frisson

Film has Letterboxd; music never got its version. Jack Del Sole, Frisson's founder, wanted the place where music lovers log what they listen to, rate it, rank it, and argue about it, from last night's release to last night's concert. The project came to Bridger through Oliver Wyman, and I led design: Jack's team arrived with working wireframes and a clear vision, and our job was to turn that vision into an app people would actually enjoy using.

The wireframes' rating system was the sticking point: it asked users to do too much before it gave anything back. Rating is the heartbeat of a review app, so it has to feel like a flick, not a form. We replaced the mechanism with a visual five-note scale, tap a note and you're done, with a review box right below for anyone who wants to say more. The simplification kept everything the original system measured and dropped everything it demanded.

Explore is a wall of cover art across four content types: albums, artists, songs, and concerts. Album pages carry the rating, the review stream, and the full tracklist, each track rankable on its own. The feed turns it social, friends ranking and reviewing in real time, and custom lists let people publish their canon. The design leans on the artwork: music already looks good, so the interface stays dark and lets covers carry the color.

4.5★

App Store rating

Feb 2025

shipped, still updating

4

content types: albums, songs, artists, concerts

Frisson shipped to the App Store in February 2025 and has kept shipping since, holding a 4.5-star rating. The founder got the product he pictured, with the interactions rebuilt to earn their place on people's phones.

This project sharpened a client skill: how to redesign someone's baby without redesigning their vision. Jack's idea was right and his wireframes were the proof of care, not the enemy. The work was finding the one interaction that fought the vision, fixing it, and leaving everything that already worked alone.