A COLLECTOR PLATFORM THAT
NEEDED A REDESIGN.
WHAT IT GOT WAS A FOUNDATION.
Vitrine came to us with a straightforward ask: redesign the UI of their collector cataloging app. New visuals, cleaner flows, ship it.
That was the brief.
Once we got under the surface, the problems ran deeper than visual design. The app wasn't dated. It was architecturally constrained.
The backend (Firebase) wasn't built to scale. Monetization was limited to marketplace transactions — one revenue stream with no recurring component. Admin tooling was duct-taped together.
A redesign wasn't going to fix this. The product needed to be rethought, not reskinned.
We went back to the client with a different proposal.
Instead of delivering a surface-level refresh of a structurally limited product, we scoped a full platform rebuild: product strategy, consumer app, admin tooling, backend migration, and monetization model.
The budget stayed nearly the same.
This is what changes when senior practitioners work directly, without layers, using modern tooling. Scope expands. Cost doesn't.
Same decisions, made faster.
Same quality, fewer hands.
UNDERSTANDING HOW COLLECTORS THINK
Before building anything, we needed to understand how collectors actually think.
The core insight: Collectors don't just own things. They curate them.
The difference matters. Ownership is passive. Curation is active. Collectors organize, categorize, display, compare, track, and talk about their collections constantly. The existing app treated collecting like inventory management. That misses the emotional and social dimensions entirely.
Two mental models, one platform:
Vitrine serves two fundamentally different collector types. The previous app forced both into the same rigid structure. The rebuild needed to support both within a unified experience.
The upload flow handles this with a fork at the entry point.
CONSUMER APP
Full native React Native application. 60+ screens covering onboarding, cataloging, showcases, discovery, tracking, community, messaging, and profiles.
The Fork
Users choose their path at upload. Trading cards get scan and auto-detect optimized for standardized items. Memorabilia gets custom fields for unique pieces. Two mental models, two distinct flows.
Reputation
Profiles surface credibility signals — item count, total value, rank, rep score. In collector communities, trust determines whether people buy, sell, or trade with you.
Profiles surface reputation — items, value, rank, rep score.
Audience Specific Communication
Collectors don't just list — they connect. Built-in messaging with attachable collectibles, group chats for collector communities, and discovery tools to find your people.
Messaging + community — where collectors connect, trade, and share.
ADMIN TOOLING
Category Builder — a PWA for taxonomy management. Types, categories, subcategories, fields, options, and visibility rules. Complex information architecture made manageable without engineering support.
Category Builder — taxonomy management without engineering.
The Type → Category → Subcategory → Field model is flexible enough to handle any collectible type without code changes. New categories, new fields, new rules — all configurable by the client.
Systems thinking that pays forward.
HUMAN-LED, AI-AMPLIFIED
This project is a clear example of what "human-led, AI-amplified" looks like in practice.
AI-native execution across every layer:
Design-to-code for rapid frontend builds during exploration. LLM-assisted refactoring from React prototypes to production React Native. AI-accelerated backend work — schema design, migrations, data modeling. Copy and messaging for the marketing site.
This is how the scope expanded without the budget following. Senior judgment directed the work. AI tooling compressed the timeline.
The workflow:
Started with design-to-code (React) for rapid prototyping. Once design was locked, refactored to React Native for production. Explore fast, then harden. More efficient than starting native from scratch.
STACK & ARCHITECTURE
VISUAL EVIDENCE
The system in production. Consumer app, admin tooling, and the taxonomy architecture that powers both.
Consumer App
Admin Tooling
TAKE FLIGHT
Interested in what we could build together? Every project starts with a conversation about what you're trying to achieve.