Word of Mouth
A conceptual social networking prototype to help users share and discover experiences in their neighborhood.
Duration: 10 weeks
Role: UX Researcher & UX Designer
Category: Passion project case study
Tools Used: Figma
Don't have 6 minutes? Here is a 3 minute trailer:
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Introduction
As a nail artist 💅🏻, a common nail appointment topic is recommendations. I found that millennials need efficient ways to discover new experiences that drive them away from social isolation. It is a valuable asset to strengthen social connections by making social interactions effortless, in order to help alleviate mental stress.
Roles & Responsibilities
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Conducted user research and user interviews
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Did the user experience design including creating key user flows and wireframes
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Created high fidelity wireframes to show the product experience
Design Challenge
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The core challenges behind this project were understanding what millennials need to strengthen relationships and how they deal with social disconnections. It is important to simplify planning events so that they do not overwhelm the planner.
User Research
As this is a personal pain point of mine, I spent a lot of time trying to better understand the problem. I read articles and spoke with socially disconnected millennials in order to understand what I’m building.
Through our conversation, I wanted to find out...
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how they currently stay connected
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what is most important when connecting with someone
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where they find ideas and activities
CORE USER NEEDS
Highlighted needs that millennials expressed about creating social connections were participating in group activities help to connect, communication creates a bond and they enjoy recreating past experiences.
User Journey & Persona
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Ideation
Creating a task flow helped to identify key actions within the app and the screens to focus on first. This shows Candice's steps when searching for an experience path and sharing it to her friend, Sandy.
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Introducing Word of Mouth
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Word of Mouth believes that people need to focus on the important connections in life by alleviating the constant battle of someone trying to ideate something new and exciting.
What I Learned
"Fall in love with the problem, not the solution"
As an emerging UX designer, this was the hardest thing I needed to focus on - especially because I had a solution in mind. I need to design to solve the problem and to design for the users.
How to be resourceful
I've watched countless design and prototyping YouTube videos, tutorials, and walkthroughs to learn new techniques and strategies. I also learned where I need to improve in my Figma and various Adobe applications.
