LocalBuddy: Designing a Trusted Service Marketplace
Damilola Adelaja
LocalBuddy — Designing a Trusted Marketplace for Everyday Services
A two-sided mobile marketplace connecting customers with verified local professionals, making it easier to find, book, and manage everyday services.
Role: Product Designer
Product: Customer & Service Pro Mobile Apps
Platforms: iOS & Android
Launch: August 28, 2026
THE PROBLEM
Finding someone to handle an everyday job is often more complicated than the job itself.
Customers may have to search through social media, ask friends for recommendations, make multiple calls, compare prices, and still wonder whether the person they found is reliable.
Meanwhile, skilled professionals face a different problem:
being good at what they do doesn't guarantee that customers will find them.
LocalBuddy was created to solve both sides of this problem by bringing discovery, trust, booking, and service management into one marketplace.
DESIGNING FOR A TWO-SIDED MARKETPLACE
LocalBuddy isn't simply a service directory.
It connects two users with completely different goals.
Customers
“I need someone I can trust to get this done.”
They need a fast way to discover relevant professionals, evaluate them, book a service, and know what happens next.
Service Professionals
“I need more customers to discover and book my services.”
They need a credible profile, visibility within the marketplace, and tools to manage their work.
The design challenge was creating two experiences that could feel independent while still working as one connected ecosystem
THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY
01 — FIND
The experience begins with a simple question:
What do you need help with?
Customers can search for a service or browse categories based on their needs and location.
The goal was to remove the need to already know who to call.
Instead:
Start with the problem → find the service → discover the right professional.
02 — EVALUATE
Finding a professional is only useful if the customer feels confident choosing them.
I designed professional profiles to surface the information needed to make that decision — including services, ratings, reviews, pricing information, and verification.
Trust isn't hidden behind another screen.
It is part of the discovery experience.
03 — BOOK
Once the customer finds the right professional, the booking experience takes them from intent to confirmation without unnecessary friction.
The flow makes the important information clear:
Who you're booking.
What you're booking.
When it's happening.
What you're paying.
This was one of the most important flows in the product because it connects discovery directly to action.
04 — PAY & TRACK
Payment and booking management were designed as part of the same journey rather than disconnected features.
Customers can move from booking into payment and continue tracking the status of their service.
The experience is designed to keep users informed about what has happened, what is happening, and what happens next.
Discover → Book → Pay → Track → Complete
MAKING TRUST VISIBLE
For a marketplace dealing with real-world services, trust isn't a supporting feature.
It's the product.
I used verification, ratings, reviews, profile information, and clear service details to reduce uncertainty before a customer commits to a booking.
The objective wasn't to tell users “trust us.”
It was to give them enough information to make the decision themselves.
THE SERVICE PRO EXPERIENCE
The other half of LocalBuddy is the professional.
A marketplace can't succeed if it only makes things easier for customers. It also needs to create meaningful value for the people providing the service.
The Service Pro experience was designed around four core needs:
Get discovered.
Showcase your expertise.
Manage your jobs.
Get paid.
FROM VISIBILITY TO OPPORTUNITY
Professionals shouldn't have to rely entirely on word-of-mouth or existing contacts to find their next customer.
LocalBuddy gives them a structured presence inside the marketplace where customers can discover their services based on what they need.
Professionals can build their profile, showcase their expertise, receive bookings, and build credibility through completed work and reviews.
This turns LocalBuddy from simply a place to find help into a platform that can also help professionals grow their customer base.
MANAGING THE WORK
Once a professional receives a booking, the experience changes from discovery to execution.
The interface gives professionals a clear view of their jobs, schedules, booking details, and service status.
The goal was to make the operational side of the marketplace feel just as straightforward as the discovery experience.
ONE MARKETPLACE. TWO JOURNEYS.
The core product challenge was connecting two very different journeys.
CUSTOMER
Need something done
↓
Find a service
↓
Choose a verified professional
↓
Book & pay
↓
Get the job done
SERVICE PRO
Offer a service
↓
Get discovered
↓
Receive a booking
↓
Manage the job
↓
Get paid & build reputation
These journeys meet at the centre of LocalBuddy:
A trusted marketplace connecting people who need work done with people who can do it.
THE FINAL EXPERIENCE
The final product brings discovery, trust, booking, payment, and service management into one connected mobile experience.
For customers, it removes much of the uncertainty from finding local help.
For professionals, it creates a digital channel for visibility and new opportunities.
And for the marketplace itself, it creates the foundation for a scalable ecosystem where demand and local expertise can meet more efficiently.
OUTCOME
A simpler way to find help
Customers can move from needing a service to finding and booking a relevant professional without relying entirely on scattered recommendations and manual searches.
Trust built into the journey
Verification, profiles, ratings, reviews, and clear service information help customers make more confident decisions.
A stronger platform for professionals
Service Pros gain a structured way to showcase their skills, become discoverable, receive bookings, and manage their work.
One connected marketplace
Rather than designing isolated customer and provider experiences, I designed a system where both journeys work together to create value for the entire marketplace.
LAUNCHED
LocalBuddy officially launched on August 28, 2026.
FINAL THOUGHT
The challenge wasn't simply to design another service marketplace.
It was to take a traditionally fragmented, trust-heavy process and turn it into a product experience that feels clear, credible, and easy to act on.
From the first search to the final booking, every part of the experience was designed around one goal:
Make finding trusted local help feel easier.
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Posted Aug 31, 2026
I designed LocalBuddy, a two-sided marketplace that makes finding trusted local professionals easier from discovery and verification to booking and payment.
