BartrDrop
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Speculative barter app for survival in a post-collapse world.
Role
Prototyper, UX/UI Designer, Researcher
Group Project Type
App Concept,
UX/UI Design, Prototyping, Hackathon
Timeline
2 Weeks,
May 2025
In 2075, after climate disasters and economic collapse, people can’t rely on money or infrastructure. Survival depends on bartering, trust, and resilience. Traditional apps don’t make sense in this world.
BartrDrop addresses this by:
Providing a basic, low-power interface for essential trades
Representing trust as a fragile, earned resource
Designing intentionally glitchy visuals to reflect scarcity
Encouraging communication and community rebuilding
We explored multiple ideas during SparkJam, before settling on BartrDrop for its strong narrative potential.
Real-world crises informed our design:
Christchurch disaster responses show grassroots bartering and support networks;
Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria inspired offline connectivity features;
The Restart Project influenced the salvaged, patched-together UI look;
Survival games shaped our understanding of scarcity, moral tension, and
fragile trust.
BartrDrop was never meant to be a sleek, modern app. From the start, we explored survival-driven features where scarcity, trust, and fragile reputations shaped every interaction. Early wireframes leaned polished, but mentor feedback pushed us to strip away that refinement.
This project challenged us to embrace speculative design and uncertainty, teaching us how to pivot from familiar design approaches to narrative-first thinking. We gained a deeper appreciation for the value of flexibility and teamwork under pressure, and discovered how minimal, functional tools can carry significant emotional weight even in extreme contexts.
Watch Demo
Watch Demo
NuNu is a subscription app that matches families and nannies by schedules, needs, and personality, with mutual approval to reduce bias
Speculative barter app for survival in a post-collapse world.
Speculative barter app for survival in a post-collapse world.
Role
Prototyper, UX/UI Designer, Researcher
Group Project Type
App Concept,
UX/UI Design, Prototyping
App Concept,
UX/UI Design, Prototyping, Hackathon
App Concept,
UX/UI Design, Prototyping, Hackathon
Timeline
January
2025
2 Weeks, May 2025
2 Weeks, May 2025
Finding a nanny or family is often overwhelming. Families scroll through endless profiles, while nannies face irrelevant or unreliable requests. Many matches are made based on photos rather than compatibility, leading to frustration and unfair experiences.
NuNu addresses this by:
Prioritizing needs, availability, and personality over images;
Reducing unwanted messages with mutual matching;
Offering calendars and interview scheduling;
Providing support groups for community connection.
In 2075, after climate disasters and economic collapse, people can’t rely on money or infrastructure. Survival depends on bartering, trust, and resilience. Traditional apps don’t make sense in this world.
BartrDrop addresses this by:
Providing a basic, low-power interface for essential trades
Representing trust as a fragile, earned resource
Designing intentionally glitchy visuals to reflect scarcity
Encouraging communication and community rebuilding
In 2075, after climate disasters and economic collapse, people can’t rely on money or infrastructure. Survival depends on bartering, trust, and resilience. Traditional apps don’t make sense in this world.
BartrDrop addresses this by:
Providing a basic, low-power interface for essential trades
Representing trust as a fragile, earned resource
Designing intentionally glitchy visuals to reflect scarcity
Encouraging communication and community rebuilding
Through surveys and interviews with parents and nannies in Vancouver, we discovered:
Families value reliability and compatibility above looks;
Nannies want safety, trust, and supportive connections;
Scheduling conflicts are a recurring challenge;
Many welcomed a personality-first, streamlined approach.
We explored multiple ideas during SparkJam, before settling on BartrDrop for its strong narrative potential.
Real-world crises informed our design:
Christchurch disaster responses show grassroots bartering and support networks;
Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria inspired offline connectivity features;
The Restart Project influenced the salvaged, patched-together UI look;
Survival games shaped our understanding of scarcity, moral tension, and fragile trust.
We explored multiple ideas during SparkJam, before settling on BartrDrop for its strong narrative potential.
Real-world crises informed our design:
Christchurch disaster responses show grassroots bartering and support networks;
Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria inspired offline connectivity features;
The Restart Project influenced the salvaged, patched-together UI look;
Survival games shaped our understanding of scarcity, moral tension, and fragile trust.
NuNu ensures a safe, fair, and efficient matching process for families and nannies. Users complete a personality and needs assessment to guarantee compatibility. Nannies upload references and criminal record checks, while families share details about their children, requirements, and references if available. All criminal records are reviewed by the NuNu team, funded through a family subscription that also keeps the app ad-free. Once matched, both sides can schedule interviews directly within the app for a seamless and trustworthy experience.
BartrDrop was never meant to be a sleek, modern app. From the start, we explored survival-driven features where scarcity, trust, and fragile reputations shaped every interaction. Early wireframes leaned polished, but mentor feedback pushed us to strip away that refinement.
BartrDrop was never meant to be a sleek, modern app. From the start, we explored survival-driven features where scarcity, trust, and fragile reputations shaped every interaction. Early wireframes leaned polished, but mentor feedback pushed us to strip away that refinement.
This project challenged us to embrace speculative design and uncertainty, teaching us how to pivot from familiar design approaches to narrative-first thinking. We gained a deeper appreciation for the value of flexibility and teamwork under pressure, and discovered how minimal, functional tools can carry significant emotional weight even in extreme contexts.
