Engineering + design · 2024 · Archived
ConnectAfrobeats
A social network for Afrobeats fans with chat, feed and content creation, rebuilt for speed and accessibility.
- Load time
- −30%
- Core Web Vitals (mobile)
- 62 → 85
- Active users
- 1K+
- Accessibility
- WCAG 2.1 AA
ChallengeMake a feature-heavy social app fast and accessible on the phones its audience actually uses.
Overview
ConnectAfrobeats is a social network for Afrobeats fans: chat, a feed and content creation. From August 2024 to September 2025 I was its frontend engineer and design lead, leading development of the platform in Next.js and TypeScript and working with the wider team to deliver it.
State and caching architecture
I built the app's data layer on Zustand and TanStack Query. That optimisation produced a 30% reduction in initial load time, and the Core Web Vitals score went from 62 to 85 on mobile.
Chat, feed and content creation
The platform's core is social: real-time chat, a feed and tools for fans to create and share content.
Auth and payments
Sign-in uses Google Sign-in and JWT, and payments run through Paystack.
Accessible redesign
As design lead I redesigned the UI with Tailwind and Shadcn UI to meet WCAG 2.1 AA, for a platform with 1K+ active users.
I also designed the brand's social, newsletter and event creative; see ConnectAfrobeats Creative.