Noma started as a bold idea: make it as simple to find flex workers as it is to order a ride. There was no clear model to copy, no direct competitors, and no existing product to “reskin.” Just a concept and a lot of open questions about how employers and workers should meet in one place.
We studied nearby products – staffing tools, gig apps, and marketplaces – to see what people already understood and where they got stuck. From that, I shaped Noma’s flows and screens so employers could post and manage shifts easily, and workers could find and claim them without getting lost.
Designing Noma meant creating a new pattern for hiring, not just another job board. We had to answer basic questions:
There was no off‑the‑shelf flow that fit. We needed to figure out the core journeys from scratch and still make them feel simple and familiar enough that people would try the product and stick with it.
I led UX, UI, and front‑end development from concept through launch.
On the UX side, I ran competitor and pattern research, mapped user journeys for both roles, and built wireframes in Figma. I defined the main paths: how an employer creates an account, posts a shift, reviews workers; how a worker signs up, sets preferences, and picks up work.
On the visual side, I designed the interface and basic brand system in Figma, with supporting assets in Illustrator and Photoshop. The goal was a look that felt strong enough for employers but friendly enough for workers.
On the development side, I built a custom WordPress theme, wrote the front‑end in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (with a light touch of jQuery), and created custom Elementor widgets so the team could manage content without breaking the layout.
Noma moved from “idea with a one‑page site” to a working platform with regular use from both employers and flex workers. Teams now use it to fill real shifts, and workers use it to find work that fits their schedule.
I started with low‑fi wireframes to sort out structure before we worried about polish. We ran through different ways to split the two audiences without forcing them into separate sites. Each key task got its own simple flow, with as few steps and decisions as possible. Once that felt right, I moved into higher‑fi screens in Figma. Clear typography, simple color use, and consistent spacing helped keep things calm even when there was a lot of data on the screen.
The UI needed to feel like a serious tool, not a side project. I used a tight color system, clear hierarchy, and simple iconography to make actions obvious. Employers see what they need to do next. Workers always know where they are in the process. The design system was built to be reused: buttons, forms, cards, and banners all follow the same patterns, which made it easier to add new features later without the interface falling apart.
I coded the front end to match the designs closely while keeping things light. The custom WordPress theme and widgets gave us flexibility, but most of the logic lives in clean HTML, CSS, and small JavaScript pieces. Pages were built mobile‑first and tested across devices. Employers can post shifts from a laptop in the office. Workers can respond from a phone on the go. Performance and layout hold up in both places.
Noma moved from “idea with a one‑page site” to a working platform with regular use from both employers and flex workers. Teams now use it to fill real shifts, and workers use it to find work that fits their schedule. For me, it was a chance to take a loose concept, turn it into a concrete product, and carry it all the way from early sketches to the live code that runs the marketplace.
