Design Brief
Design Brief
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Development
Sketching
01. Events
Needs Satisfied
1. To join the online activities based on their choice
2. To join the offline activities and events
3. To have the audio chat with other users
4. To organize their own activities
5. To hang out with same group or people if they want
6. To communicate with other users who have the similar background or locals
7. To share the feeling of events and activities that they joined
8. To connect with expats or locals to make friends
9. To improve their skills, such as language, social, reading, etc.
(To meet diverse demands)
Pattern Inspiration
Concept 1 Concept 2 Concept 3
02. Resources
Needs Satisfied
1. To get daily news or information about local life
2. To get the basic cultural norms of the place they have lived
3. To share their own experience or provide related information
4. To know the hidden gems that locals love
5. To search news or information with a list of related keywords
6. To give the feedback or comments after their experience
7. To get daily useful tips and recommendations from the app
8. To have access to external resources such as recommended information
Pattern Inspiration
Concept 1 Concept 2 Concept 3
03. Profile
Needs Satisfied
1. To customize your own journey based on your situation and needs
2. To get the online assistant timely for 24/7
(help answer questions, provide information and help resolve concerns, etc.)
3. To change settings
4. To customize personal profiles
5. To get rewards or coupons after their participation
6. To get the notification about daily popular events or news
Pattern Inspiration
Concept 1 Concept 2 Concept 3
Paper Prototyping
To start with, I drew the interfaces on paper that represents the dimensions of the iPhone 12 and simulated the task flows in the paper prototype. I invited four users to participate in my paper prototyping process. The followings are the feedbacks that I got through our user testing.
Jie Liu
Lacee
35, Yunnan, Soft Engineer, Arrived 1 year ago
39, SF, Japanese Translation, Arrived 2 years ago
Add a skip button on the loading page for concept 1.
Change the order of “sign up” page and “survey” page. Put the survey page after “sign up” page.
Make “organizer” app as the other app, and separate
as “expats” app.
Put the chat part in the home page, so that it is easier to find the chat history with other user.
It is great for introverts to use this app, because people could find their comfort zone easier with the same background people.
It is easier to lose users if they are familiar with others, because they can organize activities themselves.
It is better to put pop-up preview windows of guide locals
that can easier to see their information and choose the one
you prefer.
Change “Talk with local” button to “Talk with others” will be better in the resources post page.
Make the host as the local or experts that the platform audits.
It is a little off topic. The concept two will let users stay in their comfort zone.
JT
Roger
27, Guangzhou, CS, Arrived 3 years ago
27, Xinjiang, Math Student, Arrived 4 years ago
The type of events should be placed in a prominent place.
For concept one, there is no clear functional difference between “Highlights” section and “with local” section.
For the resources, instead of “useless” button of the post, “favorites” button would be better.
Instead of “Talk with local”, “Talk with users” will be better.
For concept two, the design is smoother than concept one, but it is a little off topic and make it as the app of making friends.
Rethink of the user level in concept two.
It is nice to put message function in the home page.
The selection of locals is not quite clear if I don’t explain it.
Make the function of redeeming points more obvious to
attract users.
I When I first came here, I really wanted to step out of my comfort zone. The first concept is very suitable for me.
I prefer the concept 2, because I could make more friends with same background and have more common topic.
Insights
Attracting target users
Making the information
of host clear
How to serve the newcomers and expats better
1. Use a reward mechanism to encourage users
to participate in the next event.
2. For concept 2, it is easier to lose target users
after a while, because they could organize
events by themselves.
3. For concept 1, it is better to put the pop-up
windows of host preview, so that the users
can pick easier.
4. For concept 2, let the host for events as the
local or experts that the platform audits, so that
the participants can get better experience.
5. My target users are people who want to
quickly adapt to local life. Some users
may not be able to integrate so they come
to participate in my project. How to provide
better help for their needs?
Meeting the needs of users
at different stages
Holding customized events and resources
6. The platform filters relevant information and
activities to ensure that it can help users at
different stages.
7. Maybe make the host as different stages to
help different groups.
8. How to make each user a better experience
through customized services.
Wireframe
Visual Inspirations
Direction 01
Mood Board
Unexpected/Colorful/Passionate
Design Board
Direction 02
Cozy/Warm/Tranquil
Mood Board
Design Board
Visual Style Guide
After the exploration phase, I combined this two direction together and developed a visual style guide that is specific to my app. I defined what typeface to use and how it should be used under different situations. I also identified the color palette, icon style and button style that guide my design throughout the process.
