Project summary
The app features a clean and simple design that emphasizes ease of use and privacy. Users can browse Circles (communities) and Events, join or create their own groups, and communicate with other members via chat. The app also features a rating and feedback system to improve the quality of events and groups.
This project is designed for people who are making conscious efforts to work on their struggles to socialize and make friends.
Problem statement
Our fear and social anxiety can keep us from making new friends.
Friends keep us company through the ups and downs of our lives and help us grow. But as we grow older, our fear and social anxiety can keep us from making new friends. It is also difficult for people who relocate to new environments - leaving their friends behind. Which leads to the question...how can we rekindle the spark of friendships?
Solutions
"Shared activities and interests are the most important factors in predicting the duration of friendship - Britannica
The problem statement above highlights the challenge some individuals face when trying to make friend and build meaningful relationships. One potential solution I worked with is a community that brings together like-minded individuals to connect, share experiences, and build relationships. Another solution includes creating more inclusive events (based on the user’s interest) and making them accessible.
User research
I started by making research on social anxiety and shyness. Why do people experience it? The triggers. Why do friendships go stale? My research findings and questions formed the foundation for how I approached this problem and also how I developed questions for my user interview. Some of the questions I asked my interviewees included.
1. How do you experience social anxiety/shyness, and what triggers your symptoms?
2. What are some of the biggest challenges you face when trying to make friends?
3. Have you tried using online communities or social networks to connect with others, and if so, what has your experience been like?
4. How do you typically cope with social anxiety/shyness when meeting new people or in social situations?
5. What do you think would be most helpful in terms of overcoming social anxiety/shyness and building new connections?
After my interview with different people, I identified two categories of people based on their responses.
User Persona
Competitive analysis
The Community feature is SECONDARY
I conducted a competitive analysis of various popular social platforms, but I will be displaying just two - Twitter and Meetup, based on their community features. By examining their strengths and weaknesses, I gained a deeper understanding and solutions on of how these platforms can leverage for community building and engagement and implemented them into Circles.
Text and Color styles
I decided to design this project with Inter because of its clarity, legibility, and accessibility. It is optimized for screen reading software and can be easily read by users with visual impairment. It's clear and simple letterform makes it an excellent choice for UI design. Purple is thought to have a calming effect on the mind and body. This makes it beneficial in helping individuals feel calm and at ease.
Conclusion and Lesson Learnt
This case study has been an amazing experience for me because it gave me the chance to understand a glimpse of the struggle people with social anxiety, and shyness go through. I feel we should look out for one another more often. Reach out to people who look 'left out' in social gatherings and try to make them feel comfortable without putting pressure on them.
Although this was a conceptual project, there were things I learnt and should have done to make this project better;
1. Ideate and iterate as much as possible: Discovering a solution after carrying out my white-paper and user research, I became rigid with exploring more options and ideas and I felt this affected my output. I also felt 'in a hurry' to complete and publish this project. This is an area I will address moving forward.
2. I was too focused on creating the solutions around a community and I did not put ENOUGH attention on privacy and safety outside the community space (Direct messages). The world is filled with dangerous people and as a digital product designer, it is my job to create tools that can help users protect themselves.
3.. Data-driven: While intuition and creativity are important in design, it is also important for me to use more data to inform my decisions.
Thank you for making out time to read my first case study. All my love!
