Cricut Joy mobile app
An intuitive design & crafting app that helps anyone feel like a pro — even first-time makers.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Challenge
Cricut’s existing desktop software overwhelmed beginners. The new compact Cricut Joy™ machine needed a simpler, mobile-first experience that non-crafters could use confidently.
Solution
Led 0→1 design for a brand-new mobile app built around guided projects, smart defaults, and live previews. I reimagined every touchpoint — from unboxing to “Make It” — so users never felt lost.
Impact
In addition to the metrics above, this app became a proof-of-concept model for the design principles, behaviors, and visual language needed to modernize and simplify Cricut's legacy software — for all of its machines and users.
Role
Principal Product Designer
Contribution
Led end-to-end UX for iOS + Android, guided junior designers, partnered with Execs + PM + Eng on MVP scope, and helped define the foundation of Cricut’s new design system.
Collaborators
Supporting UX designers, Visual Design, Product Management, Content Strategy, Industrial Design, Accessories & Materials team, Engineering, UX Research, Analytics, Data Science, Machine Learning, Legal, Education, Marketing, and Executives.
Timeline
0→MVP in 2.5 years
PROBLEM
Cricut was developing a new, smaller cutting machine — the Cricut Joy™ — for a "creative non-crafter" audience. Cricut's existing software, however, was difficult to use and posed a significant barrier to entry for users who were not already dedicated crafters. Cricut engaged Swim Interaction Design Studio to research, conceptualize, and ultimately design an innovative mobile experience for these new Cricut Joy users.
PROCESS
The team at Swim began by doing ethnographic research, followed by multiple rounds of designing and testing early concepts. These shaped decisions about the content, use cases, and mental models that the new app needed to support.
After conceptual testing, I was brought onto the project to design end-to-end use case flows and define all detailed interactions, for both the software and the physical machine. We continued making and extensively user testing interactive prototypes throughout the process, and worked closely with Cricut stakeholders during every phase of the project.
User Testing: Out of Box Experience
User Testing: "Make It" Experience
DESIGN
While we had Cricut’s existing software, Design Space, as a reference point, we designed the new app entirely from the ground up to meet non-crafter user needs. In this endeavor, we faced novel constraints (while also designing for future extensibility):
-
No hard buttons on the machine — all controls for interacting with the machine had to live inside the app
-
New Matless materials and traditional On-mat materials
-
New material sizes and limitations for this machine
-
New key use cases: bulk labels, cards, foil application
New Framework: End-to-End Guided Projects
THE DETAILS
In addition to the app's Landmark screens (shown above), I also designed new flows and screens for Unboxing & Activating the machine, Image Upload, Subscriptions, Settings, Error States, Empty States, and Internationalization.
Innovations and/or improvements on Cricut's previous software included:
-
Use-case or Material-based entry points
-
Set Up project screens with smart defaults
-
WYSIWYG project and material visualization (IP created, patents applied for)
-
More powerful and appropriate design tools, addressing dozens of previously identified usage and usability issues
-
Detailed contextual instructions with custom video renderings to ensure success
-
Instrumented for data capture throughout
REFINE & RELEASE
I began working closely with a Cricut Visual Designer, who defined a complete look-and-feel for this app; this later became the basis for a new Cricut Design System.
Swim officially joined Cricut as employees during the early stages of development.
I then worked closely with Product Management, Dev, QA, Content managers, Materials & Accessories, Data team, Legal, etc. to scope and build the product MVPs for iOS and Android.
The Cricut Joy app MVP launched on iOS, followed by Android. We continued to design, test, and build new use cases for 3 years. Throughout the entire development process, the team pioneered more agile ways of working at Cricut.
I've used other cutting products but none have been as easy to use as this. I'm still a newby but this machine makes me feel like a pro.
5-star App Store Review
*****
This machine is an absolute delight and the app is extremely user friendly. I love it.
5-star App Store Review
The app asks questions and is 'leading' in the way that it is structured. I was not surprised to see that even my kindergarten students could figure it out with very little explanation.
CSAT user feedback
I love the simplicity of the app for quick cuts, cards, and labels. Unfortunately Design Space [existing software] just doesn't work as well with the Joy for simple stuff.
Satisfied Australian user
