Responses by Victor Ricci, chief executive officer, Mattered.

Background: The goal of the soso radio website was to capture phone numbers for SMS campaigns tied to secret concerts and music events across Rhode Island. It’s more than a signup page. It’s the digital front door to an in-person brand experience created by Grammy-nominated producer Nick Sarazen and his wife, Sarah. Fans sign up to receive ticket links and then get a text 24 hours before the show with the secret location. Designed for Gen Z and millennials who crave analog experiences in a digital-first world, the site introduces them to soso’s unconventional, nostalgia fueled approach to live music.

Design core: The core feature is simple—collect phone numbers through SMS sign-up. But the real heart of the site lies in its immersive Windows 3.0–inspired interface. Instead of a traditional navigation menu, visitors interact with retro desktop icons that open draggable windows, bringing in an unexpected, nostalgic twist right from the start.

The experience is packed with thoughtful touches, like an embedded music player streaming sets from last summer and a photo viewer that showcases moments from those events. Even the privacy policy and terms are housed in stylized .txt files to stay true to the theme. The music player minimizes into a toolbar at the bottom of the screen, always within reach without disrupting the rest of the interface. And behind the scenes, window layering, drag and drop functionality, and custom animations all work together to make the site feel dynamic and alive.

In the end, it’s not just about signing up. It’s about introducing people to the energy and ethos of soso radio. The entire design breaks from convention and sets the tone for something memorable, a digital experience that mirrors the vibe of the events themselves: nostalgic, unexpected and totally original.

Navigation structure: It’s a no nav menu by design. Instead, we used a desktop metaphor: clickable icons that open self-contained windows. Users can drag, minimize and close windows just like a vintage PC. Each window was deliberately kept focused on one topic to avoid overload. We built every detail to evoke a sense of play and exploration while keeping the interface lean and intuitive.

Special technical features: One of the most impressive technical elements is the fully interactive window system. We built in z-index logic so that each window layers naturally as users click between them, just like a real desktop. Drag and drop functionality was also a challenge, especially with mobile responsiveness in mind, but we got it to feel smooth and intuitive across devices. The audio player adds another layer of interactivity, with dynamic UI states and a docked miniplayer that lives in the bottom toolbar, offering controls without disrupting the experience. We also gated the SMS flow with cookies to keep the signup process smart and streamlined. And finally, the microanimations throughout the site add a layer of polish that makes the whole experience feel just a little more alive.

Soon, we’ll implement a custom back-end dashboard so soso can update tracks, photos and countdowns without touching code, keeping the site fresh with minimal lift.