Kliko Mobile App is not just another booking platform.
It is a category first product, that from the very start has been designed and built around real people's needs, from Vacation rentals and Event venues, to Construction spaces and Boats, to Hiring workers.
Ivan Martic - Co-founder
My role
UX Project Info
Role
Lead UX Designer
Industry
Real Estate
Year
2025 – 5 Months
Location
Croatia
Design Process
The Problem
In Croatia, people were renting through Facebook groups, but there was no trusted platform for booking unique spaces like garages, boats, or land plots or for hiring short-term help. Most sites lumped everything into "real estate," but users think in terms of needs, not categories. Our research confirmed it.
Ideation
We asked the important "How Might We" Questions that enabled us to focus on the key challenges;
How might we help users book the right space or service without wasting time searching?
How might we give hosts more control and protection over cancellations and no-shows?
How might we give guests peace of mind when it comes to refunds, rules, and trust?
How might we ensure users respect booking rules, guest limits, and house policies?
Exploring these questions helped us define some of Kliko’s most impactful features, things like category specific booking logic, refund visibility, capacity enforcement, and verified user indicators.
Competitors analysis
To position Kliko effectively in the Croatian real estate and short-term rental market, we conducted a competitive review of leading platforms, focusing on listing quality, user protection, mobile experience, and booking diversity.
Njuskalo
Widely used by Croatian property owners
Simple listing creation for desktop users
No real booking or payment flow
Lacks structured business networking.
Key Insights:Kliko can improve on Njuškalo by adding built-in booking logic, mobile-first UX, and trust systems.
Bookings
Well-known refund and cancellation framework
Familiar guest experience
Focused only on hospitality, not land, garages, or services
Complex onboarding for hosts with unique listings
Key Insights: Kliko fills a gap by supporting non-traditional listings like land, construction, or workers.
Airbnb
Trust through reviews and verifications
Strong user protection on both sides
Limited to accommodation-based listings
Doesn’t support categories like events or workers
Key Insights: Kliko can stand out by offering a wider purpose-based booking system beyond stays.
User Flow
To make sure I designed the right solution from all insight I gathered from the end users. I started with mapping out the user flow.
Solution
To solve the challenges we uncovered during research, we designed Kliko around fairness, clarity, and purposeful booking. Each feature was built to support real-world behavior, protecting hosts, empowering guests, and making discovery more intuitive.
Solution 1 : A mobile first experience built for clarity and speed
The aim was to allow users to feel that each interaction, from selecting a category to uploading a listing, would be intuitive and seamless on smaller screens. We used clear icons, tags, and progress indicators
Solution 2 : Trust, Verification Badge
We designed the verification flow to foster genuine trust among users, in particular for higher risk categories such as short stays, land rental or hiring workers. By collecting key ID and business information upfront, we aim to help curb scams, deter fraud and give both guests and hosts confidence before any booking is made.
Solution 3 : Performance Tracking for Service Providers
We created Kliko’s Listing Management Dashboard with the purpose to aid service providers monitor their listings’ performance in real time. Equipped with builti n analytics, the user can keep an eye on views, inquiries, and booking activity, as well as see patterns of engagement over time.
Solution 4 : Scalable Support & Admin System
We designed an intelligent, scalable admin dashboard so Kliko could grow efficiently. From the admin page, admins can easily handle tickets, disputes, user verifications, and other areas that may arise during the growth process, allowing them to keep the platform fair, trusted, and running smoothly.
After Prototyping Solutions, What Came Next?
Through research and testing, we discovered that users across categories like events, land, and worker hire shared similar booking frustrations. Feedback from real guests and hosts confirmed our direction, but also highlighted that some flows were too complex.
In response, we streamlined the MVP to focus on essentials easy listing creation, secure verification, and smart filtering. To ensure long term scalability, we also began building dashboards, support systems, and analytics early on.
With clear priorities and user validation, we confidently transitioned into development.
