Bridge
Making new friends shouldn't be so hard.
Role
Sole/Lead Product Designer
Team Members
Haley Lopez (Product Manager)
Methods
User Research, Academic Research, Competitive Analysis, Journey Mapping, User Interviews, Design Ideation, Wire-framing, Prototyping, User Testing
Bridge was designed in response to the growing issue of loneliness and isolation in the United States. The platform bridges the gap between online and in person communication to help individuals form meaningful connections in their local communities.
The Problem
In 2023, a Surgeon’s General Advisory was released, calling attention to the “public health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection in our country." The current market solutions for making friends lack a sound understanding of how friendships are formed and maintained, often placing equal value on online and offline relationships while ignoring the negative influence technology has had on our social lives.
The Solution
Bridge is designed to help those struggling with loneliness by leveraging our scientific understanding of the loneliness crisis, empathizing with those struggling with the issue, and bridging the gap between online and in-person communication to allow for new relationships to form in an easy, fun, and stress-free way.
Discovery
Since this was a brand new project, it was crucial to gain a better understanding of the loneliness epidemic at large. To avoid coming to inaccurate conclusions, a competitive analysis, academic research, and user interviews were all cross referenced to validate my findings.
Academic Research
Our Anti-Social Media
In the early 2000’s, the birth of Social Media and the rapid increase of online forms of communication promised to bring us closer together than ever before, connecting us to millions of people throughout the world at the click of a button. While the benefits of this new technology seemed evident from the get go, the negative consequences have started to catch up with us.
Many research studies have uncovered a direct correlation between an increase in our use of technology and social media and the rise of loneliness and isolation.
Number of people using social media platforms from 2004-2018
Social Engagement & Social Isolation from 2005 - 2020
User Interviews
A Real Experience
After conducting interviews, I discovered that user’s had a high perceived difficulty of making new friends. Many individuals who had tried platforms like Meetup.com and Facebook Groups for making friends complained of an inability to get to know someone before dedicating the time to attending an in-person event which led to low rates of success. Busy schedules also caused many to believe they didn’t have the time to make new friends and old relationships were slowly dwindling over time.
Usability Study & Competitive Analysis
The Current Landscape
Although user interviews allowed me to gain a better understanding of how people cope with loneliness and the issues they face, I still felt like I needed to dive a bit deeper. I wanted to find out why individuals had such a negative view of current market solutions and how Bridge could do things differently to avoid the issues user’s were confronted with.
Three of the individuals I interviewed also had previous experience with digital products commonly used for building platonic relationships and finding new friends. These individuals were kind enough to do a usability study using the sites they were familiar with (Facebook Groups and Meetup.com), which allowed me to understand some of the frustrations user’s currently face when attempting to make friends.
This was followed up with a competitive analysis. I took an in depth look at competitors UX/UI, reviews, complaints, and articles written about the companies from various media outlets.
Ideation
Once the initial research phase of the project was complete, I moved onto organizing my findings to inform the final designs. This phase was perhaps the most difficult and took many rounds of revisions to filter my findings down to the key pain points that needed to be addressed.
Affinity Mapping
One of the most challenging phases of UX is organizing the research. As a solo designer on the project, I was faced with an overwhelming amount of information that needed to be organized before I could move on. . Although Affinity Mapping is usually done as a group effort, I still found it to be the best option for organizing my findings. The insights I gathered from my User Interviews were grouped into categories and organized in multiple rounds to make up for the lack of a team.
User Personas
Using the information I gathered through Affinity Mapping, I was able to create personas to easily communicate the key pain points that needed to be solved. I focused on two primary personas which directly reflected the findings I gathered during the research phase of the project. The final personas were used as a guide to make sure the features included would fulfill the needs of the target audience.
Primary Pain Points
1
Not Enough Time to Make Friends
“How can we help busy people make friends without having to dedicate a lot of time?”
A lot of adults have busy schedules and have other responsibilities to attend to. Poor work/life balance and a shift from working on-site to working from home contributed to the decline of social connection and interaction.
2
Making New Friends is Uncomfortable
“How do we make the process of making friends stress-free and fun?”
An overwhelming majority of interviewees felt uncomfortable meeting with people who they had no prior connection with. Stepping outside of their comfort zone created anxiety when considering whether or not to attend an event.
3
Declining Relationships
“How can we make sure relationships stay healthy once they’re formed?”
Time spent with friends over time and number of friends declined as individuals got older. This was further impacted for people who moved to a new place, instantly dissolving their sense of a local community.
Usability Pain Points
1
Lack of Personalization
“How can we create a solution that fits a vast variety of individuals unique personalities and interests?”
Many interviewees expressed frustration when trying to find groups that fit what they were looking for. Poor recommendations and a lack of personalization were listed as common reasons for the issue.
2
High Effort and Low Reward
“How do we optimize the process of making new connections in a seamless and easily understandable way?”
Current platforms for making new connections were seen as “High Effort and Low Reward”. Many users felt defeated after experiencing a lack ways to get to know individuals before committing the time to meeting them in person.
3
Uninformed Design Decisions
“How can we create a solution that gets at the heart of the problem we’re trying to solve?”
Current market solutions fail to get at the heart of the problem they’re claiming to solve. Many competitors prioritize online over in-person connections, lacking an understanding of the benefits and risks of each type. The impacts of these mistakes were seen repeatedly during user interviews.
Design
The design phase utilized the research synthesized in the previous phase to create a solution to the user problems that were discovered. This phase included wire framing, user testing, and user journey mapping.
User Journey Maps
The first step before starting the design was to make sure the user flows were as seamless as possible. . These Journey Maps were created as a way to better understand the usability frustrations that user’s were currently having with similar solutions so the same problems could be addressed within the final design.
Wireframes and User Testing
To allow for flexible design changes and usability testing, wireframes for the key features of the application were created and prototyped in Figma. The goal was to create a clear and direct solution to the problem while avoiding unnecessary features that would hinder usability.
Hi-Fidelity Prototypes & Features
The final hi-fidelity prototypes that were created as a solution to the growing problem of loneliness and isolation.
Club Chat
How can individuals get to know one another before meeting in person?
Each club has an ongoing chat to allow for easy communication among group members. This allows people to get to know one another before committing the time to attending an event in person.
Repeated Events
How can we create sustainable friendships over time?
Studies have shown that solidifying a friendship can take an average of 7 months. By having in person events that repeat on at least a monthly basis, individuals can form and maintain connections over a long period of time.
Activities
How can we make the process of finding friends easy and fun?
Online activities help to encourage club members to participate in shared activities based on the things that they love. This feature was implemented after user testing to give individuals alternative ways to communicate and collaborate with one another.
Browse Clubs
How can we make it easy to find likeminded individuals with similar interests?
The ability to find clubs based on your interests should be easy! Recommended categories are shown based on your preferred interests entered during onboarding. Results can be adjusted based on zip code and distance from your local area and provide an overview of key information such as member count and event dates.
Messaging
How can we allow for deeper interaction between potential friends?
Messaging was an obvious feature to include to allow individuals to dive deeper into topics with one-on-one conversations. If a user opts in, they can send and receive messages to/from other user’s on the platform.