ZICKONEZEROCreative

DemoStoke UX Case Study

Introduction

TL;DR

Riders and shops struggle with fragmented, offline demo and rental flows. I designed DemoStoke to be a unified marketplace to solve those issues. In validation sessions, 90% of shop owners said it would bring them more customers, and 100% of riders described it as “the thing that should already exist.”

What It Is

DemoStoke is the go-to platform to find, try, and buy the gear you’ll eventually fall in love with.

The Problem

Riders want to try before they buy, but demos are rare, costly, and inconvenient.

The Solution

A location-based marketplace to safely connect riders, lenders, and shops.

Surf shop displaying boards available for demo

My Roles

Founder, UX Designer, and Full-Stack Developer.

The Why / How It Started

My Story

For the longest time, I struggled to find a way to try new gear without the hassle of traditional demo days or the uncertainty of buying blind. I knew there had to be a better way for riders like me to connect with gear they wanted to test out before making a pricey purchase.

It started with surfboards. I’d buy boards off Craigslist, hoping they’d match my style and skill level—or I’d sink a lot of money on a new board because it looked cool or was a popular model.

Is There a Better Way?

I started playing with ideas, and years before I built DemoStoke, I created designs for a peer-to-peer lending app called Stuf. It wasn’t specific to action sports gear, but it planted the seed for what DemoStoke would eventually become.

In late 2023, after demoing a Capita DOA snowboard at Palisades Tahoe and loving it, I realized the power of trying before buying. I thought, why not create a platform that makes this process seamless for everyone?

Early Stuf peer-to-peer gear lending concepts in Figma

The Who / User Personas

Rachel (34, San Diego) is a marketing manager who rides 1-2x/month.
She wants to try before buying expensive gear but is frustrated by limited demo options.
She looks to Instagram and friends for recs, and wants DemoStoke to offer trusted peer reviews, easy filters, and clear pickup info.

Chris (29, Truckee) is a remote project manager who snowboards 3-4x/week.
He seeks variety in gear but shops don’t offer enough options.
He’s active in forums and trades gear with friends.
He wants DemoStoke to offer high-quality listings, flexible pickup, and rider reviews.

Maya (31, Santa Cruz) is a van-lifer and remote UX designer who rides 1-3x/week.
She doesn’t want to own a ton of gear and struggles to find quality rentals in new locations.
She wants DemoStoke to offer verified local lenders, easy-to-find gear specs, and fair prices.

Tony (45, South Lake Tahoe) co-owns a board shop and wants to run demos without building his own tech.
He’s frustrated that most platforms don’t support niche gear.
He wants DemoStoke to help list demo boards, drive traffic, and convert demos into sales.

Dustin (38, Ventura) is a known surfboard shaper trying to grow his reputation.
He wants to organize demos and track who rides his boards but lacks the tools.
He wants DemoStoke to offer a shaper-specific feature, demo tracking, and review visibility.

Jessie (27, Encinitas) is a yoga instructor with extra boards.
She wants to earn passive income but doesn’t trust Craigslist.
She wants DemoStoke to provide a smooth listing flow, damage protection, reviews, verified users, and an earnings dashboard.

The How / AI-Driven Development

Location-Based Discovery

With DemoStoke, I created a comprehensive gear discovery and rental platform that connects riders with demo opportunities in their area.

By leveraging location-based services, DemoStoke helps riders find available gear to try before they buy, while also providing a marketplace for gear owners to list their equipment for rent.

Additionally, shop owners can easily manage their demo inventory and track rentals through an intuitive admin dashboard.

Rapid Prototyping with AI

Using Lovable.dev, I was able to spin up the app’s foundation with a well-written prompt, then iterated rapidly to refine features and user experience.

By combining AI-generated code, my years of front-end development experience, and a database integration, I created a fully-functional web application complete with signup/login, user and admin dashboards, and geolocation services with OpenAI API integrations.

Screenshots

Blog home with drafts and published posts

Methods / The UX Process

Primary and Secondary Research

Interviewed riders across surf, snow, and MTB to surface demo frustrations and trust gaps.
Captured quotes about convenience, selection, and safety to anchor problem statements.
Benchmarked competitors and availability patterns to spot underserved sports and locations.

Empathize, Define, and Ideate With Users

Ran rider and shop employee interviews plus field observations to see friction in context.
Framed trust-and-convenience problem statements with measurable goals for activation and conversion.
Mapped discovery-to-feedback flows and prioritized must-have moments for riders and lenders.

Prototype, Test, and Refine the Product

Used Lovable AI to generate hi-fi pages quickly, then refined with prompt engineering.
Layered custom frontend polish and Supabase to demo discovery, admin, and AI integrations.
Ran moderated and unmoderated walkthroughs to validate discovery, booking, and trust cues.

Surfer carrying a board while walking beside a man on his phone