Buddy Up
Neighboruly connection to nearby activities and like-minded residents.
UX Designer
UX Researcher
My Role
3 months
Duration: Jan - Mar 2023
The Problem
In today’s busy world, finding time to connect with others and engage in activities that you love can be difficult, especially when considering the convenience of proximity.
This app addresses this challenge by focusing on users within the same, or nearby buildings. It enables residents to effortlessly discover activities that align with their interests, and connect with neighbors who have similar hobbies without having to venture far from home.
User Research
To solve this problem, I conducted user interviews to understand user needs, preferences, and pain points.
Primary goals:
Confirm whether users actually face difficulties in finding or connecting with others who share similar interests within their building or immediate vicinity
Understand the user’s current experience and challenges in connecting with others who share their interests and activities, and identify any barriers or obstacles they encounter
Uncover the type of activities/interactions that users would be most interested in engaging in
Determine features and functionalities that users find most useful in an app designed to facilitate connections with like-minded individuals in their building
Assumptions:
Users struggle to connect with others sharing similar interests and hobbies within their building, or immediate area
Users are interested in participating in shared activities with their neighbors to strengthen their social connections
Time, effort, and lack of information are significant barriers to establishing connections
Users have privacy and safety concerns when it comes to connecting with others within their building.
User Interview Questions
Sample interview questions:
Tell me about your current living situation: do you live in an apartment/house?
What opportunities, if any, do you have to connect with your neighbors and take part in social activities?
How do you typically establish connections with your neighbors and join in social activities? Are there specific tools or platforms you use?
In your current living situation, on a scale from 1 - 10, how important is social interaction with others in contributing to your sense of belonging within a community?
Are you interested in engaging in more social activities with your neighbors? If so, what types of activities would you like to take part in?
What features and functions would you most like to see in a mobile app to connect with neighbors to find/join/host activities?
What personal information are you comfortable sharing with other users on the app? Privacy and security factors?
Learnings from User Interviews
“I’m interested in doing activities and connecting with neighbors, but its so hard to know who in my building is interested in the same things”
Empathy Map
POV Statements
Ideate: Crafting a Solution
Based on the insights gathered from user interviews and keeping the product’s North Star metric (monthly active users) in mind, I began the design process by creating hand sketches to outline the core features I wnated to include in the app.
I wanted to create an app experience that prioritized and revolved around the following core features:
Home Landing Page: easy-to-use, and allows users to scroll through a list of activities. Maximize user time spent on the app.
Map Page: intuitive to allow users to easily visualize and locate/browse activities happening within their apartment building or nearby areas. Maximize user engagement possibilities by expanding their reach.
Events Pages: clear and simple to allow users to easily manage their activities (joined or hosting), including post-completion event tasks (i.e.: rating). Helps to foster an active community and maintain long-term user satisfaction.
Sketches
Hand sketches: App Landing, Login, Sign Up, Home Landing (left to right).
Hand sketches: App Landing, Login, Sign Up, Home Landing (left to right).
Hand sketches: App Landing, Login, Sign Up, Home Landing (left to right).
Hand sketches: App Landing, Login, Sign Up, Home Landing (left to right).
Wireframes
Design System
The colors of the app were chosen to help users associate BuddyUp with:
Trustworthiness, and legitimacy: Blue
Activity and engagement: Orange
Community connections and growth: Green
Hi-fi Mockup
Main Features:
View, discover, and filter for activities
Detailed information about activities
Manage activities: Join, Host, Report, Rate
Post anonymously
User Testing
The Clickable prototype was created to test my ideas and validate them.
This was extremely helpful for me to test users on the tasks that I focused on to gain some realistic insights, and also understand what worked well and what app features need to be re-examined for further improvement.
Defining Testing Goals
determine if users can easily navigate the app to find activities they are interested in
identify any pain points or areas for improvement within the app
Core Tasks
Login/Sign Up
Search for activities nearby
Join an activity hosted by another user
Host an activity
View Upcoming/Past activities
Cancel your RSVP from an activity
Report an issue with an activity
Rate/Review a past activity
Enable anonymous posting
User Testing Results
The usability testing results indicated that although many core functions and features were simple to use and intuitive, there were some areas that needed to be refined with my app design. Specifically:
Some functions/features were not present where users were expecting them
Confusion caused by competing CTA buttons
What went well?
Good design that anticipated user’s flow in critical functions
easy to use, intuitive
Good choice of colors
User interviews were a good starting point that helped identify key features
Usability testing validated design choices but also identified areas that could be improved for a better user experience
What could have gone better?
Language/wording within the app could be improved to be more specific to apartment buildings
i.e.: Activities in My Building vs. Activities Nearby
this was only differentiated on the Map Screen
More user interviews and usability testing from users outside of the classroom
3/7 participants were classmates
4/7 participants were apartment building residents
Many additional features could be implemented to improve the overall user experience (i.e.: swipe left to reveal a delete/cancel button)
Moving forward
There are still many unexplored features and functionalities that could further enhance the user experience, and promote community engagement:
Gamification: Introduce a points/badge/rewards system to users for participating in activities.
Encourage users to engage more frequently and build stronger connections with their neighbors
Could positively impact the MAU
Partnership with Local Business: Explore collaboration with local businesses to offer discounts or promotions for its members.
Facilitate connecting users with the local community, beyond scope of their apartment building
Positively increase MAU if users are drawn to the idea of supporting local businesses
Be a part of something larger
Groups/Community Board: Create groups or community boards where users can post about upcoming activities, and seek assistance from neighbors.
Drive community engagement while increasing MAU
Premium features: Offer a subscription-based premium plan that provides exclusive access to advanced features (i.e. priority activity RSVP and an ad-free experience).
Added value to users could lead to a positive increase in MAU
Integration with other platforms: Enable users to share activities on popular social media platforms,
Increases visibility and attracts more users to app, leading to positive increase in MAU