Problem
Single Young Adults Want to Meet New People in Person
The client for this project, founder of Silly Sports LLC, noticed a trend that single men and women between the ages of 21-35 are looking for a way to meet and connect with new people through common interests and activities. By organizing pickleball and cornhole leagues that pair up singles, the client has created a casual approach to dating around fun activities. They want to support the Cornhole Speed Dating leagues with an application that would allow participants to connect digitally after meeting physically.
Solution
A digital application that helps users meet first and then connect
This application allows users to find and join leagues and events, manage their schedule of activities, and connect with people they have met at leagues and events. The MVP primarily serves the cornhole speed dating leagues. It takes a “meet first” and “connect after” approach to dating.
Discover
User Research
Competitive Analysis
User Personas
Define
Feature Roadmap
Site Map
User Flow
Design
Lo-Fi Wireframes
Visual Identity + UI Kit
Hi-Fi Wireframes
Deliver
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Revisions + Final Prototype
User Research
Participants in the cornhole speed dating league have a hard time managing their games and communicating with people they meet
I conducted research to understand the motives, behaviors, and pain points of single men and women participating in the cornhole speed dating league. I wanted to learn why people are choosing to participate, what they are looking to get out of the league, and how their experience might be enhanced. I also wanted to understand at a high level what the challenges are when trying to connect with new people.
Target Users
Single men and women
21-35 years old
Current or Future Cornhole League Participant or Admin
Objectives
Evaluate current experience
Identify Pain Points
Understand approach to play and dating
User Survey
52 responses (29 F / 23 M) were recieved. Overall, responses were positive with most participants satisfied with current league operation. The most unmet needs came from interacting with dates outside of game play
Joy Points:
Facility atmosphere and game setting is relaxed and informal and puts people at ease
Participants are friendly and the ability to mingle makes it easy to talk to new people
Pain Points:
It’s hard to remember peoples names, get contact information, or connect after game play
Not enough time to go beyond small talk and get deep with other players. Players want for more communication.
User Interviews
I interviewed 7 participants, including 2 league admins, 4 league players, and 1 prospective player. From the interviews I began to see pain points emerge within the themes of enjoying a casual activity, meeting and connecting with new people, and coordinating match ups.
Competitive Analysis
Competitors Provide Ways to connect with others or optimize schedules, but none offer the ability to do both
The market space for this project is very specific as it falls within both social (dating) and lifestyle (game play). I choose to compare competitors that fall in both spaces. The first three competitors are products that organize events and the last two products facilitate game play for cornhole or other games. Strengths of these products include the ability to have a profile and view other user profiles, interact and connect with other users, optimize schedules and game play, and have single point of access for all activities.
User Personas
User needs are both physical and emotional with themes of Keeping it Casual, Structure And Organization, and connecting
I created two user personas to represent two distinct sets of needs. The “hesitant to hang” personas represents a user who is a bit more laid back in their approach to dating and is a bit more passive in the way they interact with others. The “single and ready to mingle” persona represents a more active user who is looking for more engagement and interaction, especially from a digital platform.
Feature Roadmap
Mapping Insights and Needs into Features
From research, I identified the major themes and user needs. I made a list of all potential feature solutions to address the needs and prioritized 4 main features ideas.
Insight from research
Structure eliminates awkwardness and uncertainty
Absences can result in uneven or repeat match ups
Safety is a priority and comes from having basic info about players
Its hard to remember names or connect with players after games
User Need:
Know when users are playing
Make or request a substitution
Provide and share limited user information
Connect with other users and exchange info
Solution Feature:
View Schedule
Manage Schedule
Sign Up And Create Account
Match with Dates and View
Site Map & User Flow
Organizing each feature into the Information Architecture
The site map was set up in a way that would organize each main feature into a tab so each menu item would serve a different goal. For the user flow I decided to address two main user goals: viewing the user’s schedule and making changes, and connecting with dates.
Low Fidelity Wireframes
Creating Wirframes based on the four main features and user flows
I began prototyping out the screens necessary for the two user flows with low fidelity wireframes. The user flows I created are based on a returning user, so I created a few extra wireframes for a first time user and set up. Prior to entering the app, there is a landing page for log in or signup, followed by a sign up form. There is also a form for joining a league or signing up for an event, which the user would complete in order to view home page content, league details, or be able to connect with other players in a league.
Landing Page / Sign Up
Find and Join a League / Event
Home Page
View League Details
Connect With Players
Visual Identity
Developing a Brand that is Fun, Approachable, and Playful
I explored imagery that was bright and inviting, folorful and fun, and sporty and playful. The colors are vibrant and bold to encourage an outgoing attitude when dating and can appeal to both men and women.
Moodboard
Color Palette
Typface
LOGO DESIGN
Creating a Logo That combines playfulness and dating
I sketched around three concepts for logos: the good game handshake, the heart in the corn hole, and heart that turns into a bouncing ball. I wanted to combine an aspect of dating with an aspect of game play while keeping the logo simple, scalable, and recognizable. I also played around with different names and in the end selected the name Play Date and the heart that turns into a bouncing ball.
IDEATION
FINAL LOGO DESIGN
UI KIT
Organizing a System of UI Components for Visual Consistency and Accessibility
My approach to designing the user interface was to balance the playfulness of the brand and the activity with the intentionality of dating and connection. Users want basic information that is digestible, light, condensed, and easy to understand at a quick glance. To address this need, I designed several variations of card components containing buttons, icons, and imagery. There was very little need or place for lengthy body text. I iterated upon the size of the cards based on the cards purpose and the hierarchy of the content. Components were styled with soft corners to maintain the playfulness vivid. Vivid accent colors were applied to inspire boldness in dating and convey clear action.
High Fidelity Mockups
Key screens applying UI and User flows
Usability Testing
In Person Observation of How Participants Would Use The Application Alongside League Play
I went on site to observe and speak to participants during the Monday night speed dating league. Many players were interested in testing the prototype, resulting in 8 participants. I also received additional league feedback and commentary from 12 additional participants who wanted to share their experiences of the league.
Usability Testing objectives
The objective of usability testing was to have participants complete three user flows and evaluate their ability to complete the tasks. The goal of the first user flow was to observe if users could identify what time they were scheduled to play. The goal of the second user flow was to evaluate if users could request a sub. The goal of the third user flow was to understand if users could view dates from prior weeks.
How It Went
By conducting my usability testing on site. I was able to observe and speak to participants immediately prior to or following their scheduled time to play. As a result, I experienced authentic and emotional reactions from players. I set up the prototype on the iPad so they could interact with the phone sized screen but I could more easily observe how they tapped, scrolled and swiped. Many participants were visibly excited by the app and found it provided value to the league. During testing, they repeatedly voiced current issues and pain points and remarked that the app provided a good way to address these challenges.
Usability Testing Results
Results revealed that the homepage provided the appropriate amount of basic information. Some minor details were harder to notice, but the most important information was successfully found quickly
Results also showed that users appreciated the ease of requesting subs and found it simple to do in minimal steps. It was reiterated that requesting substitutions is one of the biggest pain points and this feature was highly valued.
Feedback was divided about matching with dates. Many users found the list of dates to be a good way to remember names they had forgotten. Some users were skeptical about sharing personal info. There were many questions around privacy and sharing information
In addition to the feature specific results, I also observed various accessibility improvements needed to be made to improve both readability and how users interacted with certain components via swipe or tap.
Revisions
Implementing Changes Based on Usability Test Results
I collected a list of iterations to make from usability testing and prioritized 4 main revisions. I also made several iterations to improve accessibility and readability, including adjusting the header colors, adjusted image opacity, and increased touch area for the icon selection. Shown below are 2 sample revisions.
REVISION 1
Visually differentiates the current week from prior or future weeks. The interaction was changed from a tap to a swipe to increase touch accessibility and ease of scrolling.
REVISION 2
An iteration of the date profile cards. The list of dates shown after league play contains minimal information about a user to protect privacy.
Conclusion
CHALLENGES
The most challenging part of this project was trying to solve for both emotional and physical needs. The prompt from the client was incredibly open ended, and it was a challenge to narrow the scope and define the project in a way that would address the problem users wanted to be solved the most. It was crucial that the solution kept the user needs at the center of the design in order to prevent the product from trying to accomplish too much.
LESSONS LEARNED
I learned how important empathy is in research. The problem wasn’t something I necessarily related to, but in order to fully identify user wants, needs, and behaviors I needed to empathize. It wasn’t enough to conduct interviews over the phone. I found I learned the most through immersive research when I was in person, present for the speed dating league game play.
TAKEAWAYS
My main takeaway from this project is the importance translating insights from research into design goals and feature solutions. All design solutions must be rooted back to a clear user need, or else they won’t make sense to the user and the product will be difficult to use. Three or four features that work well and provide value are better than a dozen features that have no purpose.