The Village

Transforming friendships for newcomers with a community-driven app.

Project type: End-to-end app + branding.

Role: Sole UX/UI designer + brand designer

Industry: Events, Entertainment

Tools: Figma, FigJam, Zoom, Notion

Duration: June - October 2024

It all started with a challenge: Moving to a new place

I did some initial research:

Moving to a new place often overwhelms people, making it take up to a year before they have the mental space to focus on making new friends.

Initial interviews revealed that many users feel isolated and struggle to connect with others or build a support system.

According to AXA Global Healthcare, 87% of expats have felt isolated abroad, with 48% citing missing friends and family as the main reason.

I did some research to dive deeper on the issue

I wanted to identify how much of a struggle it is to make friends and create a new community for people moving to a new country or city and finding the main pain points around doing this, so that I can provide a platform that makes this process easier and less stressful.

So I did dome interviews

  • Conducted remotely

  • Participants from different nationalities and backgrounds

  • Ages ranging from early 20s to early 40

Affinity Map

And learned that:

  • Making friends when people move to a new city or country is a challenge and something that people would like a solution for.

  • There is an opportunity in terms of creating spaces that would allow women to feel safer when meeting new people

And with these insights, I developed the user persona

Kelly Moore

The ambitious professional

Age: 26

Location: NYC, USA

Job Title: Project Manager

BIO

Kelly is a young professional that recently moved to NYC for a new job that she is very excited about. She cares a lot about doing well in her job so devotes a lot of hours in the week working. She doesn't know many people in town yet, she sometimes hangs out with her coworkers, but most of them are older than her, so they do plans she’s not very interested in. She wishes to meet more people her age and with similar ambitions, but despises networking events, so she doesn't know where to go to start making these connections.

Pain points

  • Missing friends & family

  • Lacking a support system

  • Feeling lonely

  • Does not know where to go to make new friends

Needs & Goals

  • Meeting like-minded people

  • A group of non-work friends to hang out

  • A support system

  • Finding a hobby or something that excites her outside of work

Motivations

  • Having a new group of friends she feels comfortable with

  • Having a network system that can support her in her transition into the new city

  • Finding people she can explore the city with

“I generally felt really overwhelmed. And because of that, I haven’t really put a lot of effort into meeting new people”

The persona helped during the design process to see if the product was still on track to provide a solution for their goals.

Then I started with the IDEATION

Through the exploration of Point Of View statements and How Might We Questions, I was able to reach the exploratory questions that opened up to start brainstorming ideas.

And from all of the ideas, I narrowed it down to the most pressing issue:

How might we ease the process of making friends when moving to a new place?

Then I did some research to find out what products that were already tackling this issue

I wanted to understand how could my solution differentiate from them and add value to users

Then I started ideating by brainstorming solution ideas

And prioritizing user and business goals

Prioritizing with an MVP mindset

Using this prioritized feature list, I structured the sitemap around our product goals, referencing competitor language and app organization for alignment.

Instead of mapping every branch immediately, I focused on designing the core app pages essential for usability testing.

Then it was time to develop the user flow

And look for design pattern inspiration for the UI

Joyraft served as a strong source of inspiration, with its beautiful, eye-catching design and effective event promotion in select cities. However, it lacked the community-focused aspect that users were truly craving.

Then it was time to start wire-framing!

And develop the brand Identity

Brand Core Values

Connection
Friendship
Belonging
Playfulness
Collaboration

Name Ideas

The Village
The Tribe
The Commune

‘The Village’ stood out as a place of gathering, sharing and learning from each other.

The Visual design elements

I started with some initial colors and explorations - always checking that accessibility requirements were met

Typography choices

Poppins was selected because of its rounded edges, which give a sense of openness and is inviting and approachable. It is also easy to read both in mobile and desktop

Branding elements

And UI components

The selected icons aligned with the brand values, prioritizing round edges.

Also customized a couple icons for specific needs

Which finally led to the High-fi wireframes

That worked as the interactive prototype to test with potential users

Then it was time to test, so I did a usability test

The general feedback was positive:

  • All users were able to complete the 3 tasks

  • There App is overall easy to understand and use

  • Users were satisfied with the app functionality

  • Users though the color palette was in line with the service it provides

But there were also opportunities for improvement

  • There was confusion with the login screen

  • The wording of the “interested” button and the “questions” section was confusing

  • There was room for improvement on event card clickability

  • Users expected to go back home by clicking the logo

Iterating based on usability test results

Although the login screen is essential, the usability testing focused on evaluating the app's core service. Since tasks didn’t require login, users were confused by the initial sign-up prompt, assuming they needed to create an account. To streamline testing, we removed this screen from the prototype in future rounds.

Home Screen

Improved virtual ease by refining icons and enlarging both the popup menu and button sizes for better accessibility. Images were scaled up, and key event information was increased in size to enhance visibility and emphasis.

To enhance user clarity, we refined the home screen layout and redesigned the popup menu for a more seamless experience. Additionally, we updated feature names to more intuitive options that better aligned with user expectations.

The "Questions" section was rebranded to "Community" to better align with the app's mission of fostering an inclusive space for newcomers. This update makes it easier for users to ask questions and filter by tags, enhancing overall engagement and usability.

How does “The Village” address user needs?

The problem: Newcomers feel isolated and lonely and they struggle with making new friends

The solution: A community-driven app designed for individuals who have recently relocated to a new city or country. It offers a diverse range of events tailored to various interests, along with a supportive space to ask questions, connect with others, and build a community.

Additional features to consider

  • Future features will include the ability for users to add friends, chat with them, and create shared wishlists.

  • Safety will be a top priority, with measures in place to prevent unwanted solicitation.

  • The goal is to foster a secure and supportive community space, aligned with the app’s core mission.

What I learned

  • Doing a more thorough competitive analysis and in depth interviews, will help refine a better solution for the users

  • Keeping the accessibility needs front and center is key to provide an inclusive solution

  • Taking the time to gather design inspiration for each element on every screen before sketching proves valuable during the wire-framing stage.

  • Research can be very time consuming and challenging sometimes but it provides with incredible insight to deliver a solution that users actually need.