AI social app
UX research
Time Frame
Aug 2022 - Sep 2022
Duration
4 weeks
My Role
Research Lead responsible for deliverables including:
User Survey Questions, User Interviews, Research Synthesis, Personas, User Journey, Opportunity Suggestions
Team
Armando | Carvajal
Katherine Grehl | Co-Founder
Rich Fortune | Co-Founder
Jessica Teng | UX Designer
Isaac Wu | UX Designer
Lyndsay Gang | UX Designer
Tim Zimmer | UX Designer
THE PROBLEM
Coordinating a hangout is a tedious task.
Organizing hangouts with friends has gotten really tough these days. From finding mutual interests to picking spots and juggling everyone's busy schedules, it's become a real hassle.
Hangtight is a startup dedicated to make scheduling hangouts easier. I'm leading the research on this project with three other designers. Our main goal is to dig into the challenges users face when trying to coordinate hangouts.
UNDERSTAND
Do we really need another app to solve the coordination problem?
When Hangtight embarked on this journey, the team was already committed to creating an app to tackle hangout coordination. Personally, I get the struggle of organizing hangouts, but I had my doubts about adding yet another app just for this. Curious about the research behind these decisions, I dove into the initial survey results provided by stakeholders. Using Tableau for deep analysis, several key findings emerged:
Uses SMS to coordinate hangouts
Restaurant is the preferred hangout locatioon for all age grooups.
Use social media to improve their social life
Limitations of the initial survey
Age-related data gap: One of the challenges we faced was not having specific age information from respondents. This made it harder to connect age, occupation, and their specific needs for coordinating hangouts accurately.
Limited sample size and skewed demographics: The survey had a small sample size, with only 58 people completing it. Plus, most respondents were in the 18-24 age bracket, which might not represent everyone's experiences well.
Lack of frustration indicators: The survey didn't give us enough detailed data to show exactly what frustrates people most when they try to coordinate hangouts.
THE SURVEY
User Survey: Take Two
To ensure that the Hangtight team accurately identifies the appropriate user pain points and target user group, I collaborated with the founders to create a second survey with the following objectives:
Identify demographic groups facing difficulties in coordinating hangouts with friends.
Explore current communication and planning methods used for hangouts.
Evaluate effectiveness and challenges within current hangout planning methods.
Determine if individuals perceive the need for an additional app to address their coordination challenges.
Key findings
26-30 Years Old
Users in this age group, reported the highest levels of frustration when coordinating hangouts.
77% of respondents prefer to socialize with a smaller group of close friends.
At Least 63% indicated using SMS or messaging apps as their primary means of communication
Finding mutually convenient meet-up times
receiving timely responses,
getting friends to show up
What users say about SMS
Likes
Fast and easy to use
Higher response rate because most contacts use it
Searchable conversation history
Low pressure, compared to phone calls
Dislikes
Delayed response
No "read" receipt in SMS / Data privacy concerns
Long text threads become too overwhelming to read
No features to vote for time, places and activities
THE PERSONAS
Identifying the most frustrated user groups
Out of the survey respondents, a total of 7 individuals were selected for in-depth user interviews. To make sense of the collected data, we utilized an affinity map technique, allowing us to organize the key points and identify patterns and commonalities among the responses. Through this process, we were able to distill the information into two personas:
THE OPPORTUNITIES
Map user journey and opportunities
In order to better understand the pain points in each phase and discover opportunities for product ideation, I created the following journey map:
SUGGESTIONS
So, is a hangout coordination app needed?
Yes and no. When it comes to planning hangouts with friends, our research revealed a low demand for a dedicated hangout coordination app. People generally prefer smaller group gatherings and rely heavily on SMS for quick and easy communication. SMS remains their go-to for staying in touch with friends. However, there is a greater need for event planning in the context of meeting new friends through organizations, clubs, and similar groups. Based on these insights, I proposed several ideas to the Hangtight team to improve hangout coordination:
Pivot the App Toward Large Event Planning:
The app will be more suited to large group event planning, offering robust features to streamline organizing gatherings for larger crowds.
Key Functionality to Address User Pain Points:
For casual hangouts with close friends, users may be reluctant to download a separate app. To address this, integrate an AI-powered bot for SMS coordination, allowing users to plan events effortlessly without requiring a new app.
Additional features to enhance the planning experience:
Note-taking for essential details such as meeting times, locations, and voting on options.
Automated reminders for critical event updates and deadlines.
Organized messaging that prioritizes important information for easy access.
Image and link collection tailored to user preferences, making it simple to share relevant media.
Polling System:
Offer a convenient polling system for event decisions. For SMS users, provide a web link accessible without the need for account creation, making participation quick and frictionless.
TAKEAWAYS
Lesson learned
Different needs call for different solutions
From our findings, it's clear that the app our team is designing is more for users looking to make new connections rather than just improving existing ones.
Avoid developing solutions in search of a problem
Our research indicates that people don't necessarily require a new app to manage hangout plans with current friends. It's crucial to avoid investing in solutions that don't align with actual user needs.