GoodFolks

An invitation to come out of your comfort zone.

Competitive Audit

To understand the strengths and weaknesses of the competition, and to identify the opportunities for improvement, I conducted a competitive audit. I compiled a list of the direct and indirect competitors and created the below comparison chart of the competitions’ product features.

User Survey

Assumptions

Those with social anxiety have more difficulty making new friends and are more hesitant to attend social events
The last minute fear of the unknown leads to many people choosing to not show up to an event that they initially planned on going to

Research

To test the validity of my assumptions, I conducted a user survey to better understand the needs and expectations of those who use event applications.

20

User Surveys

12

Survey Questions

5

Interviews

Results From Survey

80%

of participants moved to a new city within the past 5 years

When asked what may cause them anxiety when attending events, participants frequently mentioned:

· Not knowing the type of people attending
· Large, overwhelming crowd
· Shortage of resources because of crowd - parking spaces, food, seats
· Being put on the spot
· Awkward setting

70%

of participants had registered for a social event in the past and canceled last minute

When asked how they determine whether an event they attended was worth it, participants mentioned:

· If new friends were made
· Taking into consideration the amount of effort it took to get to the event and how much they paid, the overall level of enjoyment they had

50%

of participants used MeetUp and Facebook Events in the past

When asked what factors play a role in deciding which social events they’d like to attend, the most common answers were:

· Topic/theme
· Type of activity involved
· Cost of event
· Number of attendees
· Dress code
· Type of people attending
· Location of event
· How likely they are to connect with other attendees

User Interviews

I reached out to five of my user survey participants and conducted semi-structured interviews. I chose to interview a mixture of men and women who have:

Moved to a new city within the past 5-10 years

Experienced anxiety when attending events

Registered for an event and canceled last minute at least once

Used apps in the past to discover and register for events

Key Takeaways

Interviewees commonly mentioned that they prefer to attend collaborative learning/participation events where everyone is engaged in the same type of activity with the same goal. They find it easier to get to know other attendees on a personal level when there’s a small to medium size crowd where everyone attending is there to learn the same thing, to play the same game, or to create the same thing. Some stated that they made strong connections attending cooking, pottery, jewelry, hiking, yoga, and hiking events in the past.

When asked what would encourage them to attend different types of events, interviewees stated that the event needs to offer incentives for them to participate. These incentives don’t need to be tangible, instead they can be a specific type of experience gained, new connections, and/or recognition for overall participation. Additionally, many interviewees said that a lack of effective communication leading up to an event they registered for in the past caused them to forget to attend. These insights helped me realize the importance of including a “key benefits of attending” section for each listed event. Also, making sure the user has an “add to calendar” option for each event they register for is essential to ensuring that they don’t forget about it and that the overall event attendee list is accurate.

Synthesis

Research

Designing & Ideating Solutions

User Flows

I used various symbols to create a visual representation of the two main paths users will take when interacting with GoodFolks - 1. To sign in or create an account 2. To register/buy a ticket for an event. Creating the two main user flows helped me develop a better idea of how to simplify the steps involved in completing a task to help users achieve their goals in the most efficient, enjoyable way.

Lo-fi Wireframes

After developing a strong understanding of the competition and the key users, I began brainstorming solutions to the problem at hand. Due to time constraints, I chose to skip sketching my initial ideas and jumped straight from research into creating low fidelity wireframes. Leveraging the insights I gained from the research I conducted, I created low fidelity wireframes that illustrated the main user flows I identified.

Usability Testing, Round 1

The focus of testing my low fidelity wireframes was to see the strengths and faults of the functionality of my initial design.

Objective

Do users easily understand the purpose of this product?
Do users have any difficulty understanding how to register for an event?
Are users able to confidently navigate the different screens?
What are the strengths of the current design and what still needs improvement?

Test Tasks

Sign up for the service
Allow other event attendees to message you
Scroll through events happening today
Filter the event search results
View past messages you’ve sent to event attendees
View past tickets to events you’ve attended
Check your notifications
Is there any information you find to be missing?
Are there any concerns or pain points you came across?

User Feedback

Plus sign icon in bottom navigation bar is confusing - users mentioned that adding a new event or group doesn’t deserve that much real estate in the navigation bar unless it’s a main action users will take. Given that users select their purpose for using GoodFolks during their sign up process, adding new events/groups will not be a main action for all users and therefore doesn’t need to be part of the main navigation menu.
Calendar icon not necessary in the navigation bar - users expressed indifference towards the calendar option in the bottom navigation menu, specifically stating that it’s not enhancing their user experience. Since the calendar is showing their personal event schedule, not all monthly event options, it makes more sense to include a calendar view as part of the tickets page.

Overall, creating these low fidelity wireframes helped me realize what elements needed to be revisited, what elements were causing a poor user experience, and what pages needed to be redesigned. I made changes to the low fidelity wireframes based on the feedback I received.

Style Guide

Brand Personality

Trustworthy and genuinely cares about helping people and making a difference to people’s lives.

Brand Attributes

Caring
Calm
Familiar
Comforting
Optimistic

Motto

An invitation to come out of your comfort zone.

Design Feel

The color palette and fonts should make the user feel calm, comfortable, and positive.

Design Accents I Created

High Fidelity Mockups

To create a better, more aesthetically pleasing visual representation of how my user interface will look, I created high fidelity mockups applying the visual style I defined in my style guide. I then built a clickable prototype that integrated transitions and conducted five moderated usability tests.

Usability Testing, Round 2

Objective

Do users find the color palette and transitions appropriate?
Do users find there to be a clear sense of visual hierarchy?
Do users enjoy interacting with the different pages?
Are users able to confidently navigate the different screens?
What are the strengths of the current design and what still needs improvement?

Test Tasks

Sign up for the service
View your profile
View your progress
View past connections and messages you’ve sent
Register for the UX Hackathon event
Add event you registered for to your calendar

User Feedback

Overall, the test participants had a lot of positive feedback regarding the color palette I chose and layout of each page. When asked what they would change, they recommended the below:

Notifications for new messages should be separate from other notifications
Add a “create groups” option to the sign up process (page 3/4)
When a user clicks on “menu,” the hamburger menu in the left should change to an “x”

Final Prototype

When creating GoodFolks, I spent a lot of time thinking through the problem I was trying to solve, how industry experts have solved similar problems, and the target audience. Having moved to many different cities throughout my life, I could relate to the challenges that come with trying to establish a social life and quality friend group in a new city. Moreover, I know how encouraging people to step out of their comfort zones to engage in social activities is essential for growth – attending different events helps people confront their social fears, practice their communication skills by connecting with others, and gain an overall better understanding of the types of activities that suit their interests best. Therefore, I put a lot of emphasis on the UI for this project and really wanted to construct a product that incentivized users to be more social. I attempted to do this by selecting an optimistic, warm, and comforting color palette, encouraging people to become “social butterflies” in the “my progress” tab, and accentuating some pages with little designs I created.

Conducting competitive research and user interviews for GoodFolks taught me how it’s not necessary to always try to think of completely unique ideas for a new design project. As a UX Designer, one should examine what products currently exist to solve similar problems you are trying to. Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of industry leaders’ approaches really helped me realize the opportunity I have as a designer to create improved solutions/versions of existing products.

Context

My Role • Solo UX/UI Designer, course project

Duration • 90 hours across September

Responsibilities • Ideation, market research, user research, wireframing, user testing, branding & identity, UI/UX design

Tools • Figma

Project Overview

Adapting to the way of life in a new city comes with many challenges, making new friends is one of them. Those with fears and social anxiety often struggle to make meaningful new connections with people.

GoodFolks is a new mobile application designed to encourage people, particularly those with social anxiety, to get out of their comfort zone and attend different events. By providing a comprehensive list of filter options and incentivizing people to attend a variety of events, GoodFolks helps users gain more confidence and improve their social skills.

Problem

Individuals with social anxiety may RSVP "yes" to an event and/or purchase a ticket, but struggle to attend in person due to overwhelming anxious thoughts and concerns.

Goal

Create a solution to improve event promotion applications, particularly to make it easier for those with social anxiety to identify the types of events they feel comfortable participating in
Provide users incentives to attend events
Penalize those who don’t show up to events they registered for
Notify users of upcoming events they registered for and offer an “add to calendar option”

Design Process

Empathy Map

To gain a better sense of what the user says, thinks, feels, and does, I analyzed the data I collected from my participant surveys and interviews to create an empathy map. This visual captured everything I understood about the user type in one place and helped ensure my design decisions prioritized user needs.

Reflection & Next Steps

Personas

Using the insights I gained from the user surveys, I created the below personas and referenced them consistently to decide whether design decisions aligned with the user type. Although the two personas represent very different personalities, they have many frustrations, needs, and goals in common.