Upshot
Overview
Upshot introduces a new category of product that combines culture, collectibles, and prediction markets. I led the design of the brand, card, and pack systems, and the web marketplace - crafting a user experience that blends speculation, storytelling, and accessibility. The goal was to make a powerful, fun, and intuitive platform that reimagines predictions as collectible digital artifacts.
What we did
- Created an onboarding-first UX that makes investing feel accessible, fun, and emotionally engaging
- Designed a system that invites user co-creation, opening the door to a community-led prediction ecosystem
Playful, Future-Focused Brand Identity
The Upshot identity is forward-looking and playful, blending a nostalgic 90s wordmark with a shooting star, upward motion, and a flipped card silhouette. These elements signal optimism, surprise, and collectible culture—perfectly aligning with Upshot’s role as a cultural time capsule for bold predictions.
Seamless, Game-Like Web3 Experience
Designed to be seamless across mobile and desktop, the web app guides users through a smooth journey from onboarding to purchasing, revealing, collecting, and trading cards. The goal with the site was to hide the Web3 complexity so the platform feels like a simple game with powerful infrastructure underneath. The web app also features a robust marketplace, card auction system, and a leaderboard to foster a competitive community.
Pack purchase flow
The Upshot pack opening flow was designed to capture the thrill of unboxing, turning each interaction into a moment of anticipation. Users start by purchasing a random prediction pack and are greeted with a payment confirmation and success modal. From there, they’re prompted to open the pack, revealing a lineup of hidden cards waiting to be uncovered. Each card can be flipped one by one, or all at once, creating a flexible, playful experience that mirrors the excitement of opening physical collectibles. This interaction reinforces Upshot’s core value: blending prediction with fun, reward, and emotional engagement.
Immersive Prediction Collectibles
Each prediction is captured as a dynamic digital card - visually rich, categorized by rarity, and tied to real-world events. These cards feature interactive data while staying collectible even after resolution. Paired with bold, gradient-filled prediction packs inspired by sneaker and trading card game culture, the experience of collecting and revealing cards feels immersive and exciting, just like opening a rare card pack in real life.
Community Prediction Creation Experience
To encourage community co-creation during closed Alpha, we built a lightweight community experience that let users generate their own prediction cards. With real-time previewing and structured fields (title, outcome, rarity, etc.), anyone can propose new cards tied to live events. This tool became a cornerstone of Upshot’s strategy: letting users shape the cultural moment by turning their predictions into public collectibles.
