Do you remember when people would actually interact face-to-face in public?
I know I do. And with that, the list of what we have lost to “the algorithm” goes on.
So I came up with a product idea that set to ring the ‘social’ focus back to “social media” following an agile methodology for fun.
After researching “social media” on web and mobile, more dating apps poised as “social media apps” pop up more than anything else.
The main idea for this product was to guide users to social events — i.e. social interactions face-to-face — by their location, date and budget-type all in a flashy but minimal interface. Profiles would be limited to avoid dating app conversion, but connected to other more popular socials such as Instagram, X, etc to build a user base here next.
The product’s red route would allow users to send e-vites to connected friends, invite new users with or without this e-vite, and search general city areas with friends based on budget. The more interactions, the more rewards users would get, allowing for expansion of this app’s company by collaborating with more high budget events and organizations in the area.
Taking a further look at specific social media apps, and noting certain patterns, features and trends, I first mapped out what this idea would translate to in a simplified user flow.
The questions asked were; 1. what are the main routes?, 2. what is the overall brand/feel of these routes?, and 3.) what possible edge cases and additional routes should be added? Using other designers in her network for minimal feedback, this designer set to create a product that focused on social events and face-to-face interactions rather than online engagement high scores.
I then came up with a logo and style concepts to go with their red route user flow.
Based on current trends (even when revisiting this after a year), there is no social network like this or presented like this.
You can try out one of the initial prototypes here.
To test their idea, this designer took this prototype link and interviewed two other designers, Christi, Tatiana; and one quality engineer, Mikey.
After multiple user testing sessions with these 3 user types, the MVP was completed in 2020.
You can test the updated final version from 2020, here.
In 2024, this application remains a niche solution to the “social media” market problem.
This designer has opted out of brining it to market on their own.
The sole purpose of this case study is to demonstrate this designer’s creative prowess, consistently ahead of any market.