"How can I deliver a finished product design in just a month?"

That was the question I asked myself after the emergency call. Or was that much improvised, chaotic brief? Even at iMusician, where things move too fast, this one stood out.

We had just learned that one of our major partners was out, and we had to act quickly. I wouldn't say this was anyone’s fault. We were all in the same boat.

Where did that leave us? Tech had been quietly cooking for months, but the API was not ready. UI? Dusty design from 2019. Clunky then and ancient now.

If you’re in product, maybe you’d say: “Let’s ship the new tech with the old UI. Redesign later.” Sounds reasonable, right?

Right?..

Well, ironically, the push for a new design came from our backend engineer. The new mastering tech was super UX-sensitive and half the value was the interface. So patching it over with old screens wasn’t an option.

And just like that, we had a working plan: ship fast, but make it feel fresh and tight.

more to come later...