groupup

Challenge

There aren’t a large number of event-finding apps currently available, and each has its problems and areas for improvement. Existing apps focus on a particular niche, leaving a space for a less specific application that improves on existing features.

Solution

I focused on user's frustrations and goals with existing apps to develop a product that could distinguish itself and provide a unique experience.

Groupup needed to appeal to an audience of younger users who frequently used apps socially while including staple features of mobile event-finding apps.

Discovery

User Research

To start to learn more about how people used event-finding apps and which apps they used, I conducted a user survey.

Designing for mobile

It became apparent that mobile devices were the most common way to find events, and Groupup was designed for Android.

Laptops were also a popular device, so designing a system transferable to the web was kept in mind throughout Groupup's development.

Users need filters to find the exact event they want to attend. Setting persistent, detailed filters was a requested feature and played an important role in Groupup's development.

Competitive Analysis

During user research, I discovered that the three most popular apps were Eventbrite, Meetup, and Facebook’s events. I selected apps for competitive analysis based on their popularity and unique role. The analysis looked at key differentiators, positioning, audience, and SWOTs.

Meetup

Meetup is focused on creating and joining local communities. It brings people with similar interests together and is used globally.

Events

Groups & Calendar

• Strengths
  • Has numerous subdivided categories
  • Provides upcoming event notification
  • Allows users to browse as guests

• Weaknesses
  • Interests cannot be added from mobile
  • Calendar feature can become cluttered even with a single group
  • Saved meetups feature somewhat obscure

• Opportunities
  • Expand group recruitment through social networking sites
  • Improve calendar
  • Highlight saved meetupsS

Eventbrite

Eventbrite is a global platform that lets people create and share events. It hosted three million events in over one-hundred-seventy countries in 2017 and was used by over half of survey respondents.

Events by category

Search

• Strengths
  • Good experience overall - simple, clear, intuitive
  • Bottom icon bar provides quick access to favorites, live and past tickets
  • Bottom icon bar has a simple search

• Weaknesses
  • Search only allows selection of one category
  • No settings to allow users to select permanent preferences
  • No price selection - although users can sort by price

• Opportunities
  • Allowing search for more than one category of event
  • Create permanent profile with category preferences, and possibly cost preferences
  • Expand social networking

Facebook Events

Facebook claims to 'bring the world closer together'

Event Details

Event Check In

• Strengths
  • Good filters
  • Includes lists based on interests
  • Multiple interest selection

• Weaknesses
  • Extremely cluttered
  • Includes businesses as events
  • Confusing event details at two separate levels

• Opportunities
  • Reduce feature rot
  • Clarify hierarchy
  • Improve aesthetics

Personas

I created three distinct personas based primarily on user surveys. Their goals included searching by exact locations, finding events based on price and other filters, and setting reminders. Their frustrations included having to create an account to interact with the app, a lack of filters, and a hard-to-use interface.

User Flows

A series of user flows were created for the most pressing user stories to ensure a smooth, enjoyable experience. Sign up, setting notifications, and navigating were all essential steps that were simplified as much as possible while still considering any contingencies. At this point, a content strategy outline was created for the low fidelity prototype.

Sketches & Wireframes

I created a series of hand-drawn wireframes for screens, modals, and components based on both user flows and content strategy. These were then recreated in Figma and made into low-fidelity screens.

Visual Design

The inspiration for Groupup's visual design is parties and gatherings, and longing for adventure. Ample whitespace keeps groupup modern. Simplicity keeps attention on the content, and playful shapes help guide adventure seekers. Textures, colors, and patterns from nature confer a natural feel.

Typography

Catamaran is the quirky sans-serif used for headlines. It comes in a wide variety of weights, the heaviest of which are used to create strong headlines.

Montserrat is a geometric sans-serif body text and labels. It is based on old posters in the Montserrat neighborhood of Buenos Aires and brings additional character to Groupup. It also comes in a variety of weights and italics and is highly legible at small sizes.

Headings – Catamaran

Body – Montserrat

Hi-Fi Prototype & Preference Testing

A usability test was conducted to ensure that with branding and style in place, users could still easily navigate and understand the product. The usability test demonstrated the product's ease, despite a few problems mostly relating to unfamiliarity with Maze.

I rapidly constructed a high-fidelity prototype in Figma using the style guide, low-fidelity wireframes, and a tentative test script. Crucial tasks like onboarding, finding specific events, and changing settings were tested in Maze. Slack was used to recruit participants.

Maze tasks included:

• Creating an account
• Finding a ‘nested’ specific event and adding it to favorites
• Exploring a map
• Favoriting an event found under Upcoming Sales & Events
• Adjusting user settings

Usability heatmaps

Map View

Sign Up

Organizing solutions

After examining both heatmaps and user paths and hypothesizing problems, I created an issue prioritization matrix.

Creating solutions

The first heatmap above shows account sign up (task 1) without user information. The misclick rate of the subdued bottom button was 40%, suggesting the deemphasis of it and other inactive buttons.

Although most participants explored the map (task 3) without difficulty, there were some hiccups. Several users attempted to add the desired event (RPA Fundamentals) to favorites while it was still partially offscreen.

Map View Bar & Functionality Changes

Inactive Buttons subdued

Conclusion

Working on Groupup was a great experience. The entire process went smoothly, and the problems discovered were at stages designed to do just that.

With more time, I would have delved deeper into discovery. Although I feel a large number of frustrations and goals were found and incorporated into personas and user stories, they could ultimately have been stronger. As research, and ultimately personas and user stories, are what everything proceeds from, I recognize the importance of getting it done right.

There was only one technical hiccup throughout Groupup's development, popping up during the high-fidelity prototype test with Maze. I was unfamiliar with the service and its interactions with Figma and will approach the high-fidelity prototype differently, so it's more conducive to testing. In the future, I won't include animations in the testing phase, although they'll still be kept in mind as early as wireframing.

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