The challenge

Hubba was born out of the independent Brazilian artist's need to connect to the economy: with private companies, public events, open calls, and, most of all, their final audience. The goal was to close that distance, building affective, personal, and economic connections, while also strengthening the artist community and opening up more commercial opportunities.

The process

1. Discovery and research: desk research, a CSD matrix, and a relationship map, followed by interviews and surveys with independent artists and analysis of the data collected.
2. Synthesis: an affinity diagram, an empathy map, and a persona, to really understand the independent artist's pains and motivations.
3. Definition and ideation: a value proposition canvas, a Crazy 8s exercise, and prioritization with a MoSCoW matrix to land on the product definition.
4. Delivery: user flow and wireframes, a style guide, and a high-fidelity prototype, with the post-authentication flow split between posting/scheduling content and a marketplace for selling directly to the audience.
5. Validation: usability testing and analysis on the final prototype.

Results

• Authentication and post-authentication flows mapped and validated, bringing posting, content scheduling, and a marketplace together in a single app.
• A complete high-fidelity prototype, from sign-up to selling directly to the audience.
• A consistent style guide applied across feed, profile, marketplace, and checkout.

What I learned

This project, done at Cubus Academy, showed me how qualitative research (interviews, empathy maps, personas) changes how you prioritize features: the marketplace only made sense once I understood that the independent artist's problem isn't just visibility, it's also not having a direct, fair way to sell their art.