Product Management · 2025 - 2026
BettaBarter
Bartering, reinvented. Swipe through items near you, match when it's mutual, then trade what you have for what you want - no cash for the goods.
As product manager I built the working MVP with AI and refined every user flow with it - from the guest swipe to the paid chat-unlock that makes trading with strangers feel safe.
Overview
Everyone has a drawer of things they never use and a wishlist of things they'd love. BettaBarter connects the two - the addictive swipe-to-match people already understand, aimed at trading real objects instead of dates.
Swipe a deck of items near you, match when the interest is mutual, then propose a trade and chat to arrange the swap - no cash changes hands for the goods. A guest mode lets anyone swipe before they sign up; and to keep it safe, names, phone and email stay hidden until both sides pay a small fee to unlock the chat - which funds the platform and filters out non-serious traders in one move. I owned the product end to end: built the MVP with AI, and refined every flow with it.
The product
Swipe. Match.
Trade.
A playful coral design language that stays out of the way of the items themselves - and a swipe you can feel, with a satisfying "LIKE" the moment you commit.
Getting in
Try first. Sign up when you're hooked.
The funnel is deliberately gentle: browse and swipe as a guest with no card, hit "you liked an item - sign up to match," then sign in however you like - Google, Facebook, Apple or email. The barrier to the first swipe is as close to zero as it gets.
- touch_appGuest swipe - understand the whole app in one gesture
- loginSocial or email sign-in once you're ready to match
Inside the app
Built around one verb: trade.
Say what you have - and what you want
Title, description, category and condition, up to six photos and two videos, plus a "Looking For" field. The barter intent is built right into the form, so every listing already knows what it wants in return.
Your item, for theirs
A proposal pairs the item you want with the item you're offering and sends it for review. Both sides see the requested item, the offer and the trader's location - a barter, made explicit, not a vague "is this still available?"
Proposals, sorted
One place for every thread - Proposals, Sent, Accepted and Passed - each with a clear status. Changed your mind on something you passed? "Reconsider" pulls it back into play.
A conversation worth paying for
Chats are organised by the item they're about, split into Active and History. Opening one costs a small fee from both sides - the deliberate friction that keeps tyre-kickers out and proves real intent before two strangers meet.
Private until you both commit
Phone, email and full name stay hidden until both sides unlock the chat. Add a location radius (default 50 km), profile-visibility controls and an online-status toggle, and a stranger-to-stranger swap starts to feel safe.
A reason to come back
A personal dashboard counts your swipes, interests, messages and items posted, with a running activity log - light gamification that turns one-off curiosity into a habit.
Experience highlights
System thinking, made playful.
A borrowed mental model
Swipe-to-match needs no explanation - people arrive already knowing how to use it.
The paid chat-unlock
One mechanic does three jobs: it monetises the platform, blocks spam, and keeps contact details private until both sides commit.
Proposal-based trading
Every thread is an explicit "my item for yours," not an open-ended chat - the barter is the unit of work.
Local by design
A distance radius keeps matches nearby, so a swap is a short trip - not a shipping problem.
Built to bring you back
An activity dashboard and reconsider-a-pass turn idle browsing into a returning habit.
Warm, with a dark mode
A coral, friendly palette that keeps the focus on the items - light or dark.
Problem · Process · Craft
From an old client's idea to a launched product.
A client who remembered me as a designer five years earlier came back with an idea - and a frustration: he had no one to bring it to life. His instinct was barter; my job was to pressure-test it. In tough economies people hoard what they don't need, then bin perfectly good things to buy new ones nobody else needs either. Swap “what you have for what you need”, and you cut the waste.
Shape & refine the idea
We talked through his vision and pain points; I turned it into a clear plan and a refined concept, then presented it back. He loved it.
Validate with a survey
I ran a survey on how people feel about barter and the state of the economy - confirming the hoard-then-dispose problem the product would solve.
Design swipe & trust
I designed the swipe-to-match core and the trust layer - a guest mode to lower the barrier, then a mutual paid chat-unlock that keeps contact details private until both sides commit.
Build & launch
I built the working platform with AI and refined every flow. Started in 2025 - and launched it in 2026.
The result
The hard part wasn't the swipe. It was trust.
Most of the work went into the layer around the fun part - the proposals, the privacy, the paid mutual unlock - so two strangers feel safe enough to actually meet and trade. The marketing site answers it head-on, right down to a FAQ that explains why chatting costs a little. The result is a complete, launched platform you can try right now as a guest.
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