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Nastaran Tahbaz

​Dezz Platform

A subscription-based ecosystem connecting the entire building industry.

Location & Date

Tehran, Aug 2021

Role

UI Design, UX Design, Usability Tests, Brand Identity

Tools

Miro, Figma, Adobe XD

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Dezz is a subscription-based digital platform designed to connect all occupants of the building industry, from individual homeowners and freelancers to large architectural, engineering, and construction firms.

Users can search and find professionals based on detailed evaluation criteria, project history, ratings, and industry-specific filters.
The platform aims to create an integrated ecosystem where companies, material manufacturers, and individuals can collaborate and showcase their work.

The Challenge

Despite the large number of professionals in the construction and design industry, there is no centralized, transparent, and easy-to-navigate platform where:

  • Users can evaluate professionals based on real project data and collaborations

  • Companies can showcase previous partnerships (e.g., which architect worked with which contractor on which project)

  • Individuals can explore materials, suppliers, and design studios in one ecosystem

  • The industry can build credibility, visibility, and connections in a structured way

Traditional platforms (LinkedIn, Instagram, firm websites) fail to show accurate project relationships, and users rely heavily on personal networks or scattered resources.

Dezz addresses this gap by building a professional network designed specifically for the building industry.

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Goals

  • Enable users to search, compare, and evaluate professionals based on role, speciality, ratings, and verified collaborations

  • Create a platform where companies and individuals can build credibility through project showcases

  • Offer subscription tiers with advanced features (analytics, moodboards, collaboration tools)

  • Support community engagement via likes, comments, follow, and saved boards

  • Provide a unified ecosystem for all scales: individuals | small firms | large corporations

User Research

We conducted interviews with:

  • Architects

  • Civil engineers

  • Contractors

  • Material suppliers

  • Homeowners

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Key Insights

  • Users want quick evaluation tools (ratings, reviews, project history)

  • Firms want to showcase who they have worked with to build trust

  • Material suppliers want visibility toward architects and contractors

  • Users need visual inspiration (moodboards, saved projects)

  • Subscriptions make sense only if the platform adds networking + discovery + credibility

These insights shaped our core features.

Main Features

Dezz brings together the entire building industry in one space. Users can create profiles, whether they’re individuals, design studios, construction firms, or material manufacturers and showcase their projects and collaborations. A smart search system allows people to discover professionals based on project type, speciality, ratings, and verified past partnerships. Each project page highlights all contributors, helping users understand who worked with whom and how credible each team is.
The platform also includes a social layer where users can follow others, like and comment on projects, and save their favorite work into personalized moodboards. For those who want more advanced tools, Dezz offers subscription plans that unlock extended features, deeper analytics, and enhanced visibility.

Information Architecture

The platform was structured around three core pillars:

  1. Discover (search, filters, categories)

  2. Connect (follow, chat, collaborations)

  3. Showcase (projects, portfolios, moodboards)

This helped simplify navigation and reduce cognitive load.

Wireframes & Prototyping

Low-fidelity sketches focused on:

  • Clean search experience

  • Clear profile hierarchy

  • Project details with collaborator mapping

  • Simple social interactions
     

Mid and high-fidelity prototypes introduced:

  • Visual hierarchy

  • Brand color palette

  • Project thumbnails

  • Moodboard interactions

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Low-fidelity Wireframe

Usability Testing

We structured the usability testing around a set of clearly defined scenarios that reflected the core user journeys of the platform. Participants were asked to complete these scenarios while their screen, mouse movements, and interactions were recorded, allowing us to analyze their behavior in detail.

Across three rounds of usability testing, we observed how users navigated the flows, where they hesitated, and which elements caused confusion. After each round, we addressed the identified issues, refining terminology, improving the visibility of key actions, and adjusting the structure of certain interactions. The updated prototype was then tested again to confirm that the problems were resolved.

This iterative testing process helped us continuously validate our decisions and ensure the platform felt intuitive and usable for different types of users.

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Ui Design

The UI design of DEZZ is based on the recent Neomorphism trend, a visual style that blends the realism of skeuomorphism with the simplicity of modern minimalism. While Neomorphism creates a soft, tactile aesthetic, it is often criticized for lowering usability due to low contrast and unclear component boundaries.

To overcome these issues, we applied a normalized, more functional version of Neomorphism. Shadows and highlights were kept subtle, and every neomorphic element was supported with clear typography, imagery, and stronger visual hierarchy. This allowed us to maintain the modern, soft visual identity of the trend while ensuring the interface remained accessible, legible, and easy to navigate.

The result is a UI that feels contemporary and visually distinctive, without compromising clarity or usability.

Iconography

For DEZZ, we designed a custom icon set to represent the many fields involved in the building industry. Because users come from different professional backgrounds, icons helped create a clear visual language for identifying categories, roles, and project types. The icons were developed with consistent styling to match the neomorphic UI and to make navigation easier and more intuitive across the platform.

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Dezz successfully creates:

  • A unified ecosystem for the building industry

  • Transparent professional evaluation

  • A social layer that encourages inspiration and collaboration

  • New opportunities for firms to gain visibility and trust

Project Credit

The project brief was created in collaboration with Arman boom-e-farda and Future City Innovation Lab. I was engaged in all parts of the project as a UI/UX designer.

  • Product lead: Mahan Mehrvarz

  • Product DevOps Lead: Sina Aghajani

  • UX Research and Design: Mahan Mehrvarz, Nastaran Tahbaz, Atousa Adel

  • UI Design: Mahan Mehrvarz, Nastaran Tahbaz

  • Motion Graphic: Sara Malek

  • Front-end Development: Sina Aghajani

  • Back-end Development: Sina Aghajani

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Usability Tests

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UX Design

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