Designing Zenly: Part I. 2015–2017 Era | by Julien Martin | UX Collective

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. As Zenly came to an end in February 2023, I started writing these articles in September 2022 following the shutdown announcement. It’s my own way to “grieve”, my own way to close the loop and move on. I’m stoked and humbled to have been part of this amazing adventure and even prouder to share a few “behind the curtains” details that occured throughout all these years. I’m no writer, bear with me. There will be 3 parts, all covering chronological events. 🇫🇷 Zenly was a social map app, based in Paris, France. 👶 It all started with Alert.Us — think of it as if Citizen and FindMyFriends had a baby. 🙌 It was created by Antoine Martin and Alexis Bonillo, in 2011. 💡 Alert.Us pivoted to Zenly in 2014. 💸 Raised 30M€ in 2 rounds in 2016. Kima, Benchmark etc. 👻 Acquired by Snap Inc. in 2017. ☠️ Axed by Snap Inc. in 2022. 🤷‍♂️ The catch? Romain Dillet puts it right in 2016: “Zenly is a well-designed, addictive app. I tend to open it every now and t

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. As Zenly came to an end in February 2023, I started writing these articles in September 2022 following the shutdown announcement. It’s my own way to “grieve”, my own way to close the loop and move on. I’m stoked and humbled to have been part of this amazing adventure and even prouder to share a few “behind the curtains” details that occured throughout all these years. I’m no writer, bear with me. There will be 3 parts, all covering chronological events. 🇫🇷 Zenly was a social map app, based in Paris, France. 👶 It all started with Alert.Us — think of