FriendsMeet

Redesigning the way people forge online connections to turn into meaningful in-person meetups.

PROJECT TYPE

Conceptual

PROJECT DATE

Nov 2021 - Sept 2022 (9 months)

MY ROLE

Solo Product Designer

TLDR

THE PROBLEM

As adults, many people struggle to make new friends. They often feel isolated and turn to online apps to connect with others, but this can be a frustrating experience. They face challenges such as not finding compatible matches, conversations fizzling out, or no responses at all can make people feel even more alone. It's difficult to form genuine friendships through these apps, which only adds to the sense of isolation.

DESIGN CHALLENGE

  • HMW recreate the user’s online experience so that they can expand their social circle?

  • HMW encourage relationship growth passed online for users so that they can meet in person?

  • HMW solve users’ location limitations so that they don’t feel restricted? 

  • HM create a fun and engaging way for users to have meaningful interactions?

HYPOTHESIS

People over the age of 25 are losing friends, so they want to create new friends with similar interests.

SOLUTION

FriendsMeet - a social platform for making new friends based on interests and qualities. Connect with other people by turning conversations into meaningful in-person friendships. 

BACKGROUND + WHITE PAPER RESEARCH

A decrease in social connections increases adults feeling more lonely.

I was completely unprepared for the significant change that happened in my social life. My social circle shrank and some of my friendships faded away, leaving me feeling isolated. I conducted research to see if this was a unique experience and came across an article from National Library of Medicine:

“...maximum number of connections for both males and females occurs at the age of around 25. During this early phase, males appear to be more connected than females. After this, the number of alters decreases steadily for both genders…”

I conducted further research to explore how adults make new friends and overcome loneliness. With a focus on the digital experience, I began to wonder about its effectiveness.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

There is a noticeable absence of applications that prioritize friendship leading to success.

While exploring digital solutions, I chose to concentrate on the most commonly used applications that help people find companionship. I carefully examined the distinct features that set them apart from others and read customer reviews to understand their pros and cons. To gain more in-depth experience, I joined one of the apps as a user and noted down my initial impressions.

PRIMARY RESEARCH

Users have mixed experiences using the application to find and form a connection with others.

In order to gain insight into individuals seeking friendship and their experiences with online applications, I conducted interviews with 5 participants who use my competitors or similar apps. To recruit participants, I utilized a screener survey and discovered that nearly half of them use these apps less than once per month.

“Sometimes it’ll be a swipe, match, but nothing happens.”

- Interviewee 3

From research, four main pain points were discovered.

DESIGNING FOR A FRIEND SEEKER

We’re designing for Ida.

During interviews, I heard repeating information that revealed two personas, with one being more prominent. This will be my primary focus - Friend Seeker, Ida.

SETBACKS + IDEATION

Shifting my approach for brainstorming new ideas.

My goal was to brainstorm as many ideas as possible to develop an innovative solution. However, using the Scramper approach felt more restricted due to its structure. Realizing this, I switched to Crazy 8, using pen and paper, allowing me to generate numerous possible solutions. 

Exploring creative solutions and narrowing down ideas to find innovative solutions.

I organized the ideas by categorizing them, with my primary objective being to identify innovative solutions that could be implemented, taking into account constraints such as time and user accessibility.

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

Organizing the essential features users will need to go through to achieve their goal.

Before developing my user flows, creating the application's structure through a site map was essential. This sitemap will help me understand how users will navigate through the application and how the content will be presented to them so they can achieve their goal (expanding their social circle and turning online conversations into in-person meetups).

Site map

Four main user flows.

After conducting four rounds of guerrilla testing on my design concepts, I was able to update the user flow, making it easier for them to achieve their goals.

Flow 1: Create an account

Flow 2: Create an event

Flow 3: Add an activity to your event

Flow 4: Message a user who recently interacted with your profile

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT + SETBACKS

Putting pen to paper first.

Using user flows as a guide, I sketched ideas for the content that would be displayed on each screen as users progress towards their goal.

From guerilla testing my design solution, I discovered major flaw in one of my user flows.

During guerilla testing, most participants faced difficulties completing the task due to a mismatch with their mental model. As a result, the single flow was separated into two separate flows. I learned that assessing usability based on users reading screens alone doesn’t provide accurate or valuable feedback.

STYLE GUIDE

FriendsMeet Style Guide

Meet the product - FriendsMeet. The name was chosen because the application serves as a platform for people to connect with others to build new friendships. It needed to feel authentic, friendly, safe, unique, empathic because making new friends no matter what age can be nerve-wracking.

TESTING & ITERATING

After 6 rounds of testing with 30 participants and a design critique, I made 4 major improvements.

After receiving numerous feedback, I continued to iterate the design by prioritizing issues faced by most participants and incorporating feedback that would help improve the user experience.

HERE’S WHAT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR

Final Screens

IMPACT

“ I feel like it’s a safe place to meet people and then find a commonplace on the outside to meet that person.”

- Participant 2

I measured the app's impact using three KPIs: task completion rate, likelihood of user recommendation, and user satisfaction ratings. These KPIs were chosen to align with industry standards of current social connection applications. The ratings ranged from 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.

ENDING REFLECTIONS

Main challenges were…

  1. Not producing the same thing as my competitors. The biggest challenge during this project was to keep in that my product designs should not be created similarly to my competitors. Although people are looking for companionship, the bond they want to build is friendships. 

I learned that…

  1. Importance of keeping the design user-centered. It’s essential to keep the users in mind throughout the design process (solutions, layout, icons, copy, etc) to help users reach their goals. Making some last-minute changes to the Discover page made me realize the importance of using research and having the intention to create better designs.

  2. Creating a journey map will allow me to have a clearer picture. If I had a better understanding of the various stages users undergo to accomplish their goal of expanding their social circle, I would be able to identify their pain points more effectively and focus my attention there.

If I had more time…

  1. Further develop the content on the Discover page. I want to interview users to determine what information is important for getting to know someone. This will help us decide what content should be on users' profiles to help them find compatible people with similar interests and qualities.

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