Background

Fluidra is a global leader in the pool industry, providing nearly everything needed to build and maintain residential and commercial pools. But Fluidra's legacy app Aqualink RS supported a limited ecosystem and couldn't scale with expanding product lines.

I led UX ownership of the new consumer-facing Fluidra Pool App, designing a scalable multi-device experiences (5 inch display to desktop) powered by a tokenized design system.

Although Aqualink maintained a 4.7 App Store rating, negative feedback began increasing as the product ecosystem expanded and key features became harder to navigate.

The Business & User Pain Points

The challenge extended beyond visual redesign. From a business perspective, Fluidra needed a platform capable of supporting a growing portfolio of connected products without introducing complexity or inconsistency. The legacy system lacked scalability, cohesive navigation, and a flexible design framework.

From a user standpoint, customers faced confusing flows, inconsistent UI patterns, and limited clarity across devices. App store reviews reflected frustration around usability and reliability.

The core issue was systemic: the platform architecture was not built for long-term expansion.

My Role

Led end-to-end UX strategy for the migration from Aqualink to the new Fluidra Pool platform, redefining the foundation of the consumer ecosystem.

Conducted qualitative research to uncover systemic usability gaps and re-architected core MVP flows - Scheduling, Scenes, and Favorites, into scalable, goal-driven experiences.
Established a tokenized, component-first design system supporting multi-device surfaces from embedded displays to desktop.

Partnered with a 60+ cross-functional team across USA, India, Spain, and Colombia to align product vision, technical constraints, and long-term platform scalability. Delivered a unified experience framework positioned to support Fluidra’s expanding hardware portfolio.

Turning user frustrations into actionable solutions

The Goals

1. Unify the Experience

Create a single cohesive design language across all the platforms

2. Build for Scalability

Design a Tokenized, Component-first Design System that reduces duplication and accelarates delivery

3. Simplify Complex Workflows

Re-architect MVP flows and turn them into goal-driven experience that aligns with user's mental model

4. Reduce Cognitive load

Streamline navigation patterns, interaction logic, and information hierarchy

Final Designs

Glimpse of new Fluidra Pool app

Basic Schedule

Take full control of your pool or spa with the Basic Schedule feature. Easily set up to 32 water features to run exactly when you want by time, day, or custom scene. Whether it’s a relaxing spa evening or a lively pool party, you can create the perfect atmosphere with just a few taps. Best of all, you can manage everything from anywhere in the world.

Challenge:
Setting up a schedule felt like a long, tedious process, especially when trying to manage multiple water features. There’s no clear distinction between individual features and scenes, which made it hard to understand what I was actually scheduling. And if I made a mistake or wanted to make a quick change, editing the schedule wasn’t straightforward, it felt like I had to start over.

Solution:
- Goal-Based Flows: Redesigned the scheduling experience around user goals (e.g., “Relaxing Evening,” “Morning Routine”) instead of technical settings to better align with mental models.

- Visual & Intuitive UI: Introduced a clean, icon-driven interface with plain language to make complex pool functions easy to understand at a glance.

- Modular Scheduling Steps: Broke the process into clear, editable steps, allowing users to review and update individual parts without having to restart the entire schedule.

Scenes

Scenes let you group your favorite water features and save them as a custom experience, so with just one tap, you can activate your perfect setup. Whether it’s a “Party Mode” with all features on or a relaxing evening scene, Scenes make it easy to recreate the moment anytime, instantly.

Challenge:
Users often experience confusion between Schedules and Scenes, struggling to understand when to use each. While Scenes offer personalized control over grouped water features, users lacked the ability to automate them at specific times, limiting their practical use. Additionally, accessing Scenes quickly wasn't intuitive, making it harder to activate preferred setups on the fly. Users expressed a clear need for more personalized, time-based automation and faster access to their custom Scenes.

Solution :
- Onboarding UX Copy: Added clear, concise guidance on first use to explain the Scenes feature and differentiate it from Schedules, reducing user confusion.

- Visual Icons & Default Names: Introduced icons and preset scene names to help users quickly create and identify grouped water features with ease.

- Smart Automation: Implemented feature-toggle scheduling, allowing Scenes to activate automatically at user-preferred times for seamless control.

- Add to Favorites: Proposed a system to pin frequently used Scenes, Schedules, or features on the main dashboard, enabling quick, personalized access.

Favorites

Take full control of your pool or spa with the Basic Schedule feature. Easily set up to 32 water features to run exactly when you want by time, day, or custom scene. Whether it’s a relaxing spa evening or a lively pool party, you can create the perfect atmosphere with just a few taps. Best of all, you can manage everything from anywhere in the world.

Challenge - Setting up a schedule felt like a long, tedious process, especially when trying to manage multiple water features. There’s no clear distinction between individual features and scenes, which made it hard to understand what I was actually scheduling. And if I made a mistake or wanted to make a quick change, editing the schedule wasn’t straightforward, it felt like I had to start over.

Solution - Setting up a schedule felt like a long, tedious process—especially when trying to manage multiple water features. There’s no clear distinction between individual features and scenes, which made it hard to understand what I was actually scheduling. And if I made a mistake or wanted to make a quick change, editing the schedule wasn’t straightforward—it felt like I had to start over.