Kiff Simon

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Case study, Crossingz AI Networking Hackathon

1st prize, hackathon prototype

Communify. A match, not another feed.

An AI platform for meeting people with overlapping interests. I led the design loop: research, wireframes, prototype. First prize at the Crossingz AI Networking Hackathon.

  • UX
  • UI
  • Product
  • Figma
  • Devpost
Communify mobile product flow and interest matching interface
Role
UX designer
Team
Hristiana Davidova, Scott S. Jackson, Kiff Simon
Result
1st prize, Crossingz
Scope
Flow, interface, prototype, pitch
  1. 01 — FrameTurn shared interests into connection
  2. 02 — DefineMake the profile useful, not performative
  3. 03 — DecideMatch-first instead of feed-first
  4. 04 — DesignOnboarding through messaging
  5. 05 — Result1st prize at Crossingz

Final experience

A short path to a first conversation

Communify onboarding flow across mobile screens

Discovery + product logic

The profile was a bridge, not the destination.

Communify proposed an editable interest profile built from user-selected and connected data, then used that profile to recommend people and groups with a meaningful overlap.

Explicit user interests

People choose and edit the specific topics used for matchmaking rather than having an algorithm guess in the dark.

Confirm the match

A lightweight swipe interaction lets users accept or skip recommendations before initiating a conversation.

End-to-end journey

Designed onboarding, profile setup, discovery, and messaging so the demo worked as one continuous story during the pitch.

Design direction

Onboarding, discovery, and the pitch surface.

The additional screens make the rapid design loop visible: establish identity, explain the overlap, then give the user a clear next action.

Communify onboarding and profile interface
Onboarding + profileUI direction
Communify matching and messaging interface
Discovery + messagingFinal demo

Outcomes

What we walked out with

1stPrize, Crossingz AI Networking Hackathon
End-to-endResearch, wireframes, prototype, not a mood board
TeamDesigned with engineers so the AI could live in the UI
PitchHad to be obvious to judges who see a hundred apps a day

Recognition

The certificate from the room.

Certificate of achievement: first prize in the Crossingz AI Networking Hackathon, awarded to Kiff Simon
1st prizeCrossingz, Georgiana Dragu

Problem

Most "social" products are feeds with extra steps.

The brief was meaningful connection: matching people who share interests, not another scroll. If the first screen looks like Instagram with a chatbot, the idea is already dead.

Constraints

Hack-week time. Real AI. A hostile demo slot.

We had to integrate matching, not fake it with static cards. The interface had to be interactive enough to demo and simple enough that a judge understood it in seconds.

Decisions

Design decisions under hackathon speed

Feed vs. match

A feed is what social products default to. We led with overlap, why this person, then the conversation. The AI's job is the match, not the chatter.

Prototype vs. pitch deck

Judges can smell slides. Wireframes became a prototype they could watch. The visual presentation had to explain the product without replacing it.

Design with the model in the room

If engineering can't put the matching on that screen, the UX is fiction. Collaboration was the constraint, not a soft skill slide.

Reflection

Winning is not the same as shipping

A 1st-place prototype still has to survive real people who don't care about the hackathon. I'd want a week of matches with strangers who weren't in the room. That's the next test after the Figma file.

Same season I designed UI for Neo Sapiens, 2nd at Miami Hack Week, written up in Refresh Miami. Different product, same job: make a heavy AI idea readable in a minute.

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