SPARK APP
search, discover and connect with experiences
Project Overview
Wilfrid Laurier’s UXL hosted a UX Designathon with over 45 teams to compete in a 48-hour UX Design competition. Teams were tasked with designing a solution to the prompt “How might we intentionally explore what matters to us?”.
Here is our design: Team Clover's Spark App.
Project Type
UX/UI Design
Designathon
Roles
Lead UX/UI Designer
Tools
Figma, Adobe Illustrator/ Photoshop, Google Suite, and Milanote
Duration
48 Hours
Can you imagine the experience of seeing the world for the first time again? As we grow older, we are sure many of us forget the feeling of experiencing things for the first time as we get accustomed to the world around us.
Here at Spark App, we provide a solution that helps you relive that first time excitement and feeling!
The Challenge
How might we intentionally
explore what matters to us?
From this we ask... 🤔
How might we help inspire young adults in their early to mid-twenties to find experiences that SPARK excitement in their life?
The Solution 💡
We present SPARK, a mobile application that helps you find new experiences or even re-imagine past ones.
This app makes it easy for you to find things to do whether you have something specific in mind, or if have no idea what you want to do!
Design Process 🗓
Continuing Steps 🏃🏻
As we started to brainstorm and create a solution to target the challenge problem, we needed to be on the same page.
Our team was composed of 3 designers, myself and 2 others that didn't have any UX background. Thus, I took on the role of the Lead UX/UI designer and also the Project Lead.
I was the Our team decided to use Milanote and empathy maps as a way to come up with ideas in an organized approach. We documented all our opinions and ideas to find a cooperative and pragmatic solution.
Milanote - Brainstorming
Empathy Map - Table
Understand 🤔
Due to the nature of the 48 Hr Designathon and COVID-19, conducting in person interviews was not an option. We decided to perform primary research through Instagram Polls and Google Forms. We also did secondary research to find information on the Key Users and specifics on what might be important to include in our solution.
The purpose of the user survey was to get a better understanding of the background and the mindset users went through when looking for experiences.
We analyzed over 50 Instagram survey responses and 18 Google Forms targeted at university educated individuals aged between 18-25. We also went in depth and asked follow up questions to 10 of the Instagram survey responses to have a better understanding of potential pain points.
Below are the highlights:
Key Takeaways ??
66.7% of responses found experiences via social media -> IG and TikTok
77.8% of responses found inspiration from connecting with their friends
75-85% of responses showed interest for experiences related to food, physical activity and visual media
Ideate 📝
From the research collected above from both Instagram Surveys and Google Form responses, two fictional generalized personas were created to help empathize who the solution was intended for. We took specific desires and pain points from some of the responses to help create two fictional personas.
Design 🖋
After figuring out and defining user needs, we came up with a possible solution and sketched out some concept wireframes with some variations to what our solution could potentially looked like.
home page sketch design
event page sketch design
Prototype 📲
From the initial sketch designs we decided to create wire frames and a high fidelity prototype. We created a design style guide to allow us to have a constant feel throughout the flow of the prototype. It was a constant iterative process with changes in layouts and features over the course of the 48 hours we had.
lofi mockup and wireframe
high fidelity prototype
design style guide
prototype interacton flow
Application Components 📲
We used the research data to design certain features that would be applicable to the two fictional personas that we created. The design includes features such as:
Search: Look up events and experiences nearby.
Discover: Swipe interaction to find upcoming events.
Connect: See what your friends and followers are up to.
Updates: Reminder of all the events coming up.
Reviews: Get detailed descriptions of the events you're interested in.
Search 📍
Find nearby experiences and events that might be right around the corner.
With specific applied filters, users can tailor the results to find experiences that suit their interests and hobbies.
"Discover" 🔍
"Swipe to like" feature to allow users to have a familiar component while using our app to find experiences.
This allows for users to have an added sense of interaction when they're looking for events!
Connect 👯
Connect with your friends and make new ones!
With each event showing the list of attendees, you can add new friends to seek new experiences and events with.
Updates 🔔
Reminders and notifications on upcoming events all saved in one organized place.
With an organized approach to upcoming events, users will know they're not forgetting anything!
Reviews 🧾
Event information includes the people you know that have RSVP'd to the event!
Past event attendee's can also write reviews and rate their experiences of the event or the location/ activity.
Slide Deck and Presentation 📋
Upon completion of the prototype we created a slide deck and recorded a visual presentation to show our thought process and understanding of how we viewed the problem statement.
We envisioned a solution that helped users to really find experiences that sparked their interest to find things that they enjoy and potentially matter to them.
Spark Presentation.movilovepdf_merged.pdfOutcome! 🎉
Out of 45+ teams, our solution "Spark", was placed Top 5 in Best Pitch category and was Overall Finalists contenders out of 45+ teams.
Our best pitch nomination!
Reflection 👀
Reflecting on the solution we designed, it would be beneficial to have something new and refreshing, rather than a similar look to the Instagram design. There are some elements and interface components that could be changed to allow for better accessibility.
In regards to improving features, one important aspect would be to focus on connecting with their friends through the app. We believe friendships and the relationships we gain are so important in our lives. Continuing to improve the application would center around focusing on the way users make connections and interact with others.
Thank you! 🙏
Thanks for taking the time to check out one of the projects I've had a part in creating! If you have any questions or want to learn more about the design, don't hesitate to connect with me!
Want to connect?
Hit me up at thejackycheung@gmail.com
