Glitter

A web app member hub for user and city block data for real-time insights and user interaction, dynamically powered by a single source of truth database.

Role

Product Manager

Timeline

April 2024 – September 2025

Team

Product Manager/Designer, CEO, Founder

Glitter is a social impact cleaning service based in Philadelphia. They facilitate neighbor-funded cleanups for their city blocks, hiring and paying a living wage to cleaners who often have barriers to work. This case study provides an abbreviated overview of the designing the web app member hub.

Key Outcomes

  • Created a single source of truth for data across 1,000+ users and city blocks

  • Launched a dynamic, on-brand web app member hub with real-time visibility

  • Streamlined subscriptions and eliminated multi step manual workflows

  • Built scalable foundation for future grant-funded initiative work

Design Context
Designing for Integration and Scale

How could Glitter design an accessible, on-brand experience for users that could be built on top of and in step with Airtable data? As a lean startup, Glitter needed a tool that was: cost effective without the need for custom development, could be managed entirely in-house, and provided an out of the box solution without a steep learning curve. After considering multiple options, Softr proved to be the best solution.

Design Strategy

User Flow Mapping and Wireframing

Created initial user flows and wireframes in Figma to map the user journey

Low-Fidelity Prototyping

Transitioned Figma prototypes into Softr's editor, iterating on design to accommodate functionality and data considerations

High-Fidelity Design

Designed polished dynamic and static templatized mockups that would scale to 1,000+ city blocks in Glitter’s database

Advanced Customization

Extended Softr's out-of-the-box capabilities with custom HTML/CSS and window.record lookups

Designing for an on Brand Experience

Glitter already had an established brand guide, created by Smith & Diction. Designing the web app required working within Softr’s native static and dynamic div block structures while incorporating custom elements such as Adobe Fonts. The goal was to deliver a seamless, cohesive brand experience across the web app.

Key Feature:
Dynamic page templates

How Might we build trust and increase visibility while streamlining onboarding for new city blocks and users?

Previously, Glitter relied on a manual, time-consuming workflow that made scaling difficult. Each new city block or user required hand-creating fundraising pages, uploading images, and manually adjusting contribution amounts, slowing onboarding and limiting visibility for end users.

We designed a scalable page template that dynamically pulls data across 1,000+ city blocks in Glitter's database, conditionally displaying block details, funding contributions, and cleaning status to improve transparency and accelerate onboarding.

Before: Static Pledge Pages

  • Manual updates required for each block, no real-time data

After: Dynamic Page Templates

  • Real-time data, conditional visibility, permission-based access

What we've dubbed "public view" of a block's page, and really, a higher level view of Glitter's offerings
Conditional view for an already established user.
Surfacing Grant funded block funding contributions.
Collaboration and Impact
Designing at scale required collaboration across teams, stakeholders, and users

This work was shaped through close collaboration with internal stakeholders, operations, and external stakeholder partners. Input from cleaners, user interviews, and the Softr team directly informed design decisions, ensuring the solution worked in real-world workflows, not just in theory.

Internal Stakeholder alligment

Partnered closely with leadership to align on vision, goals, and constraints. Through ongoing prioritization and trade-offs, design decisions balanced business needs with scalability and long-term maintainability.

Operational and cleaner feedback

Collaborated with operations and cleaners to understand on-the-ground workflows and constraints. Their input surfaced edge cases and operational realities that directly shaped data visibility, content hierarchy, and system design.

User research and validation

Facilitated user interviews with leadership and synthesized insights to surface trust signals, clarity gaps, and onboarding friction. Research findings and ongoing feedback informed product and design decisions, balancing user needs with technical and data constraints.

Platform and partner collaboration

Worked directly with the Softr team to navigate platform constraints and capabilities. These discussions shaped implementation decisions around dynamic data, templates, and custom code integrations to ensure scalability and a consistent product experience.

A little help from our freinds

It paid off to build a strong relationship with the Softr team that went beyond customer success and engineering and into marketing. Together, we shipped a product they were proud to showcase—resulting in Softr’s first in-person, video-documented customer case study for their customer story series.