Intent disappears fast
“I should go work out” is easy to postpone when there is no one else expecting you.
Product strategy · UX/UI · AI-assisted native iOS build
Alongside
Turning “who wants to go with me?” into a product built around real plans, real timing, and people nearby.
Alongside is a social coordination product designed to make everyday activities joinable. Instead of asking people to build a social network first, the product starts with something concrete: what you are doing, when you are doing it, where it is happening, and whether someone nearby wants to join.
AI-assisted product build
End-to-end product work using ChatGPT, Codex, VS Code, and native iOS tooling.
The opportunity
Fitness apps track the workout. Alongside focuses on the plan.
The idea started with a repeated real-world problem: people want to walk, run, lift, play pickleball, or simply get out of the house, but the hardest part is often finding someone nearby who is available at the same time.
The product opportunity was not to create another fitness tracker or another profile-browsing network. It was to make ordinary activities joinable.
Availability matters
A perfect activity match is not useful if the other person is never free when you are.
Coordination creates friction
Too much messaging, planning, and uncertainty can kill an activity before it starts.
Product principle
Make ordinary plans joinable.
“I’m doing this, at this time, in this place. Want to come?”
That decision shaped the feed, plan details, join flow, creation flow, and trust model.
The core experience
See something relevant. Join quickly. Show up.
The primary loop minimizes the distance between intent and coordination. Each step surfaces only the information needed to make the next decision.
01 · Discover
Relevant plans are visible immediately.
The home feed emphasizes activity, time, distance, pace, host, and remaining spots instead of generic profiles.
02 · Decide
Enough context to decide without overthinking.
Plan details surface the practical signals that matter: when, where, pace, group size, distance, and host credibility.
03 · Create
Posting a plan should feel lighter than planning an event.
The creation flow is intentionally structured around activity, timing, location, and fit instead of event-management overhead.
Key product decisions
Designing for coordination, not browsing.
Plans before profiles
The primary object is the activity plan. People become relevant because they are attached to something happening.
Time and place are first-class signals
Distance, start time, duration, and pace help users decide whether a plan is realistically joinable.
Low-pressure creation
Posting should feel like saying “I’m going” rather than creating a formal event.
Trust has to exist before the meetup
Profile context, identity verification, location privacy, blocking and reporting, and community standards are treated as product features.
Discovery + trust
The product has to work before the network feels big.
Cold-start products need more than a feed. Alongside gives users ways to filter, understand fit, and judge safety even when nearby supply is still growing.
Explore
Filter by what makes a plan realistic.
Time, distance, and pace help people narrow the feed without turning discovery into a profile search.
Safety by design
Trust is visible before meeting.
Location privacy, block and report, age confirmation, verification, and standards are part of the experience.
Compatibility signals
Fit without dating-style matching.
Activity preferences, pace, and availability improve relevance while keeping the plan as the center of the product.
AI-assisted build process
AI accelerated the build. Product thinking still drove the decisions.
I used AI throughout Alongside as a product and implementation partner. The workflow moved from research and strategy into design, working native iOS builds, simulator QA, and repeated iteration.
ChatGPT
Used for ideation, product strategy, competitor thinking, MVP prioritization, user flows, edge cases, microcopy, trust scenarios, and design critique.
Figma
Used to shape the product experience, interaction hierarchy, visual system, feed density, creation flow, and core screen behavior.
Codex
Used heavily to translate product requirements into native iOS implementation, iterate on features, debug issues, and refine behavior.
VS Code
Used to work directly with the codebase, review implementation, manage changes, and validate fixes across iterations.
Xcode + Simulator
Used to test real navigation, layouts, interaction states, visual fidelity, edge cases, and the end-to-end iOS experience.
Current state
A working product direction, still being validated.
Alongside has moved beyond a concept into a functioning native product experience with a public positioning and waitlist site.
Visit AlongsideWhat exists now
- Native iOS product experience
- Home feed and discovery
- Activity detail and join/request flow
- Post-a-plan flow
- Explore, inbox, plans, and profile/safety patterns
- Public waitlist and positioning site
What I would validate next
- How quickly new users find a relevant plan
- Plan creation completion rate
- Request-to-join acceptance rate
- How often plans result in people showing up
- Which trust signals matter most before meeting
- Cold-start behavior when nearby supply is limited
Reflection
The strongest version of Alongside is not “another fitness app.”
It is a lightweight coordination layer for real life. The product becomes more useful when it reduces the distance between wanting to do something and having an actual person to do it with.