Insider Vibes
Insider Vibes
Insider Vibes
0 to 50,000 paying users in one month
0 to 50,000 paying users in one month
Tools: Figma · After Effects · Protopie · Rive · CleverTap
Tools: Figma · After Effects · Protopie · Rive · CleverTap
50,000+
50,000+
paying users
in month one
paying users
in month one
62%
62%
Return rate
achieved
Return rate
achieved
1
1
Design system
from scracth
Design system
from scracth
The Problem
The Problem
The Problem
I'd been at Paytm about a year when the company acquired a small events business; one built entirely for physical events. Paytm Insider sold tickets to things that happened offline. Concerts, comedy, festivals. Then COVID hit and there was nothing offline.
Within weeks that looked less like an acquisition and more like a liability. The brief came down fast: pivot to digital, or watch it sink.
What we built wasn't a video product. It was a social platform; rooms you join, people you talk to, experience levels you earn, polls you vote in, a profile that says something about you. Clubhouse and Google Meet had each solved half of it. Nobody had solved both.
I'd been at Paytm about a year when the company acquired a small events business; one built entirely for physical events. Paytm Insider sold tickets to things that happened offline. Concerts, comedy, festivals. Then COVID hit and there was nothing offline.
Within weeks that looked less like an acquisition and more like a liability. The brief came down fast: pivot to digital, or watch it sink.
What we built wasn't a video product. It was a social platform; rooms you join, people you talk to, experience levels you earn, polls you vote in, a profile that says something about you. Clubhouse and Google Meet had each solved half of it. Nobody had solved both.
I'd been at Paytm about a year when the company acquired a small events business; one built entirely for physical events. Paytm Insider sold tickets to things that happened offline. Concerts, comedy, festivals. Then COVID hit and there was nothing offline.
Within weeks that looked less like an acquisition and more like a liability. The brief came down fast: pivot to digital, or watch it sink.
What we built wasn't a video product. It was a social platform; rooms you join, people you talk to, experience levels you earn, polls you vote in, a profile that says something about you. Clubhouse and Google Meet had each solved half of it. Nobody had solved both.
Research
Research
Research
1
I went properly through Clubhouse and Google Meet; not a feature checklist, an actual teardown across five dimensions: audio-first versus video, exclusivity and invitations, community building, moderation tooling, and monetisation. Each had something the other didn't.
I went properly through Clubhouse and Google Meet; not a feature checklist, an actual teardown across five dimensions: audio-first versus video, exclusivity and invitations, community building, moderation tooling, and monetisation. Each had something the other didn't.
I went properly through Clubhouse and Google Meet; not a feature checklist, an actual teardown across five dimensions: audio-first versus video, exclusivity and invitations, community building, moderation tooling, and monetisation. Each had something the other didn't.
2
Then user interviews on how people actually attend events, and what changes about that expectation when the event is online. Before any screens, we mapped a value stream. What the product needed to do, and specifically what a user was accomplishing when they came back a second time. I took that to the business and we argued until the design value stream and the business needs actually lined up.
Then user interviews on how people actually attend events, and what changes about that expectation when the event is online. Before any screens, we mapped a value stream. What the product needed to do, and specifically what a user was accomplishing when they came back a second time. I took that to the business and we argued until the design value stream and the business needs actually lined up.
Then user interviews on how people actually attend events, and what changes about that expectation when the event is online. Before any screens, we mapped a value stream. What the product needed to do, and specifically what a user was accomplishing when they came back a second time. I took that to the business and we argued until the design value stream and the business needs actually lined up.
Understanding the users
Understanding the users
Understanding the users
Most platforms design for the third and bolt on tooling for the first two. We designed all three properly, because a community with weak moderation isn't a community for very long.
Most platforms design for the third and bolt on tooling for the first two. We designed all three properly, because a community with weak moderation isn't a community for very long.
Most platforms design for the third and bolt on tooling for the first two. We designed all three properly, because a community with weak moderation isn't a community for very long.
Three roles, and they needed genuinely different products inside the same product:
Three roles, and they needed genuinely different products inside the same product:
Admin
Create rooms, manage users, oversee content, set rules.
Create rooms, manage users, oversee content, set rules.
Create rooms, manage users, oversee content, set rules.
Moderators
Support admins, monitor discussions, de-escalate conflict, report upward.
Support admins, monitor discussions, de-escalate conflict, report upward.
Support admins, monitor discussions, de-escalate conflict, report upward.
Participants
Participate, follow rules, build the community, personalise their profile.
Participate, follow rules, build the community, personalise their profile.
Participate, follow rules, build the community, personalise their profile.
The decision
The decision
The decision
I built the design system plug-and-play from day one, knowing it would slow us down at the start.
I built the design system plug-and-play from day one, knowing it would slow us down at the start.
I built the design system plug-and-play from day one, knowing it would slow us down at the start.
DECISION TAKEN
DECISION TAKEN
The instinct and a fair amount of pressure said ship something now. But I had no idea what this product would need to be by month three, and neither did anyone else. A system built only for what we knew that week would have needed tearing up the moment we found out.
The instinct and a fair amount of pressure said ship something now. But I had no idea what this product would need to be by month three, and neither did anyone else. A system built only for what we knew that week would have needed tearing up the moment we found out.
The instinct and a fair amount of pressure said ship something now. But I had no idea what this product would need to be by month three, and neither did anyone else. A system built only for what we knew that week would have needed tearing up the moment we found out.
WHAT HAPPENED
WHAT HAPPENED
So: tokens, accessibility rules, motion guidelines, separate UI kits per device class, real documentation. Then Storybook, working directly with engineering so a Figma file could become a screen without becoming a negotiation.
We were right to. Mid-build, engineering moved from Angular to React. I called it a small hiccup at the time. It was not a small hiccup. But the system bent instead of breaking, which was the whole bet.
So: tokens, accessibility rules, motion guidelines, separate UI kits per device class, real documentation. Then Storybook, working directly with engineering so a Figma file could become a screen without becoming a negotiation.
We were right to. Mid-build, engineering moved from Angular to React. I called it a small hiccup at the time. It was not a small hiccup. But the system bent instead of breaking, which was the whole bet.
So: tokens, accessibility rules, motion guidelines, separate UI kits per device class, real documentation. Then Storybook, working directly with engineering so a Figma file could become a screen without becoming a negotiation.
We were right to. Mid-build, engineering moved from Angular to React. I called it a small hiccup at the time. It was not a small hiccup. But the system bent instead of breaking, which was the whole bet.
What I still like
What I still like
What I still like
The expanding Panel
The expanding Panel
The bottom half is information-dense and some users want to live in it. Rather than a separate view, the top half shrinks as you scroll so the bottom can breathe. Small thing. Removes a whole navigation step.
The bottom half is information-dense and some users want to live in it. Rather than a separate view, the top half shrinks as you scroll so the bottom can breathe. Small thing. Removes a whole navigation step.
The bottom half is information-dense and some users want to live in it. Rather than a separate view, the top half shrinks as you scroll so the bottom can breathe. Small thing. Removes a whole navigation step.
Polls
Polls
A bottom sheet on mobile, an unobtrusive box in the top-right on desktop. Polls should interrupt you just enough to answer and not enough to lose your place in the conversation.
A bottom sheet on mobile, an unobtrusive box in the top-right on desktop. Polls should interrupt you just enough to answer and not enough to lose your place in the conversation.
A bottom sheet on mobile, an unobtrusive box in the top-right on desktop. Polls should interrupt you just enough to answer and not enough to lose your place in the conversation.
The result
The result
The result
50,000+
50,000+
paying users
in month one
paying users
in month one
62%
62%
Return rate
achieved
Return rate
achieved
That second number is the one that matters. Those weren't people showing up for one event and vanishing. They came for the event and stayed for what surrounded it. Which is what saved the pivot
That second number is the one that matters. Those weren't people showing up for one event and vanishing. They came for the event and stayed for what surrounded it. Which is what saved the pivot
That second number is the one that matters. Those weren't people showing up for one event and vanishing. They came for the event and stayed for what surrounded it. Which is what saved the pivot
NOTE FROM FUTURE SAMARTH
NOTE FROM FUTURE SAMARTH
I'd push harder on moderation tooling now. We designed the three roles properly, but I gave admins and moderators the least polished screens because joinees were the volume. In a community product, the people holding it together deserve the best interface, not the leftover one.
I'd push harder on moderation tooling now. We designed the three roles properly, but I gave admins and moderators the least polished screens because joinees were the volume. In a community product, the people holding it together deserve the best interface, not the leftover one.
I'd push harder on moderation tooling now. We designed the three roles properly, but I gave admins and moderators the least polished screens because joinees were the volume. In a community product, the people holding it together deserve the best interface, not the leftover one.
Always up for a conversation about UX, design systems or AI-native tooling
Always up for a conversation about UX, design systems or AI-native tooling
Always up for a conversation about UX, design systems or AI-native tooling
© 2026 Samarth Nayyar