Project summary

In the fall of 2018, I completed the accelerated UX Design design program through General Assembly in New York City. For class, we we were told to focus on a subject of personal interest and to research a related problem that we’ve encountered in that field. I chose to address issues related to my favorite music genre, Electronic Dance Music (EDM), and developed an app, Fest Friends, as a solution.

problem statement

EDM fans need a way to connect with other fans attending the same events because they are looking to create meaningful interactions and experiences while making new friends in the process.

hypothesis

We believe that by creating a social community app with a built in matching service for EDM fans, we will establish a niche environment that connects users and allows them to form meaningful relationships.

final product

The final product I created is a social community app that allows users to interact through common EDM events they are attending. Users are able to build profiles, select their musical interests, and interact with one another on community boards. They are also able to find friends through our Suggested Friends algorithm that allows them to swipe through people with similar interests as them.

 
Jessica Ramos persona.jpg

Persona

Through conducting user interviews and affinity mapping, we established our primary persona.

Jessica Ramos
F | 23 | Austin, TX | Single | Blogger | BA in Marketing | Lives with Roommates

Behaviors:
Jessica is an active social media user on apps like Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit. She uses them to connect with people & promote her blog (which is dedicated to EDM and festival fashion.)  She frequently attends EDM shows (2x a month) and enjoys traveling internationally for them as well. In her down time, she goes out with friends and roommates.

Frustrations:

  • Frequently travels to EDM shows, but doesn’t have many friends her age to go with

  • Doesn’t feel like she’s making genuine connections through her social media channels

  • She wants to attend more international festivals, but would feel comfortable having a travel companion

Goals:

  • Find a way to connect with more people around her age who have similar musical interests

  • Seek out new dance events

  • Make more meaningful connections at large music festivals

  • Establish a network of friends internationally to rave with

FestFriends-User-Flow.png

First draft of Fest Friends key screens user flow

My-Communities-1.png
Community-Board-1.png

Key Screens (before user testing) - Profile, Suggested Connections, My Communities (Home), Example Community Board

user testing

Feedback on the above example screens:
Profile Screen: Missing onboarding process, half the profile is missing, repeated symbols
Suggested Connections: Users didn’t like the term “connections,” copy was confusing, would like to see more of a profile, didn’t like buttons
My Communities (Home Screen): Lacked the feeling of a home screen, needs better navigation and symbols
Example Community Board: Users were confused by the formatting, posts weren’t defined enough, didn’t like buttons, could use better copy

Suggested-Friends-2.png
My-Communities-2.png
Community-Board-2.png

Key Screens (after user testing) - Profile, Suggested Connections, My Communities (Home), Example Community Board