← Selected work · 03 — Events · Web, dashboard, iOS
Crowdcast: a host console that stays calm during a live event
A host runs chat, polls, questions and their own nerves at once. I reimagined the console around one rule: the host controls on one side, exactly what the audience sees on the other.
- Type
- Portfolio project
- Surfaces
- Web, host dashboard, iOS
- Focus
- Realtime host UI
- This page
- Reimagined 2026
The problem
Hosts run chat, polls and questions while performing; every extra decision on screen is attention taken from the audience.
My role
Reimagined the host console and its audience view as a working prototype.
The result
A host console where every action shows its effect on the audience view, with one live overlay on stage at a time.
This is a 2026 reimagining of an earlier portfolio project, rebuilt as a working prototype. See the original Crowdcast project on Behance ↗ (opens in a new tab)
01 — The problem
Hosts perform and operate at the same time.
A webinar host is on camera while triaging questions, launching polls and watching chat. Every extra decision on screen is attention taken from the audience. The risk isn’t a missing feature; it’s a console that makes the host look away.Judgement
02 — Design decisions
Three design calls.
Show the audience’s view next to the controls
A preview behind a tab is the usual pattern. Here the audience view is permanent, so every action has a visible consequence and the host never wonders “did that go out?”Judgement
One live thing on stage at a time
Pinning a question replaces the poll on the audience view; unpinning restores it. The system prevents two competing overlays rather than asking the host to manage them.Design-level
State is always named
“Poll ready”, “Poll live”, “Poll closed”: a labelled status, never colour alone, and announced to assistive tech as it changes.Design-level
03 — Prototype
Run a poll. Pin a question.
Launch the poll, simulate votes, then pin a question and watch the audience pane respond.
Host controls · only you see this
Poll readyPoll: which topic next?
Questions (3 open)
Amara
Can I reuse the replay link in a newsletter?
Daniel
Does the poll results screen export to CSV?
Mei
How do co-hosts join without a second login?
What the audience sees
The host is about to start. Nothing to do yet.
Simulated votes. Illustrative prototype.
04 — Outcome
What I can stand behind.
- Host controls and audience view visible together, so 0 actions happen without a visible consequence.Design-level
- One on-stage overlay at a time, enforced by state.Design-level
- 3 named poll states, each announced to screen readers.Design-level
How I would validate it: a five-host test on “start an event and launch a poll”, measuring time on task and errors.