Sircle

Connecting people to their local area through personal interests and hobbies

The Project Process

Role: Sole Designer

Timeline: 7 weeks

Tools: Figma

Research

  • Goals

  • Objectives

  • Competitive Analysis

  • User Interviews

Define

  • Affinity Mapping

  • User Personas

  • Task Flows

  • User Flows

  • Sitemap

Design

  • Low/Mid-Fidelity Wireframes

  • Brand Development

  • UI Components

  • High-Fidelity Wireframes

Test

  • Prototype

  • Usability Testing

  • Prioritization Matrix

  • Iterations

Problem

People moving to a new place have to go through the trial and error of finding things to do around them that they enjoy

Nearly 30 million Americans move every year, meaning 30 million people must familiarize themselves to a new city with new restaurants, museums, parks, and activities. The sheer number of choices can be intimidating. Many of these people won’t have any sort of resource or network to help them acclimate to their new city either.

Goal

Create a resource for people to use that quickly connects them to their community based off personal interests and hobbies

Research

Competitive Analysis

The market is lacking a local resource that caters to the specific user

These services all play a role in connecting to your new community, but they are missing an element of personalization that can make connecting not only a much easier process, but a much faster one as well.

Interview Research Goals

  • What motivates people to try new things after moving?

  • What keeps people from trying new things after moving?

  • What are the major frustrations of moving to a new city?

  • What types of recommendations would people find most useful after moving?

Key Insights

  • Willingness to try new things is heightened after moving to a new place

  • An aggregate of information on things to do and places to go would be very beneficial after moving

  • Personalized recommendations would increase the likelihood to try new things and connect with community

  • Lack of local knowledge leads to feelings of isolation and loneliness

How might we help users connect with their new surroundings more deeply and effectively?

Define

User Personas

There is a window of time after moving where adventurousness is heightened

The Do-er will always be looking for new things to do, however the Shelled-off user has a specific timeframe after moving to a new place to try out new things before they tend to get stuck in their ways. To be able to provide both of these users experiences catered to their preferences means a successful range in both ends of the user spectrum.

Task Flows

User Flows

Daisy wants to find a new bar for her and her friends to try on a Saturday night

Shannon is bored on her day off and wants to get out of the house

Present the user with recommendations most catered to them first

Taking the pain of choice anxiety out of the hands of the user can make a much better experience when getting out of their comfort zone or trying new things. Picking from a handful of options of things we think you’ll like is much easier than picking from hundreds of options of many things you may not like at all.

Sitemap

The search for new activities can be exploratory or targeted

Some users may want to know specific restaurants they like, others may want to see where the wind takes them and find something they would have never thought of themselves. Allowing for the user freedom ensures many different use cases for the product.

Design

Mid-Fidelity Wireframes

Incorporating a map gives the user spatial recognition to more quickly learn their surroundings

Knowing where things are in relation to each other and your new home can be one of the biggest hurdles after moving. Getting visual feedback and building a mental map of things you like to do can aid in familiarity tremendously.

Brand Development

Logo

Color Palette

Typography

Moving to a new place is a time of growth, excitement, and exploration

Life is all about the experiences you create, so showcasing the bright and lively vibrancy that your local community can offer you will help encourage users to stay in their adventurous phase.

UI Component Library

New businesses, events, and activities pop up everyday, so the design system must keep up

Giving more development time to optimize and enhance the user experience rather than fiddling with UI elements allows the design team to be agile and efficient.

High-Fidelity Wireframes

The process can feel familiar to the user while offering a new experience

Users can intuitively know how to use the common features and functions similar to competitor’s sites, however the reward of the personalization is what sets Sircle apart.

Test

Prototype

A curated list made just for the user

It’s like having the knowledge of a local friend who knows what you’d be into anywhere you go.

Prioritization Matrix

After running five usability tests, the metrics of task completion and post-task satisfaction were both 100%. Most of the feedback were about UI and visual design decisions

Iterations

Based on user data and feedback from usability tests, these are the necessary changes to improve the overall user experience.

  • Added price indicator

  • Added distance indicator

  • Added color to selection tags

  • Moved search function from hamburger menu to navigation bar

  • Made selection screens more image focused

  • Gave less screen real estate to reviews section

Conclusion

A design is only as good as the data it is built upon

Being the first end to end project of my design career, I’m proud of myself for following this process and allowing the user research to lead the way on what to do next and staying true to the human element of the design. Behind every digital tool is a person who needs a job to be done, and after this project I feel I have the skillset to identify and help accomplish that job to be done, and with practice and future projects, that feeling will only grow stronger.