Validating Social Connection and Event Discovery Through Early-Stage Design
PoolPing
PoolPing is an exciting event organization app that seamlessly blends social connections with event planning. It's the perfect way to meet new people and discover fun events, all in one place.
Role
Product Designer
Client
PoolPing
Date
June 2023- September2023
Validating Social Connection and Event Discovery Through Early-Stage Design
PoolPing
PoolPing
PoolPing is an exciting event organization app that seamlessly blends social connections with event planning. It's the perfect way to meet new people and discover fun events, all in one place.
PoolPing is an exciting event organization app that seamlessly blends social connections with event planning. It's the perfect way to meet new people and discover fun events, all in one place.
Role
Product Designer
Client
PoolPing
Date
June 2023- September 2023
It started with an idea
When our Project Manager and Backend Developer came to me with their idea, I took on the challenge of turning their vision into a user-friendly MVP. PoolPing isn't just your run-of-the-mill event organization app. It's a platform that brings together event organizers and attendees, and more. It's about making social connections, allowing people to meet and mingle with others at events.
It started with an idea
When our Project Manager and Backend Developer came to me with their idea, I took on the challenge of turning their vision into a user-friendly MVP. PoolPing isn't just your run-of-the-mill event organization app. It's a platform that brings together event organizers and attendees, and more. It's about making social connections, allowing people to meet and mingle with others at events.
It started with an idea
When our Project Manager and Backend Developer came to me with their idea, I took on the challenge of turning their vision into a user-friendly MVP. PoolPing isn't just your run-of-the-mill event organization app. It's a platform that brings together event organizers and attendees, and more. It's about making social connections, allowing people to meet and mingle with others at events.
It started with an idea
When our Project Manager and Backend Developer came to me with their idea, I took on the challenge of turning their vision into a user-friendly MVP. PoolPing isn't just your run-of-the-mill event organization app. It's a platform that brings together event organizers and attendees, and more. It's about making social connections, allowing people to meet and mingle with others at events.
To start off, we initiated the project with a brainstorming workshop, resulting in key decisions, including:
We use physical locations as our categories
We determined it would be easier to categorize events by the physical locations
This would mean, no online events can be organized. Sorry virtual dating meetups, your time will come
Apple version for now
We opted for the Apple version initially due to its quicker development timeline.
Social connectivity would be pushed to the next version
The feature that would help people connect at the event using thr app would be pushed to next version due to complexity in development
Also, due to privacy concerns.
We wont handle ticketing
Payment and ticketing would be handled by 3rd party applications. We are a social product first and foremost
Pricing would only be shown for information purposes
We focus on the event goers over organizers
Although, one can be able to create events on the app, the experience would be tailored towards event goers
To start off, we initiated the project with a brainstorming workshop, resulting in key decisions, including:
We use physical locations as our categories
We determined it would be easier to categorize events by the physical locations
This would mean, no online events can be organized. Sorry virtual dating meetups, your time will come
Apple version for now
We opted for the Apple version initially due to its quicker development timeline.
Social connectivity would be pushed to the next version
The feature that would help people connect at the event using thr app would be pushed to next version due to complexity in development
Also, due to privacy concerns.
We wont handle ticketing
Payment and ticketing would be handled by 3rd party applications. We are a social product first and foremost
Pricing would only be shown for information purposes
2 major limitations boiled down to a core design directive: make it very simple and make it realistic.
Limited Budget
Being bootstrapped, required us to restrict interactive features and media content for the time being
No User Research
Limited time constrained us from conducting comprehensive initial user research, hindering our understanding of user needs.
2 major limitations boiled down to a core design directive: make it very simple and make it realistic.
Limited Budget
Being bootstrapped, required us to restrict interactive features and media content for the time being
No User Research
Limited time constrained us from conducting comprehensive initial user research, hindering our understanding of user needs.
Content First
I performed a hierarchical card sort with three participants. My aims were to understand how users, specifically event goers thought about different categories of content and what was most important to them.
Category
Rank
Quotes of users
Event Details(Location,Map,Time)
1
“Thats what im here for in the first place”
Filters and Preferences
1
“ Being specific helps alot”
Search (Event Search and User Search)
2
“For exploring cool stuff”
Event Categories
2
User Profiles
3
“ I think it should be prerequisite at this point”
Event Creation
4
Key Takeaway
I was surprised to learn that users specify the event they want to see by using the filter rather than searching or by event categories. It seems users only search when they already have an event in mind they want to go. Meaning they will have the name of the event or even the organizer’s name
Tradeoffs
Although, Event creation was ranked low in the card sort above, we had to prioritize it in order to attract event organizers. Also, to consider that the reason it was ranked low is due to none of the participants having hosted an event before
Content First
I performed a hierarchical card sort with three participants. My aims were to understand how users, specifically event goers thought about different categories of content and what was most important to them.
Category
Rank
Quotes of users
Event Details(Location,Map,Time)
1
“Thats what im here for in the first place”
Filters and Preferences
1
“ Being specific helps alot”
Search (Event Search and User Search)
2
“For exploring cool stuff”
Event Categories
2
User Profiles
3
“ I think it should be prerequisite at this point”
Event Creation
4
Key Takeaway
I was surprised to learn that users specify the event they want to see by using the filter rather than searching or by event categories. It seems users only search when they already have an event in mind they want to go. Meaning they will have the name of the event or even the organizer’s name
Tradeoffs
Although, Event creation was ranked low in the card sort above, we had to prioritize it in order to attract event organizers. Also, to consider that the reason it was ranked low is due to none of the participants having hosted an event before
Based on the findings, our focus should be on improving event details, filters, and search features for an enhanced user experience while boosting social sharing and catering more to event organizers to meet our business goals.
Based on the findings, our focus should be on improving event details, filters, and search features for an enhanced user experience while boosting social sharing and catering more to event organizers to meet our business goals.
Your portal to happy moments.
Detailed view of events with the added option to view these same events on an interactive map.
The categories are determined by the physical locations of events, and our product team selected them based on prior research and market insights.
Searching for events: What, Where and When
What: Search for events by name, for example, searching 'career' will display events with the name 'career' in the results.
Where: Search for locations. By default events will be shown by the closest to the user provided they have granted location permission to reduce user customization
When: Pick a select date range of what event should be shown to you
“People’ over “Friends”
Adding a follower/following feature was considered complex and time-consuming for the current product stage. It would also require adhering to Apple's guidelines for user blocking and data deletion, which posed infrastructure challenges that we couldn't address at this time.
Putting Sharing Front and Center: A Boost for App Sign-Ups
I chose to prioritize the 'Share' button over hiding it in a menu to encourage users to easily share events with others. This decision was based on the assumption that by making event sharing more accessible, it might lead to increased sign-ups for the app. While this is an assumption, it aligns with the goal of fostering social connections and expanding our user base through the power of word-of-mouth and social sharing.
Your portal to happy moments.
Solving Event Creation Challenges Through Testing
In the quest to streamline event creation, our team explored a critical decision: Should we split the create event screen into two parts? My proposition was different—dividing the form into multiple screens, easing the process. To test our hypothesis, we dove into usability tests.
Partcipant
3 participants were used for this test
Comparing results
We would test both concepts and measure for time used in finishing the task (Creating an event) and user satisfaction
Solving Event Creation Challenges Through Testing
In the quest to streamline event creation, our team explored a critical decision: Should we split the create event screen into two parts? My proposition was different—dividing the form into multiple screens, easing the process. To test our hypothesis, we dove into usability tests.
Partcipant
3 participants were used for this test
Comparing results
We would test both concepts and measure for time used in finishing the task (Creating an event) and user satisfaction
Concept 1
Forms broken into two screens
Concept 2
Forms broken into multiple screens
CONT
Key Findings
All participants were able to complete tasks for both concepts
Concept 1 had a task completion time of 83 seconds on average
Concept 2 had a task completion time of 78 seconds on average
Concept 1 had a user satisfaction of 2.5/5 on average
Concept 2 had a user satisfaction of 4/5 on average
Although both concept had almost the same completion time, the significant difference in user satisfaction made us to choose concept 2
Key Findings
All participants were able to complete tasks for both concepts
Concept 1 had a task completion time of 83 seconds on average
Concept 2 had a task completion time of 78 seconds on average
Concept 1 had a user satisfaction of 2.5/5 on average
Concept 2 had a user satisfaction of 4/5 on average
Although both concept had almost the same completion time, the significant difference in user satisfaction made us to choose concept 2
Onboarding to the rescue
To ensure a quick and effortless sign-up or login process, users will only require their email to access the app. No passwords. Additionally, users will be provided with default usernames, which they can change within the app.
Onboarding to the rescue
To ensure a quick and effortless sign-up or login process, users will only require their email to access the app. No passwords. Additionally, users will be provided with default usernames, which they can change within the app.
Customization beyond defaults
Users have the flexibility to customize their experience by changing their default usernames, editing interests, location, and profile image.
Customization beyond defaults
Users have the flexibility to customize their experience by changing their default usernames, editing interests, location, and profile image.
Keep working on enhancing user experiences
Optimizing after launch
With actionable insights, i and the team intend to keep improve the app user experience
Bug Fixes
With a project of this magnitude, it's expected that minor bugs will emerge, and we'll address them through long-term analysis.
Keep working on enhancing user experiences
Optimizing after launch
With actionable insights, i and the team intend to keep improve the app user experience
Bug Fixes
With a project of this magnitude, it's expected that minor bugs will emerge, and we'll address them through long-term analysis.
What i learned
Break things down to streamline development
We've learned the value of breaking down complex tasks to streamline development and address issues more efficiently, a lesson we put into practice while working on the 'Create Event' feature.
Iterate often
Having visual representations of layout variations helped bring my designs to life for stakeholders
What i learned
Break things down to streamline development
We've learned the value of breaking down complex tasks to streamline development and address issues more efficiently, a lesson we put into practice while working on the 'Create Event' feature.
Iterate often
Having visual representations of layout variations helped bring my designs to life for stakeholders