Challenge:
Lack of face to face interactions
Lack of accessible third-spaces
User Goals:
Connect users with each other locally
Users can find and try new restaurants nearby
Meet new people in a comfortable group setting
Design Process
Goal Directed Design (GDD)
User Research
Problem Statement
The current state of the social interaction domain that has focused primarily on solely on connecting with others digitally. What existing platforms fail to address is the value of social connectivity through face-to-face interactions. Our solution will address this gap by creating an inventive way for people to meet others through family-style dinners.
Competitive Audit Description
The competitive audit compared Social Digest to existing social apps that facilitate in-person meetups. Key features, user flows, and overall user experience were analyzed to identify gaps and opportunities for differentiation. The audit highlighted the unique value proposition of Social Digest in fostering genuine connections through shared dining experiences.
User Interviews
To better understand users' needs, my team and I conducted user interviews guided by the GDD framework. Together, we interviewed 5 participants, including students and young professionals, to capture diverse perspectives.
Before our interviews, my team prepared questions that aligned with our objectives of this research. Our questions focused on understanding users’ intentions when meeting new people, how they currently plan social meetups, what motivates them to connect with others, and the challenges they face with existing social platforms and situations. Toward the end of the sessions, we also showed early ideas for Social Digest to get feedback and understand first impressions.
Affinity Mapping
Following each interview, I facilitated affinity mapping sessions to synthesize notes, identify patterns, and uncover key insights related to users’ social behavior, comfort levels, trust concerns, and goals for forming genuine connections.
Modeling
Our goal was to turn everything we learned from user interviews into clear representations of our target audience. After reviewing our affinity maps, we began identifying user patterns and characteristics that could guide our design decisions in creating Social Digest.
Primary Persona
Requirements
Using the primary persona as our foundation, we translated their goals into a list of requirements that directed our wireframes and guided the developement of the final prototype.
Functional Requirements
Non-Functional Requirements
Framework
To organize our design process and to ensure that we were creating a user-centered design, we used the Goal Directed Design (GDD) framework. This framework provided us with a structured approach to guide our design decisions and to create a final product that effectively addresses users' needs and goals.
Refinement
Our prototyping phase extended over a period of two weeks, during which the team members created our first iteration of Social Digest. During this stage, we focused on translating our requirements into interactive screens and core features. Once the prototype reached a stage where we could test it with users, we conducted usability testing sessions to gather feedback and identify areas for improvement.
