Corked
A UI/UX case study — a social wine app where people log bottles, rate them in grapes, share with friends and earn Cork badges as they explore.
Log, rate, remember.
The Challenge
Wine lovers forget what they drank, and wine apps feel like dry databases. People wanted to remember bottles, compare notes with friends and find nearby wineries — without feeling like an expert.
The Goal
A warm, social app where logging a bottle takes seconds — snap, rate in grapes, tag flavours — and every pour earns progress toward collectible Cork badges.
Our Role
UX research, information architecture, social feed and logging flows, a badge system, UI design and prototypes.
Timeline
10 weeks
Team
Product designer, UX writer, mobile engineers
Methods
Interviews, diary study, usability tests
Platform
iOS & Android
We shared a few bottles first.
Primary Persona
Sarah, the casual sipper
Enjoys a glass on weekends and at dinners with friends. Wants to remember favourites and try new wineries — without wine-snob pressure.
Goals
- Remember favourites
- Share with friends
- Discover wineries
Frustrations
- Jargon-heavy apps
- Long tasting forms
- Lost label photos
Context
- Dinners & weekends
- Logs 2–3 bottles a week
- Phone in one hand
From first sip to shared in seconds.
Before
- 01Photo label
- 02Forget it
- 03Search name
- 04Long form
- 05Expert notes
- 06Never share
Label photos lost in the camera roll, and apps that felt like tasting exams.
After
- 01Snap or scan
- 02Rate in grapes
- 03Tag flavours
- 04Share post
- 05Earn a Cork
Snap or scan the bottle, slide to rate in grapes, tap flavour tags and share — friends reply with Sipbacks, and every log counts toward a Cork badge.
Wireframes first, pixels later.
Discovery
Wine-lover interviews, diary study, winery visits.
Wireframes
Low-fi feed, logging and badge flows.
UI design
High-fi UI, badge art direction and UI kit.
Development
Dev handoff, component specs and QA builds.
Launch & test
Beta with wine clubs, then iterate.
Wireframe → Final UI — Feed
Wireframe → Final UI — Log a wine
Wireframe → Final UI — Cork badges
50 screens, one warm pour.
Wine, blush and a little gold.
Colour
Merlot
#9E0128
Cask
#802F34
Blush
#FDCED4
Gold
#E0BE58
Oak
#492C12
Type
Headings — Lato Black / Bold
Body — Lato Regular / Semibold
Components
Cork tiers
Warm brown headers · blush chips · grape ratings
A cozy kit, built for sharing.
Three rounds of testing, each one calmer.
Round 01
Logging flow
What We Tested
Can a casual drinker log a bottle in under 30 seconds?
What Changed
Replaced tasting forms with a grape slider and flavour tags.
Round 02
Social feed
What We Tested
Do people want to react to friends’ wines?
What Changed
Added Sipbacks — quick, playful replies — beside likes and comments.
Round 03
Cork badges
What We Tested
Do badges motivate people to try new wines?
What Changed
Added tiers from Corkboard to Platinum and “2 wines away” nudges.
