MEETY
Making us all connected
Overview
Time
May.2021
Role
UI/UX designer
Tool
Figma
Outcome
A hypothetical solution that provides people with an effortless and spontaneous way to build connections.
I designed the Meety app, which emphasises immediacy and distance range to simplify the networking process and enables people to connect more easily. This project started with user observation and research on existing social networking products. The goal is to improve the meetup experience and thus, encourage users to be more active in meeting new people.
Background
Motivation
As an extroverted introvert, I am always eager to make connections with people through the internet, especially when I do solo travel or move to somewhere new. However, despite so many social digital products nowadays, I still struggle with many difficulties which inspire me to dive deeper into the problems people like me have encountered.
Wouldn’t it be great if we can connect with strangers more quickly and intuitively?
People get overwhelmed when they want to take the first step towards meeting new people from online platforms. People may have many concerns about time, social pressure and etc. It takes too much effort to start a simple connection.
Research
Competitor analysation
meetup
Activity organising app
👍 more than 60 million registered members, including online events
💔 needs to plan, apply and wait
bumble for friends
Friends function in dating app
👍 easy to use like dating apps, 58 million users
💔 fraud problem, only individuals no groups, still mainly focus on dating app
Eatgether
Activity organising app
👍 member points, beginner-friendly community
💔 mainly in Taiwan, some commercial adds
User interview
I interviewed 5 users from other social networking apps and also 3 potential users who knew these products but had never tried them before. The following were pain points I found from the interviews:
1. Too commercial, not comfortable
Some platforms have too many embedded advertisements disguised as activities. Or setting too many rules, making meeting unnatural.
2. Waste time waiting, not efficient
The process could be so long that users have to wait for the group host to review their application. It wastes too much time waiting even for days. It is so uncertain and inefficient if users can’t quickly know the outcome of their application or if the activity has been cancelled after waiting. It is hard to arrange their schedule as well.
3. Stress for building relationships
Although users want to connect with people, they may not like to attend a long-term group like a club. Because they are afraid of the social pressure of maintaining relationships, introverted people find it difficult to take their first step.
💡Insightful opportunities
Besides the problems above, I learned users might benefit from connections not only by joining a group or taking part in an event. Sharing and exchanging could be good purposes for meeting new people.
Solution
Design a flexible and stress-free activity app to make meeting new people easy and relaxing.
I designed an app called Meety, which has a map-based home page that allows users to explore events and other users around them. Users can choose to set their status as either online or offline, depending on whether they want to appear active.
Main features
1. Time & distance limit: 90 min, 20 km
- It shortens the time for the group host to check applications.
- It makes encounters more casual and the limit could decrease the benefits of commercial ads.
2. Active or passive, all up to you
- Users can choose to be an event host, apply for events or even just wait for others’ invitations.
- Users can actively send greeting messages to people around them.
3. Mutual benefits with strangers and increase the willingness to use
- By adding exchange and sharing modes, there are more choices to diversify this community and increase the number of users.
4. Dismiss group chatting rooms
- Group chatting room will be dismissed after the event is finished so users don’t need to maintain a group stressfully.
- Users can still contact others individually and private chatting rooms will not be dismissed.
Validation
I moderated usability tests with 5 participants through 4 tasks and open-ended questions.
Tasks
1. Change account status to online and create a meetup event.
2. Find a meetup within 10 km and remaining active for at least 45 minutes.
3: Find the meetup event you are hosting and review the applications.
4: Find one of your followers and send a greeting message.
Testing findings
1. Rules for time and distance are not obvious enough
It only shows the limit on a popup reminder and filter. It’s not remarkable enough if users are not familiar with the rules.
2. Couldn’t find events with customised needs on the list.
Users need assistance finding desired events more accurately and efficiently when expanding the event list.
3. There should be more information on the personal page
Users need more details to see if they want to send greetings or invite other users.
Final design
Improvement for testing finding 1.
Add instruction pages & guide tooltip
I added 2 pages of the brief introduction to emphasise there are 4 types of modes and distance & time limitations. A tooltip shows users where to change their status when they use it for the first time.
Dynamically show the remaining time with the avatar’s coloured ring.
The ring around the avatar not only indicates the type of event the user is currently engaged in based on its colour, but also shows the remaining time within the active 90-minute period.
Improvement for testing finding 2.
Add sorting, filter and search buttons
With these funtions, users could find events accroding to their needs more easily.
Improvement for testing finding 3.
More detailed options for introduction
Add options for user introductions: tags for interests and basic info to simplify profiles, past activity records to show app engagement, and Instagram photo linking to enrich profiles and make introductions more vivid.
What I’ve learned
.Keep it simple, don’t overcomplicate
Initially, I wanted to add too many functions and concepts, making me struggle to plan the flow. I learned that I should be aware of over-complicating the product and pay attention to setting a precise design scope. It’s important to diverge and converge.
.Embrace more research and let ideas go
It’s engaging to turn my user insight into a product concept. But I still need to do more research to validate assumptions and target users’ pain points. It’s rewarding to continue iteration.