Choosy
The full project presentation can be found on on YouTube titled "MS HCDE Capstone Presentation_W22-NoUXcuse".
Introduction & Objective
My role: Understand dating apps & users' pain points
The "dating app fatigue" is real. The fact that there are so many dating apps, with newer ones being added to the pool each day, goes to show that existing ones aren't effective in helping people find relevant matches and make connections.
Choosy is designed to be a digital platform for people looking to find and build meaningful relationships. Our designs address some of the shortcomings of the existing dating apps through a human-centered approach.
Our essential question was "How might we help people use a digital, online platform to find and build meaningful relationships?".
Research for User Needs
My role: User Research Lead
Comparative analysis, secondary research, a user survey, and user interviews were conducted to help us understand that the current dating apps are not solving the users' problems to the fullest extent.
Findings from the research were organized into an affinity diagram were patterns and themes were discovered. Primary and secondary user personas were also created.
Ideation & Concept Design
My role: Co-creator in ideation/concept design
The themes generated based on critical user needs included trust, convenience, expectations, preferences/filters, and challenges.
Sketches were then created for each theme during a crazy 8s brainstorming session. Sketched ideas were then organized into an idea book were more details such as the description, function, and comments could be added. The ideas in the idea book there then ranked by importance to help us determine what would be our main focus during the design process.
Storyboards & Branding
My role: To assist project partner. Did not Lead
Storyboards were created to help explain the flow, use case, and features on the app, Choosy.
Mood statements were created from the comparative analysis, personas, users needs, and moods. The top moods from the statements were joy, trustworthy, safe, loved, and content. Based on the moods, a modern, bright, luxurious, and fun style was chosen for the app. Choosy's personality was then defined to look and feel modern, sophisticated, luxurious, and trustworthy. I color pallet to portray this was also created.
Prototypes & Evaluation
My role: Co-creator of prototypes and lead qualitative evaluation
A low-fidelity prototype was created and used for usability testing to discover user app navigation and behavioral intentions. User Interface improvements ideas were noted and put into account for the high-fidelity prototype.
To evaluate the high-fidelity prototype, we collected qualitative and quantitative data through usability testing interviews and an usability testing survey. The findings were then used to refine the design of the Choosy app further and data to support the features, functions, and visuals of the app.
Impact & Reflection
This app never reached the build out and launch phase.
However, the discoveries from this project helped me on my own journey of being a dating app user. Understanding human behavior, the disconnect between users interaction with dating apps and their motivations behind the actions, and how users interpret user profiles and communication has helped me find more meaningful connections. I learned the importance of understanding user's emotional response and behavior associated with the app.
