Every celebration, with everyone there
Hosts go live for birthdays, weddings and big moments. The people they love join from anywhere to wish them on video, burst confetti and send gifts in real time. We designed and built it for iOS, Android and the web.
- Client
- SocialApp Inc.
- Year
- 2023
- Duration
- Ongoing
- Services
- Product design, iOS and Android apps, Web app
Overview
Celebr8 is a live celebration platform. Hosts schedule a celebration or go live on the spot, guests join from the app or a simple link, and everyone can wish, cheer, burst confetti and send gifts in real time. Our team took it from pivot to launch, designing the product and building the iOS, Android and web apps.
- Platform
- iOS, Android and web · English
- Our role
- Product strategy, User research, UX and UI design, iOS development, Android development, Web development, Live video and real-time, Gift store and fulfilment
- Products
- Live Celebration, My Circle, Gift Chat, Gift Wishlist, Gift Shop
- people onboarded
- 0
- birthdays celebrated live
- 0+
- minutes of celebration streamed
- 0
- platforms, designed and built by us
- 0
The challenge
Birthdays don't wait for a flight home. Millions of people live far from the family and friends they love, and the moments that matter most, a parent's birthday, a child's first candle, a wedding, happen without them. A video call feels like a meeting. A gift sent late feels like an apology.
The pivot
Celebr8 grew out of SocialApp. When the market shifted, we went back to our data and our users, found what they valued most, and rebuilt the product around it.
2017 to 2021
SocialApp
A social app of stories, news and Smart Coins that grew to 6.6 million people and 160,000 gifts.
The signal
The feed became a commodity
As short-form video platforms matured, engagement with stories and news plateaued and retention slipped. Competing on the feed was a race we didn't need to run.
The insight
Gifting and occasions endured
The moments that still drove return visits were birthdays, gifts and family. People living away from home told us what they missed most: being there.
September 2023
Celebr8 launches in Nepal
Live celebrations, wishlists and a gift store, launched first for families with loved ones living abroad.
Then
Weddings, NGOs and business
The same platform grew into live-streamed weddings, charity events with NGOs and gift boxes for corporate partners.
Our approach
What we changed when we turned SocialApp's data, and its users' stories, into a new product.
- 01
Follow the signal, not the feature list
SocialApp's data showed feed engagement plateauing as short-form video platforms took over the format. The moments that still brought people back were gifting and occasions. We pivoted to build around them.
- 02
Design for the guest, not just the host
Every celebration lives or dies on who turns up. We designed the invite, the join and the first thirty seconds of the party for someone who has never heard of Celebr8.
- 03
Remove every barrier to joining
Usability testing showed that asking guests to download an app first cost us people at the door. We built the celebration into the web, so anyone can join from a link in one tap.
- 04
Launch where the need is sharpest
We launched in Nepal first, for families with loved ones living abroad, then grew into weddings, corporate gifting and live events for NGOs.
User research
We started from the feeling of missing a celebration, then tested every answer with the people living it, across the US, India and Nepal.
- Method 01
Retention and cohort analysis
SocialApp's usage data showed where engagement was slipping and which moments, gifting and occasions, still brought people back.
- Method 02
Jobs-to-be-done interviews
Conversations with people living away from home about the celebrations they miss, and what 'being there' really means to them.
- Method 03
Competitive audit
A review of video calling, live-streaming and gifting apps. Each solved a piece; none brought presence, wishes and gifts into one moment.
- Method 04
Concept testing
Storyboards of a remote birthday, tested with families before any build, to find which moments of the party mattered most.
- Method 05
Journey mapping
Mapped the whole arc, from 'it's Mum's birthday next week' to 'she opened my gift live', for hosts and guests separately.
- Method 06
Moderated usability testing
Think-aloud sessions on prototypes and early builds: schedule a celebration, invite a guest, join, wish and send a gift.
- Method 07
Soft launch in Nepal
A first release for families with members abroad, where the need was sharpest and the feedback loop was fastest.
- Method 08
Behavioral analytics
CleverTap funnels tracked every step from invite to join to gift, and showed us exactly where guests dropped off.
What we learned
- 01
Distance is the pain, not technology
People already had video calls. What they lacked was the feeling of being at the party. So Celebr8 is built as an event, not a call.
- 02
The invite is the funnel
Every guest is a potential user, and most arrive from a link. Any friction at the door costs a guest and a future host.
- 03
Presence needs a gesture
Guests wanted to react without interrupting. A single, joyful tap, confetti, let everyone take part at once.
- 04
Guessing gifts is stressful
Givers worried about getting it wrong, and hosts received things they didn't need. A wishlist solved both sides.
- 05
People celebrate for others
Parents host for their children and children host for their parents. Anyone can schedule a celebration and build a wishlist on someone else's behalf.
The breakthrough
Instagram has the like. We gave Celebr8 confetti, and no limit on how much of it you could burst.
We wanted guests to cheer without interrupting the host, so we put a confetti button on the celebration page. Tap it and confetti bursts across everyone's screen.
We deliberately set no cap. What happened next surprised us: guests started competing to see who could burst the most. A few dozen people turned a birthday into a friendly contest, and the energy in the room went up with it.
- confetti bursts in a single celebration
- 0s
- guests needed to get there
- <00
The product
One flow from the first reminder to the last wish. Everything is designed so the people who can't be there still feel like they are.
- 01
Plan
Get a reminder before a birthday or an anniversary. Schedule a celebration for yourself or on behalf of someone else, and build a wishlist.
- 02
Invite
Your connections are notified automatically. Share the link on WhatsApp or anywhere else for everyone who isn't on Celebr8 yet.
- 03
Go live
Start the celebration from home, the office or the venue. Guests join from the app or straight from the link in a browser.
- 04
Celebrate
Guests burst confetti, send wishes, and ask to join the host on stage to wish them face to face.
- 05
Give
Guests send gifts from the host's wishlist while the party is live, and the celebration is saved for anyone who missed it.
Features
Five features, one idea: make it easy to be there for someone, wherever you are.
Live CelebrationThe live stage: the host, guests joining on video, wishes and confetti. 01 / 05Live Celebration
Your party, live, with everyone invited
Schedule a celebration or go live on the spot, from home, the office or the venue. Your connections are notified instantly, and anyone else can join from a link.
- Schedule ahead or go live instantly
- Connections are notified the moment you go live
- Share the link on WhatsApp or any social platform
- Guests can ask to join the host on stage and wish them on video
- Save the celebration so friends can revisit it and send wishes later
0instant gifts sent at 4 live-streamed weddings
My CircleYour circle grows every time someone joins your celebration. 02 / 05My Circle
Connections that build themselves
No friend requests, no waiting. When someone accepts your invitation and joins your celebration, they are added to your circle automatically.
- Joining a celebration creates the connection
- No requests to send or accept
- Your circle is notified whenever you go live
- Chat, gift and share moments with everyone in it
Gift ChatWishes, gifts and reactions in one conversation. 03 / 05Gift Chat
A chat where every message can be a gift
Gift Chat is a real-time space for wishes and feelings. Send a greeting, a gift or both, and reply with a photo, a video or a voice note when one arrives.
- Real-time chat with anyone in your circle
- Send greetings, wishes and gifts at any time
- React to a gift with photos, videos and voice notes
- The host's wishlist is one tap away
Gift WishlistA wishlist the host builds, and guests gift from live. 04 / 05Gift Wishlist
Gifts they actually want
Hosts pick items from the store and add them to a wishlist. Guests see it during the live celebration and in Gift Chat, so every gift is one the host chose.
- Build a wishlist from the gift store
- Visible to guests during the celebration and in Gift Chat
- Create one on behalf of a child or a parent
- No more guessing, no more duplicates
Gift ShopBrowse, choose and send, with delivery handled for you. 05 / 05Gift Shop
A gift for every occasion, sent from anywhere
Browse the gift store, choose an item and send it to someone you love on any occasion. Order from anywhere in the world; we deliver to recipients in India and Nepal.
- Curated gifts from retail partners
- Order from anywhere, delivered in India and Nepal
- Reminders for birthdays, anniversaries and other occasions
- Send straight from a celebration, a chat or a profile
000+gift products from 260+ retail partners
What testing taught us
Our first design asked guests to install the app before they could join. Usability testing showed us that was the wrong door.
In moderated sessions, invited guests hesitated at the app store. Some gave up entirely, and every one we lost was a guest the host was waiting for.
So we rebuilt the celebration for the web. Guests now tap the link, land straight in the party on any device, and can install the app later if they want to. Our join drop-off rate fell, and every celebration became a way in for new users.
- Birthdays
- Weddings
- Go live
- Confetti
- Wishlists
- Gift Chat
Design process
Short sprints with design and engineering side by side, because live video, real-time reactions and gifting all had to feel instant.
- 01
Discover
Interviews, cohort data and a competitive audit, synthesised into a single picture of what missing a celebration feels like.
- 02
Define
Two journeys, host and guest, and three jobs: bring people together, let them take part, make giving easy.
- 03
Ideate and wireframe
User flows for scheduling, inviting, joining and gifting, then wireframes for the live stage, the wishlist and Gift Chat.
- 04
Prototype
Clickable prototypes with motion for the moments that carry emotion: the confetti burst, a guest joining the stage and a gift landing.
- 05
Test and iterate
Moderated usability tests on every round. The biggest finding, the download barrier, changed the architecture before launch.
- 06
Build and measure
One design system across iOS, Android and web, built by the same team, with CleverTap funnels feeding the next sprint.
Toolkit
- Research
- Miro
- Google Forms
- Zoom
- Design
- Figma
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe After Effects
- Prototype and test
- Figma prototypes
- Lottie
- Maze
- Handoff
- Figma Dev Mode
- Jira
- Measure
- CleverTap
- Firebase Analytics
What it produced
- Host and guest journeys
- User flows
- Wireframes
- Clickable prototypes
- Motion specs
- Usability reports
- Design system
Across platforms
Hosts celebrate from the iOS or Android app. Guests can join the same party from a browser, with nothing to install, on any device.
Celebrations for a cause
We saw that a live celebration could do more than mark a birthday. With NGOs, it became a way to give exactly what's needed.
We partnered with NGOs to host live events. Each one showed supporters what it takes to run an orphanage, an elderly home or a community project, and listed the provisions it needed, like wheat, rice and everyday essentials.
Supporters joined the event and sent those items instead of money. Givers could see where their help went, and NGOs received what they actually needed.
- NGOs onboarded
- 00+
- charity events hosted live
- 000+
The details
The features that turn a video stream into a celebration people talk about afterwards.
- 01
Occasion reminders
Birthdays, anniversaries and other occasions arrive as reminders, with time to plan a celebration or send a gift.
- 02
Celebrate on someone's behalf
Schedule a celebration and build a wishlist for a child, a parent or anyone who needs a hand.
- 03
Join the host on stage
Guests can ask to go live alongside the host and share their wishes face to face, while everyone else watches.
- 04
Save and relive
Celebrations are saved, so friends can watch later and still send wishes and gifts.
- 05
Share anywhere
Every celebration has a link that works on WhatsApp and every other platform, and opens on any device.
- 06
Instant notifications
Your circle hears the moment you go live, so nobody finds out after the candles are out.
- 07
Cross-border gifting
Order a gift from anywhere in the world and have it delivered to someone in India or Nepal.
- 08
One account everywhere
Start on your phone and carry on on the web. Your circle, chats and wishlist stay in sync.
Architecture
Every celebration follows the same path. It is scheduled, the circle is notified, guests join from the app or the web, and wishes, confetti and gifts travel in real time.
01 · Schedule
- Celebration created
- Wishlist attached
02 · Notify
- Circle notified
- Share link generated
03 · Join
- iOS or Android app
- Any browser, no install
04 · Live
- Low-latency video
- Guests on stage
05 · Celebrate
- Confetti and wishes
- Gifts in real time
- Saved to replay
- iOS
- Swift
- AVFoundation
- Push notifications
- Android
- Kotlin
- Jetpack
- Push notifications
- Web
- React
- TypeScript
- Browser join without install
- Live video
- WebRTC
- Adaptive bitrate
- Cloud recording
- Real-time
- Socket.IO
- Redis pub/sub
- Confetti and wish events
- Services
- Node.js microservices
- REST APIs
- Scheduling and reminders
- Commerce
- Gift store and wishlists
- Partner catalog
- Orders and delivery tracking
- Platform
- AWS
- MongoDB
- Firebase Cloud Messaging
- CleverTap
What we removed
Some of our biggest wins came from removing things: steps, limits and guesswork. These four decisions shaped the product.
- 01
No download to join
Guests join from a link in the browser. The app is an upgrade, not a gate, so no one is left outside the party.
- 02
Connections that make themselves
Joining a celebration creates the connection. We removed friend requests entirely, and circles grew with every party.
- 03
No limit on joy
We left confetti uncapped on purpose. The competition it sparked became one of the product's most loved moments.
- 04
Gifts people choose
Wishlists put the host in charge of what they receive, which made giving easier and every gift more personal.
The results
Since the September 2023 launch, across families, weddings, businesses and NGOs.
0
people onboarded, most of them in the US, India and Nepal
- birthday celebrations streamed live
- 0+
- minutes of celebration streamed: over 1,500 hours
- 0
- retail partners, with more than 700 gift products in the store
- 000+
- gift boxes delivered for 12+ corporate partners
- 0+
- charity events hosted live with 24+ NGOs
- 000+
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