The Red Flag
The Red Flag is a reflective relationship web app designed and built end-to-end. It helps users recognize unhealthy behavioral patterns through calm, narrative-driven feedback focused on awareness rather than judgment.
- Role: End-to-end Product Designer & Front-End Engineer
- Duration: 2 weeks
- Objective: Create a private, non-judgmental tool for relationship self-reflection
- Result: A fully deployed web app with weighted logic and narrative results
What is the problem?
Discussions around relationship red flags are often loud, judgmental, and oversimplified, pushing people to label experiences instead of reflect on them. There is little space for nuance, privacy, or emotional processing.
What is the goal?
The goal was to create a calm, private space where users can reflect on relationship behaviors without pressure or shame, using weighted results and narrative feedback to support awareness rather than conclusions.
Research Insights
I reviewed relationship-focused content across social media, forums, and advice platforms and conducted informal interviews, revealing that while red flag discussions are popular, they often lack context. Users consistently expressed a need for clarity without judgment and tools that support reflection rather than instruction.
Alex — The Reflective Thinker
Alex, 29, values emotional awareness and personal growth. After past relationship experiences, they want tools that help them reflect privately before making decisions. Alex avoids content that feels aggressive or diagnostic.
- Motivations: Emotional clarity
- Barriers: Judgmental advice culture
Maya — The Pattern Seeker
Maya, 32, notices repeating patterns in her relationships but struggles to name them. She prefers calm, guided reflection over public discussions or unsolicited advice. Privacy and emotional safety are essential to her experience.
- Motivations: Self-awareness
- Barriers: Oversimplified relationship advice
Design Process
The design focused on emotional safety by avoiding gamification, diagnostic language, and urgency-driven interactions. Through early sketches, content mapping, and flow diagrams, I designed a reflective structure that slows users down and encourages thoughtful awareness rather than reactive judgment.
Visual Evolution
The visual system evolved from low-fidelity wireframes into a restrained, romantic interface designed to support emotional reflection. Careful use of typography, spacing, and motion keeps the experience calm and cohesive across the welcome flow, selection screens, and results.
Live Web Application
The Red Flag was designed and developed end-to-end using React, TypeScript, and Vite, including custom UI components, weighted scoring logic, and dynamic narrative results. The live application is fully responsive and represents full ownership from concept to production.
