Unity
Empowering relocators to connect through online community
Project Overview
Unity is a mobile app designed to help relocators establish a 'home away from home' community through sign-up activities. Drawing upon my personal experience with relocating to different cities and countries, I am motivated to find solutions to the challenges relocators may face when moving to a new environment. The main objective of this project is to connect users with individuals who share similar background and interests, and ultimately enabling them to establish a supportive community and meaningful friendships.
Challenge
Moving to a new place can be stressful and challenging. These challenges may include navigating new cultures, building new social networks, and adapting to unfamiliar surroundings. Users may feel frustrated due to the lack of reliable sources that help them successfully transition into the new environment.
Role
UX Research, UX/UI Design
Timeline
Solution
My design approach focuses on building a welcoming community platform for users to connect and find belongingness.
May 2023- Oct 2023
Tool
Figma, Miro
Design Process
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Empathize
To gain deeper insights into the problem space, I conducted thorough secondary and competitive research to understand users' pain points and evaluate the value and usability of similar products.
Secondary Research
According to the U.S. Census, over 25 million people relocate annually within the United States, driven by individual circumstances, economic factors, and personal preferences. In this research, I want to identify the primary challenges and successful strategies employed to enhance the relocation process.
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Research Questions:
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What are the primary challenges faced by relocators during the adjustment period in a new environment?
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What types of support intervention were proved to be most effective for new movers?
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Relocators often face challenges such as cultural shock, social integration difficulties, feelings of loneliness, and financial constraints. Support mechanisms like engaging in community activities, participating in local or online events, and establishing new social networks have proven effective in easing the adjustment process
Qualitative Research
To gather diverse insights into relocation experiences, I conducted interviews with 8 individuals who shared similar experiences. Initially, I distributed a screener survey to identify suitable interviewees, receiving 18 responses and qualifying 13 candidates. Then, I conducted 8 interviews based on this selection process.
"Internationals hang with internationals because the locals only hang with locals"
"I want to make friends that are around my age"
"Information and knowledge are very important for new movers, but they are often hard to find"
"It's hard to blend in...many still treat me like an outsider"
Competitor Research
After understanding users' challenges, I conducted a competitor analysis on Meetup, Nextdoor, and Bumble BFF, all of which offer features enabling users to expand their social networks and connect with others through events and activities.
Strength: offers diverse events based on users' interests
Weakness: no one-on-one match-up
Strength: offers info about the neighborhood and its activities
Weakness: the homepage is messy
Strength: allow users to view other users' bios and make connection
Weakness: no events available, meeting strangers online may be dangerous
Define
Affinity Map
To discern patterns from the research findings, I utilized an affinity map to identify commonalities and distinctions. I categorized the information into six groups: emotions (positive and negative), challenges, available resources, and users' preferences and opinions. This organization enabled me to pinpoint the obstacles users encounter and their desired solutions to address these challenges.
Personas
To gain insight into Unity's user demographics, I developed three personas based on my research and interviews. This guided me in selecting appropriate participants for usability testing and provided a deeper understanding of users' requirements.
Kano Analysis
After organizing my personas into three types, I was able to extract some key insights and better understand the specific pain points in the Kano analysis. The essential features users look for are reliable housing, cultural adaptation, and reduce of loneliness. In the big picture, users demand performance features such as platforms to meet new people and information about local events. Lastly, to go beyond expectations, users desire mentorship-like programs for a more delightful experience in the new place.
Ideate
Brainstorming
With a better understanding of Unity's users' pain points and needs, I created the How Might We (HMW) questions to help generate creative ideas:
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How might we provide reliable housing resources to assist relocators in settling down smoothly?
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How might we provide information to help relocators navigate local culture?
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How might we help reduce the feeling of loneliness for users?
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How might we facilitate networking opportunities that bring together users of similar backgrounds?
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How might we enhance the technological experience of relocators to effectively connect with people and establish meaningful connections?
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How might we develop an interactive platform that connects relocators with the locals or guides?
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Afterward, I sketched out some initial designs and organized various ideas I have for Unity.
Sketches
User Flow
To bring the sketch ideas to life, I analyzed the flow and created diagrams to illustrate how features would operate and what actions users must take to accomplish essential tasks. I selected 3 critical routes for navigating the app: signing up for an account, registering for events, and connecting with a local mentor.
Prototype
Wireframe
From sketches to wireframes, I conducted an interview and received important feedback from interviewees. I then organize the feedback along with the initial sketches into wireframes.
Testing
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With my wireframe completed, I started working on a test plan to test the product. I recruited participants to conduct usability testing to see how users interact with my design and identify improvements to be made before diving into the high-fidelity prototype.
Task
To ensure that what I’m building will be useful to the users, I asked the participants to complete the following tasks:
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Show me how you would book a session with a local
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Show me how you would sign up for a hiking event
Feedback
The Majority of the participants could easily navigate through the designated pages. Some suggested incorporating text options for receiving notifications on confirmed events and having more information on the local profile page.
Adjustments
To address the feedback received, I made two changes to the design to improve user experience.
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Add a phone text option and text messages on the app for users to communicate better
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Enhance the efficiency of user connections by including the local’s hobbies and interests at the forefront of their profile box. This avoids the need for users to navigate to individual pages only to discover misaligned interests.
Red Routes
UI Design
After coming up with the low-fidelity prototype, I now wanted to think about how to brand Unity so that we can convey the app's objective visually. Unity's branding focuses on these attributes: fun, home, welcoming, friendly, and community.
Style Guide
For Unity's branding, I focused on balancing Unity's fun and friendly nature, while maintaining their reliability and safety. That is why I chose red and purple as my primary colors, red shows liveliness and warmth while purple represents safety and inspiration. Moreover, I chose Roboto as my default font for its simplicity and approachability, ensuring it's clear and easy for users to read.
Final Prototype
Test
Usability Test
After coming up with the final prototype, I conducted another usability test to make sure the app was useful and provide solutions to users' pain points.
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Feedback
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The majority of them complain fonts on certain clickable words are too small and the hierarchy structure of the fonts is not aligned.
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Some think the homepage lacks aesthetic design and has a lot of white spaces
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To improve user experiences, I made adjustments based on the feedback by enlarging the fonts and redesigning the home page to make it more visually appealing.
Redesign 1
Before
After
1) I replaced the connect and message icons with button text for better accessibility and familiarity with the iOS app
2) Improved the aesthetic and readability for the schedule meeting option
3) I made a little ajustments on the review tabs by adding the date, personal star reviews, and removed the outline for a better visual aesthetic.
Redesign 2
Before
After
1) I redesigned the user experience by integrating personalized features such as user's name, saved events, joined groups, and interest categories to cater to individual preferences and interests.
2) Reduced white space and increased font size for better readibility and visual aesthetic.
Redesign 3
Before
I redesigned the tab bar, organizing it into four distinct categories: Home, Events, Inbox, and Profile, to enhance navigation clarity and user flow.
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Moreover, I merged the Events and Community tabs into a single group and removed irrelevant pages like 'Discussion Board' and 'About Us'. These changes streamline the interface, as the login page already communicates the app's purpose, and users can access comments from other users within reviews and group discussions.
After
Take Away
Moving to a new place is challenging. I gained insights into users' struggles through thorough research and interviews. Recognizing the importance of social connections, I prioritized features like meeting schedules with locals and event sign-ups in the app. While juggling both UX and UI design, I faced challenges such as layout and color choice. However, with valuable user feedback and self-learning online, I refined the design to meet user needs, resulting in positive feedback. This highlighted the importance of usability testing in addressing user pain points. Moving forward, I'm focused on enhancing the user experience and staying updated on evolving needs and trends.