⁉️ What is Buddy?
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Background
Buddy is a social platform designed to help users find companions to pursue hobbies together. The app targets younger users worldwide seeking to broaden their social activities, particularly related to hobbies. Buddy fosters a sense of creativity, exploration, and connection by facilitating interactions with individuals who share similar interests and hobbies.
PRODUCT & UI/UX DESIGNER
My role
Conducting UX research, ideating digital wireframes, testing low-fidelity prototypes with real users, iterating on designs based on feedback, and designing and testing high-fidelity prototypes.
THE BEGINNING
Problem
Many individuals have hobbies but lack companions to share these activities with. People seek to expand their social circles by engaging with others who share their interests and hobbies.
THE BEGINNING
Solution
Buddy is the perfect solution for this kind of user because it unifies all the frustrations into one platform - in buddy you can join and create activities or communities, you can add buddies and share memories from past activities. This is just fun!
💫 Design process
🔍 Who is the user? What he wants?
💞 EMPATHIZE
Research findings
Swipe me! 👉
💞 EMPATHIZE
106 Israelis answered these questions...
Qualitative research:
-
Age, gender, occupation.
-
What is your main hobby and how do you manifest it in your life?
-
Do you know a new hobby or occupation which you would like to learn or to engage in?
-
How much time do you have during the day for your hobbies?
-
Does your hobby must have more than one person to do so? If yes, how do you find people?
-
Would you use an app which finds you new people with common hobbies?
-
Would you meet someone you met in this app in real life in order to pursue your hobby?
Quantitative research:
-
I feel like I want an easy way to find someone with common hobbies.
-
I find it hard to find people with common hobbies like me.
-
If I want, I easily find someone with common hobbies like me.
-
I find it hard to initiate social connections.
-
I wish I had more courage to initiate social connections.I don’t mind to chat with someone I don’t know about our common hobbies.
-
I don’t mind to help to someone I don’t know about a hobby I understand and specialize in.
-
I lack other interests in life.
-
I would want more hobbies in my life.
-
I feel comfortable in front of people I don’t know but with common hobbies like me.
-
I like taking risks related to new experiences.
💞 EMPATHIZE
User persona
I created this user persona in order to understand user's needs and frustrations. Using this persona I can always relate my decision to a real person who's going to use this product and ask myself "for whom this product is built?".
💞 EMPATHIZE
User story
Based on the Rona’s persona I created a user story which focused me on the problem.
💞 EMPATHIZE
Competitors' audit
I researched the competitors with this audit, which allows me to get insights about inspirations, strengths and weaknesses of the competitors' products.
💞 EMPATHIZE
User journey map
This user journey map shows us the detailed process a user has to take in order to complete the core task of the product, again, before there is an actual product.
🧭 Navigating creative solutions
🎯 DEFINE
Problem statement
Rona is a single student who is looking for partners with the same hobbies like her and to socially engage in activities with other people's hobbies involved.
💡 IDEATE
Digital wireframes (V1)
You must ask yourself "Where is the paper wireframes?" Well, before my client came to me with this great idea, he wireframed it by himself - and this is our Digital Wireframes V1.
💡 IDEATE
Digital wireframes (V2)
After my UX research we refined the V1 wireframes made by my client and then we had our final Wireframes V2 made by me, inspired by the client's vision and the users needs.
🛠️ Shaping experiences through testing
🧪 TEST
Usability study overview
I conducted the first round of user testing for this app, in order to check if the main flow we built is working easily and the user understands what we delivering.
Participants:
🙋♂️🙋♀️🙋♂️🙋♀️🙋♂️🙋♀️🙋♂️🙋♀️
8 Participants.
22-30 years old.
Methodologies:
-
Moderated User Testing.
-
Users were asked to perform tasks in a low-fidelity prototype.
-
20-30 Minutes per participants, in Israel.
🧪 TEST
Study details
Tasks:
-
Sign up and login to the app. What do you understand from preferences and defaults?
-
Let’s say the search results are based on your interests, where are you now and what do you see on the page you are currently at? (Menu vs Search).
-
What is your rank right now? (A) Change your badge.
-
Now go and add an interest. What do you understand from what you see?
-
Create an activity. Describe what you see on this screen. (A) Who’s the leader? How do you know it?
KPIs:
-
Menu vs search.
-
Time on task.
-
Number of clicks to complete a task.
-
General Feeling.
🧪 TEST
Insights identification
-
Based on the theme that most of the users preferred the menu over the search, an insights is we should focus our design and research on the menu for the next.
-
Based on the theme that some users used a lot of clicks to complete a task, an insight is that we should rethink about the layout for the complicated pages.
-
Based on the theme that most users completed the tasks in a great time, an insight is that the flow might be at the right path, we need to see where exactly are the pain points.
🧪 TEST
Patterns identification
7/8 preferred using Menu instead of Search.
5/8 completed the tasks in a great time.
3/8 used a lot of clicks to complete a task.
7/8 felt the app has a lot to offer. 1 Thought it’s too loaded.
🎨 Crafting stories through design
📲 PROTOTYPE
High-fidelity prototype (UI & design system)
UI Design | Interaction Design | Visual Design | Design System | High-Fidelity Prototype
📲 PROTOTYPE
Visual & UI design
📲 PROTOTYPE
Prototype & design system
