Miles Roxas Logo

Brooklyn, NY

Buzlee Case Study

Local Events Without the Noise

Industry
Consumer App
Role
Product, Design, Engineering
Buzlee account type selection screen

Capabilities

  • Mobile App
  • Product Design

Buzlee is a digital bulletin board for small towns: one feed and one map for what is on this week, posted by local businesses and approved by a person. No ads, no ratings, no ranking algorithm.


I worked with the founder to shape the MVP, then designed and built the mobile apps and supporting systems needed to bring the idea to life.

The Challenge

Buzlee Store Cover

The founder wanted a simpler alternative to finding local events through social media, where useful information often gets buried under promotions, recommendations, and unrelated content.

Buzlee ipad screens

The challenge had two sides: make local discovery effortless for residents while giving businesses an easy way to share what's happening.

We needed to serve both without introducing the noise and complexity we were trying to remove.

A Different Approach to Discovery

Rather than ranking content by popularity or engagement, I structured Buzlee around what matters most to residents: what's happening, when, and where.

Man holding iphone with Buzlee map

One map, ordered by date

I designed a feed and interactive map centered on the resident's hometown. Events are organized by date, with filters for category and town. Map pins cluster dynamically as users explore different areas.

Residents can quickly find an event, save it, add it to their calendar, or share it with someone else.

One Flyer, Multiple Events

For local businesses, publishing an event shouldn't create more work than necessary.

Resident flyer multi-event lineup
Business view multi-event lineup

I designed the flyer system to support multiple event dates within a single post. Businesses can manage related events together instead of creating separate listings for each date.

This small decision simplified content management for businesses while making event schedules easier for residents to navigate.

Getting Location Right

Accurate location data was essential to making the map useful.

One of the more involved technical decisions was choosing providers for mapping, address search, and geolocation. I evaluated options based on address coverage, portability, and infrastructure costs as usage grows.

I selected MapTiler and Geoapify to support the mapping experience while keeping costs manageable.

Moderation Tools

I built a Next.js admin app for reviewing businesses, moderating submissions, and managing content.

Buzlee Admin Inbox

Launch and Early Traction

Buzlee moved from an early idea to a working product available on iOS and Android, with a supporting web administration system.

Early results from the pilot included:


  1. 0150

    local businesses onboarded within three weeks

  2. 0280

    flyers published since launch

  3. 03100

    daily active users at the reported measurement point


What I Took Away

Some of the most important design decisions happened outside the main app experience.

The way events were structured, how locations were handled, and the tools used to review content all contributed to making the experience simple for residents.

Building Buzlee meant thinking through those systems together, from the interface people see to the tools and infrastructure that make it work.