Be Square – Capstone 2 UX Project.

Overview

A startup company has launched a product that helps people meet new friends. The goal of the product is to create a social user experience that will help users get out and do activities in person. Friends keep us company through the difficulties of our lives and help us grow, but when people move to a new city or town, fear and social anxiety can keep them from making new friends. How can we help people who have social anxiety step out and make new friends?

 

Problem Statement

The business team has identified a problem in that the number of people who say they are going to an event is significantly higher than the number of people who actually attend. The company’s location data shows that, on average, 20% of people who say they’re going end up attending events.

 

Business Goals 

Increase the conversion of accepted invites to event attendees.

 

User Profile

• 32 – 55 years old.
• The user base is an equal split between men and women.
• Use phones and desktop applications equally.
• Middle class.
• Recently relocated to a new city.

 

Desires:

To meet new people with whom they share common interests

 

Competitive Analysis

After searching online for a similar idea, I found a couple of sites that also offered social networking around real-life events.

Case 1: Facebook Groups and Events

 

Strengths

Apart from its social networking feature, Facebook offers private and public group pages where you can join and connect with other members who share similar interests worldwide. While group interactions are primarily on the Facebook platform, you can set up get-togethers with other nearby members and meet in person. 

• You can join a group of like-minded people and build relationships in a non-intimidating way. 

• Useful for people who are more introverted and shy, as it all happens online.

• It’s a good way to ease into a social group while remaining in your comfort zone. 

• While this community is primarily online, Facebook offers the means to create events where people can meet in real life within the group.

 

Facebook’s event page feature is independent of groups.

• You can promote a special event like concerts, get-togethers, and parties. 

• These events can be promoted across Facebook and serve as a means of social outreach among friends or groups.

Weaknesses

While Facebook groups are great for meeting new people with common interests, it does have their drawbacks 

• If you’re looking to build an actual in-person friend group of new people, you’ll have to take the initiative to meet people or wait for someone to set up an event. 

• Being bold enough to reach out to a stranger at an event could prove to be difficult for some more shy or introverted people.

 

Insights

I liked the ease of use of Facebook’s event listing and think it would be an ideal starting point for my Capstone project.

• I like the idea of featuring a shared interest by having groups, since people can build off their passion for the subject.

• I think it might be a direction to explore for making people feel comfortable socially.

 

Case 2: Eventbrite

Strengths

It’s a great repository for finding interesting things to do throughout your area. 

• Events can be filtered into various categories and neighborhoods.

• Spots to the events can be reserved/purchased quickly

• The app offers the ability to save favorite events as well as providing a section to store tickets. 

• I liked the ability to have a personal dashboard where you can do “administrative” tasks like save events you’re interested in, as well as have a designated page for events you’re attending.

Weaknesses

• Eventbrite is more of a bare-bones general events-promoting page rather than a social networking app. 

• It’s good for people seeking things to do, but not very social in that you won’t get to meet new people unless you approach them at the venue yourself. This could be problematic for shy people.

• While the app offers a social networking feature, it primarily consists of importing your existing contacts into the app so you can follow them and message them. 

It does not provide a way to meet new people.

 

Insights

While primarily event-focused and offering little in terms of social networking, Eventbrite provides a great member’s dashboard where people can organize the events they are interested in as well as store tickets to the events they are attending.

Case 3: Meetup

Likes

The primary goal of Meetup is to promote live events with an emphasis on meeting other people.

• I like how the app integrates a social networking feature to further entice people to participate in the events.

• I think that people with social anxiety might find this approach appealing in that they can see.

• The app is organized into both groups and events that can be followed, and is customized to your interests. I particularly liked the very robust search feature that was able to call up more social gatherings according to my search query.

• Features a guest list along with the links to members’ profiles, their motivations for attending the event, and even if it’s their first time attending the event. 

• It provides a strong sense of “community” to the event.

• For being such a text-heavy site, the information is presented thoughtfully.

Weaknesses

• I’m not a fan of the black background. It makes the text look smaller and harder to read. 

• I think that the black background makes the app look intimidating, and I would rather have, at the very least, a light mode that could be toggled on.

• Showcasing both the event and the social aspects of it can make the pages appear very text-heavy and overwhelming to a first-time user, as the content on the black background seems to visually blend all sections together. 

• Information is repeated in each post, adding to the clutter.

• Serving external ads and promotions just adds to the clutter.

• Providing the user with visually distinct sections would improve navigation on the site.

Insights

I like the layout and functionality of this app and would find it challenging to improve it much past offering a light mode to view the app and streamlining some of the content. I think a better use of colors or shades to define each section might be in order.

Process:

The Solution

One of the problems for this project involved solving the problem of users who sign up to attend events but end up not showing up. My solution relied on a credit allotment system where each month the user was allotted 2000 credits to use to “purchase” a seat at an event for 500 credits. If they attended the event, they were credited back the 500 credits and given a bonus amount of credits to use towards future events. However, if they didn’t cancel up to 24 hours before the event or chose not to go, they forfeit their 500 credits and can no longer use them until their credit allotment is reset during their next month. A consistent pattern of non-attendance results in their user status being lowered and them being restricted from attending more popular events for that month. Coupled with their credit allotment, there would also be an event-tiered structure where certain events cost more credits to attend, so the user could budget for these events. This solution relied on creating users’ feelings that the events had some value, and they were “invested” in attending the event, and therefore did not want to sacrifice the credits that they spent. Due to the nature of this test format, it was not possible to simulate these actions past making the initial credit investment. To test for these results, it’s recommended that a more robust test be undertaken.

Prototyping

Logo

I was asked to come up with both the name of the app, so I chose “Be Square” due to the target audience of the app being people who felt socially anxious. It was a declaration to be “square”, a term for those who aren’t cool, nerdy, or don’t fit in socially. It defined a safe space to feel anxious and awkward, but have some fun. A place to “be”.  It was meant to take a term for nerdiness, embrace it, and make it into a cool meeting place.

I created some basic wireframes of what I felt would resemble what the Be Square app would look like and modeled the look on the rough designs I was given.

 

Testing:

Users were given a task list and then attempted to complete each task.

Test Script 1.

APP Background:

Be Square is a social networking events app that promotes live events where people with social anxieties can meet and discuss their common interests. 

Tasks:

1. 1. Browse the event listings and try to search for the following event: “Professional Mixer for Design Professionals.”
   2. Take the short member survey.
   3. You’re being asked to spend 500 credits. Learn more about Be Square’s credit system.
   4. Accept the invitation to the event. 

Link to Prototype

 

Test 1:
For my usability testing, I recruited 3 people from various backgrounds to evaluate the prototype. Everyone was able to complete the tasks, though some people didn’t understand how the credit system worked. Some also felt that the 1000 credits buy-in to attend an event seemed too much to pay and hesitated to purchase a slot at the event. Others didn’t understand the credit system and how it worked. Moreover, people felt blindsided by the credit feature overall and felt that if they were informed earlier, it would come as less of a shock to them.

Revised Interface:

I synthesized the feedback I received for the initial wireframe and made a high-fidelity prototype that included the following changes to the interface of the prototype  

• Due to some people not knowing how to browse for events, I added steps where the user adds groups to the process and adds events through the group page, as well as by using the explore tab.
• Some people didn’t understand how the credit system worked, so they were reluctant to proceed. Because this was a significant bottleneck, I added a rollover tool tip to help explain the expending credits concept. 
• One previous user thought that 1000 Credits was too high a price to attend, and was reluctant to commit those credits, so I lowered the amount needed to attend to 500
• Added a credit price to the event listings so people would be introduced to the credit concept earlier in the process.

  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  

  
  

Link to Prototype

Test Script 2

App Background:

Be Square is a social networking events app that promotes live events where socially anxious people can meet and discuss their common interests. 

Tasks:

1. 1. You do not have any groups stored in the app. Join 3 New & Notable groups and add each of them to your homepage.
   2. Check out the SF Social Designers group page or search event listing to find the following event: “Professional Mixer for Design Professionals.” 
   3. Reserve a seat at this event.
   4. Take the short participant survey.
   5. You’re being asked to spend 500 credits. Learn more about Be Square’s credit system.

 

Test 2:

I was able to recruit 3 more participants who were willing to help with this test. These were done remotely with a provided task list. People felt less confused by the credit system and were able to complete tasks more effectively

Participant Response:

Participants’ response to the use of a credit-based event site was positive, with some commenting that charging a “fee” to attend events was a good way to keep users from backing out of events they signed up for.

 

Conclusion:

Given the very short time constraints and my event credit solution not being able to be tested in this format, it is recommended that this design solution be further examined and tested with a more robust testing format.