From side project to skater reference: building spotsdeskate.fr

TL;DR

Between 2012–2014, I co-founded and led the design of Spotsdeskate.fr, a platform created by skaters for skaters to discover, map, and share local skate spots. What began as a side project became a reference site in the French skateboarding scene, growing to over 5,000 monthly users, thanks to its detailed UX, collaborative features, and deep integration with mapping and social platforms. Beyond design, it was a hands-on entrepreneurial journey—from product strategy to community growth.

Highlights

  • Founded and led full product strategy, UX, and design

  • Designed powerful spot search, submission, and social sharing features

  • Developed brand and community across Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest

  • Launched unique features like spot hero contest, user profiles, 360° skatepark tours

  • Learned hard lessons in product growth, SEO, and platform security

The Challenge

In the early 2010s, most skate spot sharing happened in forums, blogs, or scattered Facebook groups. There was no centralized, quality-driven platform to discover and map verified skateboarding spots in France. As passionate skaters, we wanted to solve that—make it easier to find, document, and celebrate local skate culture, online and IRL.

My Role

I co-founded the project with my wife, and led UX/UI design, product strategy, and community engagement end to end:

  • User research & surveys

  • Benchmarking and Blue Ocean strategy

  • Wireframes, visual design, UI kit

  • UX specs for dev handoff

  • QA & debugging

  • Launch of social features (e.g. user profiles, spot hero contest)

  • Community building on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube

Design Process

1. Discovery & Research

  • Ran surveys to understand skater needs and expectations

  • Created personas and mapped key user goals (find spots, contribute, connect)

  • Studied other community-driven platforms (e.g. Strava, SkatePerception) to spot UX opportunities

2. Architecture & Strategy

  • Designed a flexible, searchable spot database with rich filtering (type, surface, obstacles, location)

  • Developed the brand strategy around authenticity and community pride

  • Defined features that would drive repeat engagement, such as public profiles and contributions

3. UX & Visual Design

  • Created low-to-hi fidelity wireframes, usr flows to contribute or search spots, and detailed spot page templates

  • Key features

    • Spots map, to search spots by location

    • Classic search, with a search engine

    • Exploration, with interesting ways to explore spots, by material (e.g. concrete, wood…), type of obstacles (e.g. vert ramp, bowl, full pipe, street plaza etc), tags etc.

    • Spots details pages with everything you need to know about a skate spot

  • Implemented clean visual identity blending skate culture and clarity

    • Brought a lot of attention to the spot details page. We decided to value quality over quantity, with all details a skater would need to have before going to try a new spot

4. Social Features & Engagement

  • Launched the “Local Spot Hero” contest to encourage user-generated video content

  • Integrated Facebook Connect, YouTube embeds, and Pinterest sharing

  • Created 360° indoor skatepark virtual tours using Autopano and Panotour

5. Growth & Community

  • Grew a solid following on social media with skater-focused content

  • Partnered with Ride Like Share, a collective pushing for a indoor skatepark next to Rennes

  • Sponsored contests with branded goodies to strengthen community ties

Results

Community Recognition

  • Became a go-to reference for French skaters by 2015

  • Generated 5,000+ monthly visitors

  • Received praise for detailed spot content, search experience and platform UX

Platform Features

  • Custom spot database, social profile system, and collaborative tools

  • Highly tailored UX for skaters’ real-world needs

  • Used and referenced in skate events and meetups

What I Learned

“Purpose builds momentum.”

When you’re solving a real pain point with passion, word-of-mouth becomes your growth engine.

“Design is more than pixels.”

Building the right product also means growing a brand, nurturing a community, and answering every single DM.

“Spoil your top contributors.”

In UGC-based platforms, a few super-users bring most of the value—recognize them, support them, give them tools to shine.

“Security is never “later.””

A hacking incident led to the platform’s shutdown. Lesson learned: even side projects need real protection.

“Responsive is table stakes.”

In hindsight, we underestimated mobile. If I could start over, I’d build for mobile from day one.