Platonic
We made meeting new people safer and less awkward
My colleague Mez Dumas and I built an MVP for a co-working app conceived by a client in Berlin. The idea behind the product was to create a networking platform that would bring people closer by allowing them to organize events to meet peers. I personally loved the client's approach of avoiding any algorithmically personalized feed in an attempt to protect users' autonomy. She repeatedly emphasized that the community, not the individual, lies at the center of this project. Read the full case study for this project.
Problem
Young professionals often face challenges in building a social network when relocating to a new city.
Outcome
We build a 0-1 prototype concept for our client so she was able to pitch the idea to investors.
Scope
Aug 2020 - Sept 2020 // Mez Dumas & Paul Heuschmidt
Tools
Figma, Wireframing, Design Thinking, Prototyping
Role
Researcher, Product Designer
Research
70
Survey Responses
10
Interviews
Mez Dumas and I first conducted a survey on Google Forms to obtain the general mood of our target users. We received 70 responses. We learned that the majority of respondents already had experience with non-romantic networking products. Most of our respondents are passively networking, which indicates a potential for platforms that facilitate more active engagement. Moreover, our respondents preferred to meet someone with a common interest rather than complete strangers, emphasizing the importance of shared interests in networking. We synthesized our findings using an affinity map and condensed all the information down to three main points that serve as guiding principles for our design.
Key Reserach Insights
01
People find it challenging to build a social network when moving to a new city.
02
People worry about safety when meeting strangers on apps.
03
People often feel awkward when meeting people through online services.
Ideation
We kicked off with crazy crazy-eights, but it only brought us so far.
We started with a crazy-eight exercise to generate some initial ideas. This really helped us get loose and quickly generate screens and concepts that we hoped to build out and expand later on. Unfortunately for us, the crazy eights were not yielding any reasonable approaches. We did not just want to create another meet-new-friends app or another LinkedIn.
It took a lot of discussions, and free brainstorming to come up with an idea that would become the center of our design. The idea was to allow users to create events on any kind of topic. For example, an English-speaking expat who just moved to Berlin and needs to complete their registration in German could use the app to team up with others in the same situation. This way, they can avoid awkwardness since they share the same problem or interest and can grow their network casually without too much small talk. For example, an English-speaking expat who just moved to Berlin and needs to get their registration done in German could use the app to team up with people in the same position.
The user will start on her feed page. From there, she will proceed to view a specific event on that feed page. She will look at the event creator's profile before joining the event. After she becomes an attendee, she will be granted access to the event's chatroom. She will check out the event-specific chatroom before deciding to create her own event, for which she will choose a description, location, and time. After creating and posting the event, she will return to her original feed screen.
Prototype
Since we now knew exactly which screens to work on we started creating our first lo- to mid-fi wireframes. The process was a constant back and forth between designing and testing. At the end we added two more screens. The users profile and a calendar feature, where the user is able to see all events she is attending. The following picture shows a selection of our lo- to mid-fi wireframes. The little arrows between some of the screens indicate a design iteration.
After further design iteration and fine-tuning, we arrived at our final design, which our client was ready to present to investors. As mentioned at the beginning, the goal of the project was to create a prototype that would convey the business idea, demonstrate the user experience, and provide a feel for the product.
Key Takeaways
Listen to your users
One of the key learnings from this project was the crucial role that thorough research plays in shaping a user-centered design. By diving deep into both primary and secondary research, we were able to uncover valuable insights that directly informed our design decisions, ensuring the final product truly addressed user needs. Additionally, the client’s emphasis on community over algorithm-driven personalization reinforced the importance of creating an authentic and purpose-driven platform, which became a central pillar of our design approach. Finally, the iterative nature of the ideation process taught us the importance of flexibility and perseverance; even when initial ideas didn’t hit the mark, continued brainstorming and testing allowed us to refine our concepts and arrive at a solution that aligned with both user expectations and the client’s vision.
01
User-Centered Design Through Community Focus
02
Importance of primary and secondary research
03
Iteration and flexibility in the design process.
