Multiple communitiues
Local student/ campus focused communities.
Navigation map with friends location.
Ratings/reviews on friend map to find local places.
Matching option to find a friend with similar interests.
Private message option.
Multiple communitiues
Local student/ campus focused communities.
Navigation map with friends location.
Ratings/reviews on friend map to find local places.
Matching option to find a friend with similar interests.
Private message option.
Multiple communitiues
Local student/ campus focused communities.
Navigation map with friends location.
Ratings/reviews on friend map to find local places.
Matching option to find a friend with similar interests.
Private message option.
Multiple communitiues
Local student/ campus focused communities.
Navigation map with friends location.
Ratings/reviews on friend map to find local places.
Matching option to find a friend with similar interests.
Private message option.
YikYak
Snapchat
Our Space
View final prototype
View final prototype
The Solution
How might we?
A community app that helps college students connect with peers and discover local places that match their interests. The app fosters social connections, supports exploration of new environments, and encourages a sense of belonging during the transition to a new campus or city.
Help college students who are transitioning to a new location feel connected and supported by making it easier to meet friends, discover local spaces, and build a sense of community; reducing feelings of isolation and improving overall well-being.
Skills
Timeline
Role
5 Weeks
Mobile App Design
Digital Design
User Research
UX Designer
UX Researcher
Project Overview
User persona
User journey
Competetitive advantage
User pain points
Our Space is a community-based mobile app designed to support students transitioning to college. The app helps users connect with peers facing similar challenges and includes a buddy-matching feature that fosters support, guidance, and a sense of belonging.
“It’s so hard to find friends. Especially now that I’m a junior, everyone already has friend groups.”
Taryn James
Taryn is a third year student at the University of Florida. She is majoring in advertising with a minor in computer science. She recently transferred to UF from a community college in Houston. Right now she is struggling to find friends and explore the local Gainesville community. She's quite shy but eager to make connections.
Goals
Frustrations
Needs
Wants to improve her mental health by going out more.
Wants to build a friend group.
She gets to shy to talk to people in person.
She doesn’t know where to find good hangout spots where she can meet people.
Most people already have friend groups.
She needs help finding social activities.
She needs help overcoming her social anxiety.
Personality
Interests
Brands
Shy
Creative
Ambitious
Drawing
Thrifting
Nature walks
Age: 20
Hometown: Houston, Texas
1
Established friend groups
60% of people surveyed said that students having already established friend groups makes it hard to meet new people.
2
Social
anxiety
50% of people surveyed said that having social anxiety makes if diffiucult to meet new people.
3
Not interested in party life
40% of people said personal disinterest in partying makes it hard to meet new people.
Defining the user
Designing with the user in mind…
"I have to be brave enough to take the first step to start a topic." - W.L.
"I struggle with keeping in contact and initiating hangouts." - S.B.
Onboarding
Connect
Join
Map
Goes to app store to see if thers any social apps for college students.
Finds ‘Our Space’ and downloads it.
Creates a new account, and inputs her profile details.
Searches community to find one that interests her.
Joins a crafting community.
Uses the match feature to find a new friend.
Reaches out to match through messages.
She opens the navigation tab and finds some new local places to visit.
Research
Most social apps don’t allow her to find people locally.
Wants to explore the app, before committing to creating an account.
Wants to better curate her profile before connecting with someone right after sign up.
Wishes there was group chats for communities instead. Also wishes there was an anonymous option.
She wishes she could see where others have gone, and what they think of it.
Make app centered around students connecting with other students near them.
Allow users to bypass sign up to explore app before committing to creating an account.
Allow students to curate their profile later on before directing them to match page.
Add a group chat feature so students can connect privately.
Allow users to see recent places their friends have been, and leave reviews.
Pain
Points
Actions
Emotions
Improve
Branding
Low - Fidelity Mockups
Acessibility concerns
High - Fidelity Mockups
High - Fidelity Prototypes
Users can browse posts from their community to discover trending spaces and popular local destinations. The integrated map view highlights locations their friends have visited, along with reviews making it easier to explore new places.
Discover local communities based on your interests. This feature helps users meet like-minded people, build connections, and explore new hobbies together.
The Match feature helps students find study partners and build new friendships. By pairing users with others who share similar majors and interests, the feature encourages connections that support both academic and social life.
The Match feature connects students with others who share similar majors and interests, helping users find study partners and build meaningful friendships.
Join communities based on your hobbies and interests. These groups help foster a sense of belonging by allowing students to connect with others who share similar passions.
Use the interactive map to discover local places near you and see where your friends have visited, helping users explore new spots within their community.
Search a directory of communities that align with your interests, making it easy to discover and join groups that match your lifestyle and activities.
Chat directly with the friends you match with through built-in messaging, making it easy to start conversations and build connections.
A primary design focus was developing a high-contrast color palette that balances visual appeal with accessibility. While the palette incorporates bright, vibrant colors, testing revealed that these elements performed more effectively on a dark background, allowing the interface to better meet WCAG contrast standards compared to a light theme.
This approach enhances readability, strengthens visual hierarchy, and supports users with low vision or color sensitivity by ensuring key elements remain clear and distinguishable.
Lessons learned
Through this process, I developed a stronger understanding of how to apply color and visual design principles to guide user attention and improve navigation throughout the interface. By refining the use of contrast, hierarchy, and emphasis, I was able to create a more intuitive and visually clear user experience. I also learned the value of designing with a specific target user in mind, which led to more focused design decisions and a more cohesive, effective interface rather than attempting to accommodate too many user types at once.
Let's connect!
Next steps include conducting user testing to pinpoint pain points and gather insights that will inform iterative improvements to the overall user experience.
Next steps