May Tong
Senior Designer
Product
Design

Beacon

Stay in touch with your friends with reminders,
and arrange meetups around your busy
schedule. Beacon shows nearby friends who
are available for quick meetups.

Scroll Down
Product
Design

Beacon

Stay in touch with your friends with reminders, and arrange meetups around your busy schedule. Beacon shows nearby friends who
are available for quick meetups.

Project
Type
Bootcamp
Capstone
Role
Product
Designer
Timeline
8
Weeks
Tools
Figma
Invision
Project Overview

The
"loneliness
epidemic"
wave

Goal
&
Impact
Help
young
adults
engage
and
maintain
their
existing
friendships
in
order
to
reduce
loneliness.
Therefore
decreasing
the
percentage
of
loneliness
experienced
in
young
adults.
Solution
An
app
that
helped
young
adults
reach
out
and
plan
impromptu
meetups
with
nearby
friends
that
will
fit
their
busy
schedules.
Problem Space

Lack
of
friends
in
young
adults.

Isolation and lack of connection are some of the main causes of loneliness. Social
connections formed through friendships provide relief from loneliness. The decrease
in friendships is a key indicator of why young adults feel more lonely.

In young adults age 18-27

25
reported having no close friends
22
reported having no friends at all

2020 Cigna study which surveyed 10,000 adults across the United States

Too shy & introverted to connect with others
53%
Their hobbies/interests don’t facilitate friendships
26%
Say that friendships are too much work
20%
Say they are too busy for friendships
14%

Causes of Loneliness

Physical Isolation

Big life change (Moving, Death etc)

Personality
(shy, introverted, etc)

Symptom of psychological disorder

Negative Effects of Loneliness

Heart Problems

Decreased Memory

Depression

Poor decision making

Current Preventions

Activity Meetups

Build quality relationships

Strengthen Existing Relationships

Talk to someone

Understanding the problem

During the early stages of adulthood, young adults experience big life transitions (job, school, moving) impacting their connection with friends and family.

Assumptions

Helping millennials form quality friendships through shared interests and opportunities can decrease the percentage of loneliness in young adults.

Questionnaire & User Interviews

Talking
to
young
adults
and
understanding
their
experiences.

To confirm my assumptions, I decided to gather primary research by collecting quantitative and
qualitative data. I used a questionnaire to narrow my scope on the general preventions and
causes of loneliness.

Afterwards, 5 user interviews were conducted to gather in-depth contextual information about
young adults’ experiences with loneliness. Due to the range of factors that contribute to the
feeling of loneliness, the qualitative data will provide a solution that tackles the most prevalent
cause.

Participant Criteria

Young
adults
age
18-30
The
age
group
most
impacted
by
loneliness
Lives
in
North
America
Secondary
research
based
on
stats
and
research
only
in
North
America
No
major
health
or
psychological
disorders
Depression
&
other
health
factors
can
contribute
to
the
feelings
of
loneliness
Synthesized Insights

Old
friends
are
better
than
new
ones.

Contrary to my assumption, many of these young adults preferred to spend time
with their close friends rather than make new ones.

Behaviours

Use technology and hobbies to prevent loneliness and to keep in touch with others.

Findings

• Talk to friends and family to avoid loneliness
• Goes to the gym and being active
• Use social media to connect with friends
• Meet friends less often
• Plays & listens to music

Motivations

Users want to form in-person relationships and experience new hobbies.

Findings

• Reaches out to people when lonely
• Meet new people at work
• To go on more walks
• Try to hang with friends more
• Wants to be more social
• Seek out new experiences

Pain Points

Due to busy life changes, it is hard to coordinate with existing friends and form new quality connections.

Findings

• Lacks social interactions & initiative
• Difficult to make time for friends
• Feels left out of friend group
• Can’t tell if new connections will click
• Socially awkward
• Feels tired and unhappy due to loneliness
Person

Insights to Persona

I created a persona that encompasses the new findings based on the behaviours, motivations, and pain points from my research and interviews. Millennials’ busy lives made it difficult to coordinate meetups with existing friends.

Experience Mapping

Improving
current
experiences.

The current experience of coordinating hangouts can be a time-consuming and
difficult task; especially in larger groups. Deciding the details of a meetup (time,
location, activity) were the main areas where experience can be improved.

Reassessing my HMW

How might we maintain the existing friendships of young adults so that they experience fewer moments of loneliness?

User Stories & Epics

Determining
app
features

24
user
stories
->
5
Epics
->
Chosen
Core
epic
->
10
user
stories

Planning meetups is not a linear process. Location, time, people and other factors can influence the plan. Due to the time limitations of this project it was important to choose the crucial features. These 5 epics were synthesized forming the features this app will contain in order to meet the user’s needs. 

Epics

Scheduling

Plan and coordinate times between friends

Notification

Set specific reminders to meet up and reach out to friends

Relationship Building

Share and nuture similar hobbies or interests between friends

Proximity & Location

Find nearby friends for impromptu meetups

Communication

Message and talk to friends to stay in touch

Chosen Epic

Proximity
&
Scheduling

Plans change, the final epic combined user stories from both proximity and scheduling
to fulfill the features needed for users to have the flexibility to reach out to friends
according to their busy schedules. I chose this epic to address my persona’s
frustration with fewer hangouts with their friends.

From a list of 10 user stories, the ones with a checkmark were incorporated into the
main task flow. Some other features were incorporated into the final design as
buttons to showcase additional features of the app.

As a user I want to...

Main Task Flow

Combining
business
and
user
needs.

After considering user needs, I compared existing products in the market to explore
areas of opportunity. I wanted to explore a feature not seen in other
friendship-maintaining apps to create a competitive edge in the market. Rather than
create a scheduling app for friends, I wanted to focus on meet-ups that could be held
quickly and conveniently.

As a busy adult, I want to see if there are nearby friends for spontaneous meet-ups
Develop

From
sketches
to
wireframing.

I created a series of sketches taking inspiration from similar patterns before deciding
on the final sketch below and creating a mid-fi prototype.

Main Screens Breakdown

Version 1 - User Flow

User Testing

Improving
experience
through
real
user
feedback.

I went through 2 rounds of user testing with 5 participants each. Each tester
provided me with feedback on the existing functions, overall design, experience
and ability to accomplish each task.

Key changes

Clarifying
button
function

V1-V2:
‘Nearby friends’ button is hidden under the plus button. - It was hard for users to navigate and identify based solely on the icon.

V2-V3
: Changed the 'notifications' label to 'reminders'

Didn't know there are more buttons in the floating action button.
Tester 3
I can't tell what the icons mean.
Tester 5
Key changes

Understanding
user's
needs

The invitation process was too complicated
and took too long for the user. I simplified the
process by designing quick prompts and
taking the thinking out.

If I plan a meet up in more than 2
hours, it's a planned hangout.
Tester 1
Deliver

Creating
the
mood
with
a
brand
identity.

I wanted to create a brand that exuded a bright, happy, and open feel. Yellow is the
colour of many friendship symbols such as the rose, topaz stone, and Claddagh ring.
In keeping with the friendly theme, the rounded San Serif font echoed the
approachable feel of the app.

Beacon
in
the
market.

The primary colour worked well not to overlap with other existing apps in the market.

App Solution

Beacon

Incorporating all the design elements, I created a final prototype using my completed
UI library. I ensured the app followed WCAG AAA compliance for contrast and legibility.

Smart watch

Expanding
to
other
platforms

Explored additional platforms that can aid in the app's feature. Integration with smart
watch to create an easier way to notify users of nearby friends and meetups.

The smart watch would vibrate when friends in the set radius are nearby allowing for
quick contact.

Marketing Web Design

Promoting
the
app.

Treating this app as a real product, a responsive marketing page was created.
Highlighting features of the app helped users get a better picture of how it worked
and its purpose.

Key Learnings

A
research
driven
solution.

Through this project, I learned there were constantly new insights that I discovered
throughout each step of the process. It's important to iterate while taking in new
information without fearing even some big pivots.

I started with an open and broad topic and let my research drive design decisions. My
end solution of a friendship maintaining app would not be my first thought as a
deterrent to loneliness. The research process can lead to new found solutions.

Design Impact

Project
reflection
and
future
improvements.

To explore the impact of my product, I utilized the

Tarot Cards of Tech
. Like most products, once it has been launched it will be up to the users to determine how the product is used.

The Big Bad Wolf Card

How
could
my
product
be
used
maliciously?
The
greatest
weakness
if
a
malicious
user
were
to
use
my
app
would
be
to
track
my
users
through
the
nearby
friends
feature.
There
is
a
layer
of
protection
provided
when
I
designed
the
map
to
only
show
an
approximate
location.

A collection of provocations designed to help creators consider the impact of technology.