ShareMate - A social app for safe and engaging social experience
Chicago, United States, Product Design
This project is to understand the complex identities of freight carriers and redesign an internal carrier profile page to improve the carrier-facing operator’s service and experience.
ROLE
UI/UX Designer
UI Design | UX Research
TIMELINE
6 months
[SEP. 2023- MAR. 2024 ]
ShareMate - A social app for safe and engaging social experience
ShareMate - A social app for safe and engaging social experience
United States, UI/UX Design
Ever been tricked by a 'catfish' on a social platform? Ever connected with someone online only to lose touch later? ShareMate can assist. We aim to connect those who wish to forge online friendships based on shared interests or skills, thus promoting lasting relationships.
Ever been tricked by a 'catfish' on a social platform? Ever connected with someone online only to lose touch later? ShareMate can assist. We aim to connect those who wish to forge online friendships based on shared interests or skills, thus promoting lasting relationships.
MY ROLE
UI Design | UX Research | Design Thinking
TIMELINE
6 months
[Oct. 2023- Mar. 2024]
Background
Friends-making … is a thing! We all know that. We all want to make new friends, and we want to make good friends. But sometimes, your friends might not have same same interests as you.
If you have a basketball buddy, you are more likely to ask them out for sports but not for knitting. But when you are trying to find someone to practice knitting with you together, it's time to use some help to find the "right" person.
Background
Friends-making … is a thing! We all know that. We all want to make new friends, and we want to make good friends. But sometimes, your friends might not have same same interests as you.
If you have a basketball buddy, you are more likely to ask them out for sports but not for knitting. But when you are trying to find someone to practice knitting with you together, it's time to use some help to find the "right" person.
Friends-making … is a thing! We all know that. We all want to make new friends, and we want to make good friends. But sometimes, your friends might not have same same interests as you.
If you have a basketball buddy, you are more likely to ask them out for sports but not for knitting. But when you are trying to find someone to practice knitting with you together, it's time to use some help to find the "right" person.
Overview
Here is ShareMate! We aim to create an engaging platform that helps young people find friends who share their hobbies and interests. By improving the match rate of online users' "friend's matches" from 23.3% to 50%, the platform facilitates meaningful connections and fosters a sense of community among users.
09/2023 - 03/2024
Timeline
1
Solo project
The Team
2
UIUX Designer / User Researcher
My Role
3
Project Goals
Develop a user-friendly platform that enables young people to discover and connect with like-minded individuals.
Increase the accuracy and success rate of friendship matches based on shared hobbies and interests.
Enhance user engagement and satisfaction by providing personalized recommendations."friend's matches" from 23.3% to 50%, the platform facilitates meaningful connections and fosters a sense of community among users.
Sprint 1: Understand the current market
”By 2022, the social media user base in the United States has expanded to more than 300 million, indicating a social networking penetration of above 91 percent“. — Statista
”By 2022, the social media user base in the United States has expanded to more than 300 million, indicating a social networking penetration of above 91 percent“. — Statista
Why we still run into catfish in existed social apps?
"Initially, using social apps to make new friends is quite fun, but it becomes unsure when not finding the 'right person' to share real thoughts on topics of interest."
"Initially, using social apps to make new friends is quite fun, but it becomes unsure when not finding the 'right person' to share real thoughts on topics of interest."
Have a look at the present marketplace - the majority of current social applications lean heavily towards dating, or they don't adequately safeguard user's personal data.
Consequently, ShareMate is designed to curating a compelling engaging / virtual social environment for users wishing to forge new friendships; allowing them to refine their casual skills or share their interests.
Challenge
Problem Statement
HMW design a platform that effectively help users to find the “right person” by showing the evidence of personality, goals on the platform, and level of knowledge of the skills that they want to share?
Pain 1: Online Trustworthy
Pain 1: Online Trustworthy
It's hard to trust a stranger online when you both don't know "well" of each other. And it's even harder to make friends.
It's hard to trust a stranger online when you both don't know "well" of each other. And it's even harder to make friends.
Pain 3: Engaging Experience.
Pain 3: Engaging Experience.
The current online social apps are "human" based not event based. How to balance the events engaging and social identity is one of our biggest challenges.
The current online social apps are "human" based not event based. How to balance the events engaging and social identity is one of our biggest challenges.
Pain 2: Personalized Experience
Pain 2: Personalized Experience
Nulla nemo optio. Iure libero in et exercitationem culpa nostrum similique soluta. Minima tempore omnis fugiat inventore neque totam.
Nulla nemo optio. Iure libero in et exercitationem culpa nostrum similique soluta. Minima tempore omnis fugiat inventore neque totam.
Impacts
10+
Average successful matching increase.
93%
Satisfaction rate from our user testing.
4.9
Average customer ratings out of 5.00!
Impacts
10+
Average successful matching increase.
93%
Satisfaction rate from our user testing.
4.9
Average customer ratings out of 5.00!
Final Design & Prototypes
Let's help Jamie to make some new friends through ShareMate!
Let's help Jamie to make some new friends through ShareMate!
Feature I
Help Jamie solve the problem of TRUST.
Trustworthy Onboarding
Trustworthy Onboarding
Verification
Verification
The informative login with unique username, avatar, photos as proof, and password.
The Friend Verification System that contributes to the integrity and reliability of the ShareMate community. By promoting authentic interactions, the platform strengthens its mission to connect young people through shared interests and hobbies.
Set goals on ShareMate to find the "right" mate easily!
Feature 2-1
Help Jamie solve the problem of lacking of Personalized Experience.
Personalized Recommendation
Sign Up
The Personalized Onboarding and Recommendation System is designed to introduce new users to ShareMate's features and provide tailored suggestions for potential connections based on their interests.
This feature enhances user engagement from the start and ensures that users can quickly find others who share their passions.
Help Jamie solve the problem of lacking of Personalized Experience.
Feature 2-1
Personalized
Recommendation
Sign Up
The Personalized Onboarding and Recommendation System is designed to introduce new users to ShareMate's features and provide tailored suggestions for potential connections based on their interests.
This feature enhances user engagement from the start and ensures that users can quickly find others who share their passions.
Feature 2-2
Being able to see others' profiles with photos and their recent collected posts makes Jamie feel safe and confident to reach out.
Personalized Navigation
Forum
The Photo Forum Playground curates and displays images based on users' selected interests, ensuring that the content is relevant and engaging for each user.
The Photo Forum serves as a space for users to discover new ideas, learn from others, and find inspiration through shared visual content.
Being able to see others' profiles with photos and their recent collected posts makes Jamie feel safe and confident to reach out.
Feature 2-2
Personalized
Recommendation
Forum
The Photo Forum Playground curates and displays images based on users' selected interests, ensuring that the content is relevant and engaging for each user.
The Photo Forum serves as a space for users to discover new ideas, learn from others, and find inspiration through shared visual content.
Feature 3-1
Help Jamie solve the problem of no more "Follow-up" conversations
Engaging Experience
Chat
The Message Prompt System is designed to encourage ongoing communication between friends on ShareMate.
When inactivity is detected, the system automatically generates personalized conversation prompts based on shared interests, previous conversations, or trending topics.
The prompts serve as conversation starters, helping users overcome any hesitation in reaching out and facilitating more dynamic discussions.
Help Jamie solve the problem of no more "Follow-up" conversations
Feature 3-1
Engaging Experience
Chat
The Message Prompt System is designed to encourage ongoing communication between friends on ShareMate.
When inactivity is detected, the system automatically generates personalized conversation prompts based on shared interests, previous conversations, or trending topics.
The prompts serve as conversation starters, helping users overcome any hesitation in reaching out and facilitating more dynamic discussions.
Feature 3 -2
Jamie feels there's Missing Interaction by communicating with her new friends just via text messages.
Engaging Experience
Live Chat
The Live Audio Chat Rooms feature allows users to engage in real-time conversations with others who share their interests and hobbies.
By providing a platform for live interaction, live chat helps users make meaningful connections and friendships through shared experiences.
Users are also given the choice of only auditing due to privacy and flexibility.
Jamie feels there's Missing Interaction by communicating with her new friends just via text messages.
Feature 3-2
Engaging Experience
Chat
The Live Audio Chat Rooms feature allows users to engage in real-time conversations with others who share their interests and hobbies.
By providing a platform for live interaction, live chat helps users make meaningful connections and friendships through shared experiences.
Users are also given the choice of only auditing due to privacy and flexibility.
Feature 4
How to keep Jamie has motivation to reach out to more people on ShareMate?
Promotion!
Coupons
The Personalized Onboarding and Recommendation System is designed to introduce new users to ShareMate's features and provide tailored suggestions for potential connections based on their interests.
This feature enhances user engagement from the start and ensures that users can quickly find others who share their passions.
How to keep Jamie has motivation to reach out to more people on ShareMate?
Feature 3-2
Engaging Experience
Coupons
The Personalized Onboarding and Recommendation System is designed to introduce new users to ShareMate's features and provide tailored suggestions for potential connections based on their interests.
This feature enhances user engagement from the start and ensures that users can quickly find others who share their passions.
Process
2
Prototype & Iterate
2 versions of Low-fi prototypes
8 rounds of user testing, collecting user flows and tensions.
3 versions of iterations
3
Collecting feedback, and revise the features to match the pain points
High-fi Prototypes
Refine & User Testing
1
User Research
50 Surveys: Understand how users like online social app? User journey, user habits, wants and their needs.
10+ primary interviews
User Flows
1
User Research
50 Surveys: Understand how users like online social app? User journey, user habits, wants and their needs.
10+ primary interviews
User Flows
2
Prototype & Iterate
2 versions of Low-fi prototypes
8 rounds of user testing, collecting user flows and tensions.
3 versions of iterations
3
Collecting feedback, and revise the features to match the pain points
High-fi Prototypes
Refine & User Testing
1
Primary Interviews
Participants
Age: 18-32
Race & Ethnicity: African American / Asian / White
Occupation: Students, Full-time employee, Part-time employee
Experience with Online Social Apps:
Have used social apps before, but not satisfied with the current solutions. Actively looking for friends.
2
Current User Journey
Trust
Pain points:
Hard to trust someone online
It takes too long to get to know a person from the very beginning
It's not enough to know a person well just by looking at their Instagram profile page
Pain points:
Hard to trust someone online
It takes too long to get to know a person from the very beginning
It's not enough to know a person well just by looking at their Instagram profile page
Engage
Pain points:
Follow-up conversations are hard to keep.
There's a tension between "video chatting" and exposing too much self-identity.
Pain points:
Follow-up conversations are hard to keep.
There's a tension between "video chatting" and exposing too much self-identity.
Observe
Pain points:
Tracking friend's feeds is easy, but keeping interactions with them is hard.
Follow-up conversations are hard to keep.
People sometimes fake their profiles.
Pain points:
Tracking friend's feeds is easy, but keeping interactions with them is hard.
Follow-up conversations are hard to keep.
People sometimes fake their profiles.
3
Iteration
👈 " It looks like a to-do-list rather than a relaxing social app." - Yaocheng
👉🏻 "It takes me a while a understand the calling actions on the page, and I am still confused about how to actually join a room or audit it? But I like it shows how many people are in the room right now". - Sue
👈 " It looks like a to-do-list rather than a relaxing social app." - Yaocheng
👉🏻 "It takes me a while a understand the calling actions on the page, and I am still confused about how to actually join a room or audit it? But I like it shows how many people are in the room right now". - Sue
👈“Yellow is always a dangerous color to me, especially when it takes such a big part of the page. I don't feel comfortable using the page.” - Liam
👉🏻"I like the navigation logic here. I read someone's posts, and I go to check their photos, see their collects posts and finding some common interests at the rooms for interaction opportunities"- Yaocheng
👈“Yellow is always a dangerous color to me, especially when it takes such a big part of the page. I don't feel comfortable using the page.” - Liam
👉🏻"I like the navigation logic here. I read someone's posts, and I go to check their photos, see their collects posts and finding some common interests at the rooms for interaction opportunities"- Yaocheng
👈“I am only willing to talk in group audio conversations when it’s a small group.” - Sally
👉🏻" I didn't understand how to raise up hands to speak last time, but now the interfaces are clear to understand. The buttons are clear in the right place". Stephy
👈“I am only willing to talk in group audio conversations when it’s a small group.” - Sally
👉🏻" I didn't understand how to raise up hands to speak last time, but now the interfaces are clear to understand. The buttons are clear in the right place". Stephy
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©Mikayla Mai 2024
Chicago, IL