BOXDEX · Solo Project · UX/UI · 10 Weeks

Blink Box
Tracking App.

Boxdex is a mobile app that gives blind box collectors a single place to track, trade, and show off their collections.

Blind box culture is deeply social — collectors hunt limited drops, swap duplicates, and take pride in rare finds. Yet there is no dedicated tool that captures that energy. Boxdex fills that gap.

By combining a personal inventory, a community marketplace, and a digital showcase, Boxdex turns a scattered hobby into a connected experience.

01 · Problem

Three gaps. One hobby ignored.

No Inventory

Collectors resort to spreadsheets and photo rolls to track what they own — there is no purpose-built tool for logging blind box figures and their variants.

Duplicate Dead-ends

Duplicate pulls are common but trading is scattered across Discord, Reddit, and Instagram DMs — fragmented, unsafe, and hard to search.

No Showcase

Collectors are proud of their shelves, but generic social apps don't give collections the visual treatment they deserve.

Collectors are not struggling to find figures — they are struggling to manage and share them.

The blind box community is large, passionate, and completely underserved by existing apps.

02 · Research

Getting inside the collector mindset.

My contribution

I conducted all research, synthesised findings, defined the product direction, and led the end-to-end design from discovery through to high-fidelity prototype.

Project scope

Solo project — responsible for user research, information architecture, interaction design, visual design, and brand identity from scratch.

User Interviews

Spoke with active blind box collectors about their collecting habits, frustrations, and what they wish existed to manage their hobby.

Competitive Analysis

Evaluated general collection apps, resale platforms like StockX and Whatnot, and community tools to understand what already exists and what falls short.

Community Research

Observed collector communities on Reddit, Discord, and TikTok to understand language, culture, pain points, and what moments collectors value most.

Persona Development

Built three core collector personas — the casual unboxer, the serious trader, and the display-focused curator — to guide design decisions.

Survey

Distributed a survey to blind box communities to quantify pain points and validate that fragmentation was the dominant frustration.

Heuristic Evaluation

Ran heuristic evaluations on the closest competitors to identify usability gaps and patterns worth borrowing or avoiding.

"I have a spreadsheet, a notes app, and three Instagram chats going just to manage my duplicates."

03 · Insights

What the research actually told us.

user interviews conducted across casual collectors and serious traders to map the full spectrum of collecting behaviour.

↑

Strong desire for a trusted trading space — most collectors had been burned by scams or ghosted on generic resale platforms.

↓

No existing app was purpose-built for blind boxes. Collectors adapted general-purpose tools, all imperfectly.

→

The showcase dimension was underestimated by competitors — collectors wanted to display as much as track and trade.

04 · User Flow

Mapping the collector journey.

The three core flows — Log, Trade, and Showcase — were designed to feel distinct but deeply connected, so a collector could move between them without losing context.

01 Unbox
& Log

→

02 Flag
Duplicates

→

03 List
for Trade

→

04 Match
& Chat

→

05 Showcase
Collection

05 · Brand Identity

A brand built for the collector shelf.

The visual language borrows from collector culture — bold typography, clean grids, and just enough playfulness to honour the joy of the unbox moment.

06 · Wireframes

From sketch to screen.

Wireframes focused on the three-tab structure — Collection, Trade, and Showcase — so users could always orient themselves within a single tap from any screen.

Navigation

Three-tab bottom bar — Collection, Trade, Showcase — with a floating action button for quick logging after an unbox.

Collection Grid

Card-based inventory with series grouping, rarity indicators, and a quick-flag for duplicates.

Trade Board

Filter-first discovery — search by series, figure, or condition — with in-app messaging to keep trades safe and accountable.

Showcase Mode

Full-bleed shelf layouts with custom backgrounds, drag-to-arrange, and a shareable link for social export.

07 · Prototype

The hi-fi prototype.

After usability testing and iteration, the high-fidelity prototype brought the collector experience to life — fast to log, easy to trade, beautiful to display.

Collection

Personal inventory organised by series, with rarity tags and duplicate flags always visible.

Trade

Community marketplace with in-app chat, verified listings, and a transparent trade history.

08 · Solution

The Solution.

Smart Collection Log

Scan or search to log figures instantly. Auto-detect series, mark variants, and track completeness across every set you own.

Duplicate Matching

Flag duplicates and get matched with collectors who need what you have — based on wish-list data, not just manual search.

Safe Trade Hub

In-app messaging, trade verification, and community reputation scores keep every trade transparent and accountable.

Showcase Builder

Build a visual shelf, arrange figures, pick a backdrop, and share your collection as a shareable page or social export.

09 · Reflection

What I'd do differently.

More Trader Interviews

The trade flow was the most complex to design — earlier and deeper conversations with frequent traders would have surfaced edge cases sooner and reduced late iteration.

Trust by Design

Safety and trust signals needed more attention earlier — the community reputation system was added late and would have benefitted from more structured thinking at the wireframe stage.

Onboarding First

The first-run experience for new collectors needed its own dedicated design sprint — onboarding that sets up the log correctly from day one is critical to long-term retention.

Blink BoxTracking App.