motive
What's your motive?
We designed an app that simplifies the ability to find food and activities for users, while promoting local businesses within the GTA.
My Role.
UX Research
UX Design
Tools.
Figma
Slack
Jira
Timeline.
August 2022 - August 2023
Team.
Masi Asim
Mohammed Goder
Temi Ajiboye
Faisal Usmani
Shirley Li
CHALLENGE.
End user problems
Choice overload makes it difficult for people to plan an evening out
People are forced to improvise outings due to a lack of planning
Lack of creativity and awareness of ideal spots causes people to revisit old spots
Business
problems
Third-party apps boost sales but diminish overall profits for businesses due to fees
Lack of awareness they exist in the marketplace, especially small mom and pop shops
Businesses are experiencing a decline in human interaction due to online ordering apps
SOLUTION.
End user
solution
Can fine-tune with unique filters (#unique, #vibes, #eclectic, #lively)
Highlights Hot Spots in the GTA or a specific town which may provide new suggestions
Ability to find fun full motives that can follow a theme which allows for spontaneity and convenience
Businesses solution
A new review system that highlights a business's attribute/perk instead of a number
Highlights new places for users to visit, therefore businesses will acquire new customers
Promotes in-person visits, allowing businesses to have the opportunity to build relationships with their customers
PROCESS.
RESEARCH
Topic research
Surveys
Competitor Analysis
ANALYZE
Personas
DESIGN
Low-fi wireframes
High-fi prototypes
Product Design
TEST
Hallway testing
Time-on-task
RESEARCH.
52.4%
of people were planners and wished planning outings were easier
68.5%
of people try a new food spot once a month and wish they tried more restaurants.
71.3%
of people usually go out to eat in groups of 3-5.
Our surveys conduct that people take too long to decide what to eat and what to do. We also found that people the top three leading factors in trying out new food spots are word-of-mouth, reviews, and location, respectively. People enjoy having options to do things and try new food places and new activities but most of the time, because have never been to the area, they do not know how to get there.
So... how do we encourage people to try new restaurants and activities and also promote local businesses at the same time?
Competitor Analysis (direct)
Competitor
Our app
Guides by Lonely Planet App
Travel based
All spots are suggested to users by Lonely Planet’s Vetting Team (no Google, all Human Touch, but meant for travellers, so only seeing tourist attractions and outdated.
Pao App (Apple only)
Travel based
Users submit hidden gems into the App for other users to visit when in the City
More social media esque
Localhood
Local based
Users submit videos to the App for other users
More social media esque
We do not rely solely on our Vetting Team
We provide the ability for users to create pairings
We highlight things to do based on what you like
We are not travel-based
We do not rely solely on our users
We provide the ability for users to create pairings
We highlight things to do based on what you like
We are not travel-based
We do not rely solely on our users/content creators
We take existing videos and use them instead of hoping others make videos for us
We provide the ability for users to create pairings
We highlight things to do based on what you like
ANALYZE.
We decided we wanted to focus on young couples, planners, and families with our new findings and came up with personas.
Meet Serena
1. She is the planner of her group whenever they go out.
2. She likes to try new food places and explore more hobbies
3. Wants to support local businesses to boost the economy
Meet Hayden
1. He enjoys new activities and giving everything a go.
2. He doesn't like planning and prefers a spontaneous approach in life.
3. Wants the most bang-for-buck (deson't like spending money)
DESIGN. TEST.
The Journey so far...
It has been a huge learning experience and a lot of collaborating with different minds.
We are constantly reiterating the app based on our usability testing feedback.
We have made a plan to implement more features and to continue to make this app even more user friendly and engaging.