SOS Dance

Helping enhance the online dance experience of the startup growing fast

SOS is a franchise dance school dedicated to empowering individuals through the art of dance. The business model is straightforward: Headquarters' choreographers craft routines inspired by popular songs, performed by professional dancers. These routines are then taught to BOSSES (instructors), who lead in-person classes for QUEENS (students).

Role

Lead Product Designer

Date & Duration

Nov 2024 - Apr 2025
5 months

Tools Used

Figma
Maze
Google Forms

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The business problem

"Develop a platform that enables our business to begin collecting booking fees, marking the first step towards achieving profitability."

The Process

I had the opportunity to work on this project end-to-end—tight timelines and an even tighter budget made it a real challenge, but also incredibly rewarding. I managed the product from the ground up: defining the MVP scope, leading the research and design phases, prepping the Jira board for development, and guiding the build all the way through to rollout.

We started with more questions than answers, so the research phase was all about closing those knowledge gaps. We focused on truly understanding our users—through interviews, workshops, and even usability testing on Eventbrite to uncover broader insights. Mapping out the customer journey helped us visualize the experience and identify pain points, which naturally led us into the design phase.

I took a lean approach to design: prototype → test → iterate → repeat. A few focused rounds helped us uncover the essential features and map them against our available development time. In the end, we had a robust MVP ready to go—built with real user needs in mind and shaped by rapid, thoughtful iteration.

UX Methods used

Boss & Queen Interviews
Service Design
Journey Mapping
Workshop Facilitation
User Flow Mapping

UX Methods used

On-going Feedback (Surveys)
Wireframing & Prototyping
High-fidelity UI Design
User Story Creation

Research Examples

A new UI

To give the product the foundations to grow, we built a design system focusing on the UI kit. We know it will evolve, and there will be two very distinct arms of the system that need to align: the marketing pages, fun and full of inspiration, and the booking system, functional, clutter-free, and with a touch of delight. Both need to grow from the same foundation.

Optimised homepage

After reviewing GA data, we saw the homepage had a decent click-through rate. But mapping the journey revealed most visitors already understood the product well. In interviews with “fresh customers,” many felt the homepage lacked the energy of a real class and struggled to find the “Book Now” CTA. The new designs start to address this and bring the brand to life.

New Booking System

To help SOS Dance grow, we found moving off Eventbrite was essential. It wasn’t built for our users' needs, making admin tasks difficult and missing key basics. After research and testing with BOSSES (teachers), we refined the problem and defined MVP user stories. The result? Excited users!

New Booking System

On the customer side, we wanted to make booking as easy as possible. The main pain points were having to enter details every time and difficulty understanding key information. The first step toward personalization was giving users their own hub. From there, we can start tailoring their experience in the future.

Additional features

With the Hub redesign, we integrated Stripe, built dynamic choreographer bios and routine players using Storyblok, and added social and passwordless login to enhance the experience. As with any integration, there was significant UX work to understand user flows.

"This project exceeded our expectations. Your calm, steady leadership ensured we met the deadline and delivered a product that truly delighted our users."

CEO: Bonnie Lister Parsons