as possible.
This stage helped us to test and refine the structure before moving into building the UI.
UI
For the past four years, I’ve worked across B2B and B2C projects, uncovering user needs and translating them into practical solutions using Design Thinking.
