RESPONSIVE DESIGN PROJECT
INTERACTIVE MEDIA II - SPRING 2025
PROJECT BRIEF
Design an app / site that works across multiple devices. Ensure the user remains thoughtfully considered throughout each different design experience - mobile, tablet, and web.
The U.S. Surgeon General has warned that technology contributes to an “epidemic of loneliness and isolation” in America (Forbes, 2024). Our solution is an app that helps people discover and register for unique, local events within their creative niche—such as craft nights, vinyl listening parties, secondhand clothing markets, etc. While the app includes community engagement features, they are intentionally limited to encourage real-life interactions rather than increase screen time. With digital distractions constantly competing for our attention, our app makes it easier for users to transition into social settings and build meaningful connections.
This is the home feed set as the list view. Here you'll find events filtered to your niche, which you fill out when you create a profile. You can share or save the flyers, or click on them to learn more.
This is the home feed, but set as map view. Each event appears on the map as a location marker, and you click each to view a specific event. You can also slide through the gallery of flyers at the bottom and chose one from there was well.
This is the calendar, where you can stay up to date on your scheduled or saved events. Events which you've purchased tickets appear with a ticket icon one the date of the event. You can click this to view the event, or scroll through the list of upcoming evens underneath.
This is the home feed set as the list view. Here you'll find events filtered to your niche, which you fill out when you create a profile. You can share or save the flyers, or click on them to learn more.
DESIGN STRATEGY
My project partner and I’s approach to this project revolved around creating a unique and comfortable experience for users. Since putting yourself out there can already be intimidating, I wanted the design to feel welcoming and inviting. Keeping things minimal was important as well, to further emphasize the app’s goal of decreasing individuals screen time. I designed the logo to be clean and simple, with a fun and spontaneous typeface to keep things interesting. The color palette of purple suggests feelings of creativity, trust, friendship, while the subtle yellow provides warmth.
Our main differentiator between other apps on the market was our use of individual event flyers as the main focus for users. I wanted the application to feel real and authentic, not officially corporate. By showing people’s flyers (typically made by individual event hosts or local artists) instead of stock photos or some text, we hope people can connect more with the events they are viewing, hoping to encourage event attendance more often than not.
MY WORK
My partner and I split our project up by functions within the app. I focused on the login, home pages (map and list view), search and filter functions, and calendar. The longest phase was definitely the home pages, which involved the search and filter functions. I had to be considerate of the different ways in which the user can choose to view the content on the app, through a list or map. Ensuring consistency throughout both was good practice for me, as I had to come back to it multiple times with different feedback I had received. The calendar section also posed some problems, especially on the mobile screens as I had to carefully consider the minimum size requirements for all the text, buttons, etc, and there was a lot.
USABILITY TEST FEEDBACK
Based on my research, I learned of some sore spots in my UX and UI design. The participants seemed to understand the layout of the app upon first entering, and there seemed to be less confusion about how to go about the app than i was anticipating. The problems arose mainly with errors in prototyping, and a lack of extra information for the user. Another big sore spot was the calendar function, the calendar icon in the navigation bar didn’t work at all, and the calendar page itself seemed to lack in terms of functionality and aesthetics. Everything seemed to be too small, or lacking enough information. Lastly, most users were intuitive with the map functioning, so I need to make adjustments to the prototype to ensure you can view the map from more places than just the home screen.
Quantitative:
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3 out of 3 participants could not learn more about an event.
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3 out of 3 participants could not navigate to the calendar from the navigation bar.
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2 out of 3 participants got stuck in the search function and could not exit back to home.
Qualitative:
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All participants seemed to take a few seconds to understand what kinds of events they are looking at, based on the flyer alone.
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The calendar seemed to be a pain point for 2 out of 3 participants. The buttons were too small, and the prototype did not connect screens correctly.
SOURCES
Steinhorst, Curt. “Rekindling Humanity: Finding Personal Connection in a Digital World.” Forbes, August 27, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/curtsteinhorst/2024/03/06/rekindling-humanity-finding-personal-connection-in-a-digital-world/.