Automating Meaningful Connections for Undergraduate College Students
UX Designer / Sep - Dec 2022 / Social Media
Project Type: Business and Tech Jam (team)
Contributions: User Research and Analysis, UX/UI Design, Prototyping, Presentation
Tools: Figma, Pitch, Google Drive, Google Forms
Project Overview
Context
Over a six-week period, I had the opportunity to gain hands-on experience through the +Tech Innovation Jam, an event organized by the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. I was part of a dynamic interdisciplinary team of five individuals, designed to closely resemble a real-world technology startup. My teammates brought diverse expertise from fields such as business, computer science, and engineering. Together, we explored problem spaces, brainstormed digital solutions, developed a comprehensive product, and presented our idea to a panel of judges. Throughout, we benefited from the guidance of our dedicated mentor, a UMich alumnus who currently serves as a Product Lead at DoorDash.
Business Problem
According to the ACHA National College Health Assessment, 64% of college students reported feeling extremely lonely. Having a solid network of friends is important for mental health, quality of life, and career success but there isn't a framework in place to easily meet new people and form lasting friendships.
Target Audience
Our primary users include undergraduate university students. More specifically, we plan to serve first year and transfer students as they experience the most struggle in creating strong friendships.
My Responsibilities
With my background in Information and User Experience, I took on the role of UX Designer. My main contributions included user research and analysis, UI/UX design, and prototyping. I also contributed to ideation and presentation phases.
Research Process
User Interviews and Persona
To better understand the causes and context of our problem, we crafted a comprehensive interview script to ensure a unified approach. Each team member conducted formal user interviews with current college undergraduate students using this script. Collecting and combining data through Google Forms, we meticulously constructed a primary user persona based on our findings - encapsulating user goals, demographics, values, and pain points.
Primary persona - incoming college freshman
Market and Competitive Analysis
Developing our persona enabled us to deeply empathize with potential end-users and grasp the demographic drawn to our product. Major user pain points became evident, particularly among individuals categorized as 'underclassmen,' 'introverts,' or 'international students.'
By deconstructing our total addressable market, we strategically honed in on our target demographic - U.S. college undergraduates facing challenges in initiating and maintaining friendships. This refined focus aligns with our minimum viable product strategy.
Total addressable market breakdown
In conducting our competitive analysis, we directed our attention to Saturn - a schedule-based social media platform, ZeeMee - an exclusive community app tailored for college students, and Meetup - a versatile platform facilitating interest groups and event organization. In assessing our findings to craft a competitive product, we concluded on a few foundational elements: the product should be free of charge, integrate a robust chat feature, and prominently display upcoming events.
Philos feature offerings vs. competitors
Product Requirements
In order to make our product unique and attractive, we determined it must have these core features:
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Auto-generated groups
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Suggested activities/events
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Distinct categories for matching
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Gameplay elements
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Personalization elements
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Secure/moderated community
We differentiated Philos through a complex matching algorithm used to connect people with overlapping interests, housing, classes, clubs, etc. Our main objective was to include features that support passive friend making. We wanted the application to initiate early connection, with users then choosing to keep it going. Part of this included auto-generated groups and auto-generated events within groups.
Refined Problem Statement
Undergraduate college students aspire to make new friends at their university yet the challenge often lies in transcending the confines of structured environments like classes, clubs, and dorms. Although they may have found others to spend time with, it can still be difficult to form strong connections. Students need a stress free way to make new friends, one that allows them to form enduring connections with less time and effort.
Solution
Philos (ancient greek: φίλος - roughly translates to "friend") - a mobile application designed to help college students form strong, lasting connections through a unique matching algorithm.
Final Product
High fidelity prototype
Signup and Login Pages
Users can quickly create a profile or sign into an existing account in order to store personal information and preferences.
Welcome page
Signup page
Login page
Onboarding and Profile Pages
Through a swift onboarding process, users can input information relevant to friend compatibility. This data will be fed to our unique matching algorithm where auto-generated and suggested groups are provided based on said data.
Personal information
Clubs and student orgs
Hobbies/Interests
Sync schedule
New interests
User profile
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Groups can have up to 12 members, but they are generated with 6
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This allows us to suggest groups to users in addition to the ones they are automatically generated into
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Most students would like an easier way to make friends through classes
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Students find it hard to find times to meet outside of class
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It's difficult to make friends during class time while consuming class material
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Philos helps by allowing users to import their class schedule, which enables the app to match them based on schedule similarities (e.g. time before and after a shared class)
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Squad Pages
Squad categories
Interests squads
Squad messaging
Distinct categories
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For each category, students will be automatically generated into one group that matches the theme of the category
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Classes
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Clubs and Student organizations
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Common Interests
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Housing
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Additional groups will be suggested for each category
Team play within groups
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Groups will be know as "Squads"
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Competitions between squads or within squads
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Online mini-games
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Outdoor activities that can done by each group individually (scavenger hunt, take group photo, etc.)
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Points awarded for going to activities together
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Unlock achievements, customize groups with banners/premium themes, get coupons for select items in the "Marketplace," etc.
Suggested activities and events
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People like going to events but don't like organizing them - the chat will periodically suggest events
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General in-person activities
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Specific events in the area
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Users can also create events
Reflection
Room to Grow
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More in-depth user testing
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While we conducted interviews, we could have increased our sample size and response rate. Next time I would make use of tools like Qualtrics XM or usertesting.com and conduct user testing after each feature was designed.
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More logical, iterative design process
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Due to a tight timeline, I was unable to design wireframes at low and mid fidelities. If I could start over, I would be more methodical about design decisions, using a design system and designing iteratively based on user testing.
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Suggested events/activities
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We originally planned on implementing suggested in-person activities, in-chat ice breakers, and suggested current events nearby. In the next iteration of the prototype, I would include one user flow for clicking on suggested events/icebreakers in the chat and another for creating a group event.
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Gameplay elements
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Our wireframes currently do not display any gameplay capabilities. To fix this, I would include a group stats page and allow users to track points/achievements in the chat page. I would also add leaderboard and marketplace pages where users can upgrade their group's aesthetic.
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