Interactive search
Web Application
Designer & Engineer
1 team members
A buttery-smooth web search experience focused balancing between UX and delightlful polish. I explored what makes search interfaces feel truly crafted rather than just functional.
The challenge
Creating a search interface that showcases exceptional design engineering skills.
The goal was building something that prioritizes delight and smooth interactions while demonstrating both technical application and design thinking.
Anyone can build a basic search interface, but creating something that delights users requires attention to micro-interactions, performance, and the subtle details that separate good from exceptional.
I focused on balancing technical experimentation with practical usability. It's easy to get carried away with fancy features, so I aimed for something that felt both technically interesting and genuinely useful.
The outcome
A real-time search experience built for performance and delight.
I designed the interface around three core principles: immediate feedback, effortless filtering, and smooth transitions. Every interaction needed to feel instantaneous/or have good reason for not.
For example, the search architecture uses debounced input with 500ms delay to balance responsiveness with API efficiency. Real-time title updates show search queries and result counts, giving users immediate context about what they're seeing.
For filtering, the key design decision was making filters discoverable without overwhelming the interface - on desktop, they appear on hover without needing to be clicked; on mobile, they're always accessible.
Technical implementation emphasizes performance: skeleton loading states prevent layout shift, images are optimized with Next.js Image component, and there's a subtle blur effect during typing to indicate loading (and reduce distraction).
Zaire Allen
Senior Product Designer & Design Engineer
New York City
Ex-Founder Love Circular—an edtech startup that launched tech careers. $2M+ Revenue, 400 Designers placed in first job, $30M in salaries 2024.
Notable clients
Zaire Allen
Senior Product Designer & Design Engineer
New York City
Ex-Founder Love Circular—an edtech startup that launched tech careers. $2M+ Revenue, 400 Designers placed in first job, $30M in salaries 2024.
Notable clients
Interactive search
Web Application
Designer & Engineer
1 team members
A buttery-smooth web search experience focused balancing between UX and delightlful polish. I explored what makes search interfaces feel truly crafted rather than just functional.
The challenge
Creating a search interface that showcases exceptional design engineering skills.
The goal was building something that prioritizes delight and smooth interactions while demonstrating both technical application and design thinking.
Anyone can build a basic search interface, but creating something that delights users requires attention to micro-interactions, performance, and the subtle details that separate good from exceptional.
I focused on balancing technical experimentation with practical usability. It's easy to get carried away with fancy features, so I aimed for something that felt both technically interesting and genuinely useful.
The outcome
A real-time search experience built for performance and delight.
I designed the interface around three core principles: immediate feedback, effortless filtering, and smooth transitions. Every interaction needed to feel instantaneous/or have good reason for not.
For example, the search architecture uses debounced input with 500ms delay to balance responsiveness with API efficiency. Real-time title updates show search queries and result counts, giving users immediate context about what they're seeing.
For filtering, the key design decision was making filters discoverable without overwhelming the interface - on desktop, they appear on hover without needing to be clicked; on mobile, they're always accessible.
Technical implementation emphasizes performance: skeleton loading states prevent layout shift, images are optimized with Next.js Image component, and there's a subtle blur effect during typing to indicate loading (and reduce distraction).