Project 2
Explorite
Overview
Explorite aims to organize event planning all into one app featuring messaging, news about local events, and booking events.
Problem context
People often use multiple apps to plan and organize fun activities near their location or explore the city with friends or family. However, the constant switching between apps and locating information can be a hassle thus deterring people from enjoying social activities.
Role
UX Research
UX Designer
UI Designer
Timeline
November - February 2025
Audience
Working adults
Extroverts
Event planners
Tools
Figma, Miro
ideation
01 - Interviews
Research Problem: Removing obstacles for finding and planning for events such as switching between multiple apps, texting back and forth, and determining availability between attendees.
Enlisting the help of multiple social and news platforms to curate a list of events that can be easily accessed and organized.
Problem Statement: I want to learn what resources people use when finding activities to do nearby.
What apps or websites do you typically use to find fun activities around you?
Roughly explain your thought process behind finding group activities.
02 - Considerations
Option to choose activity or people to invite first
Keeping track of planning progress such as date, time, location, arrival
Search through keywords while offering suggestions related to the participant’s interests and age
Create a scheduling system for everyone to input their availability
Allow location sharing for ETA
Research
01 - Questions
What app(s) do you use to find things to do nearby?
What do you enjoy about using those apps in general?
What are some challenges you encounter when planning a group hangout?
What is your process for organizing group hangouts/activities?
How do you give your friends updates and do you feel that it is effective, if so why? (Whereabouts, changes in plans, etc.)
What are some factors that you consider to ensure compatibility amongst your friend group and a good group dynamic?
02 - Affinity diagram
03 - empathy map
04 - User personas
05 - User journey
Design
Sketches
Lo-fi Wireframe
Once my sketches were complete, I wanted to bring them to the digital space to observe the scaling, hierarchy, and type. I mainly focused on the fluidity from screen to screen and how users navigated through it by using a simple design language and well-known icons.
Hi-fi Wireframe
Once all the details and planning was complete, I began finalizing the design layout in Figma. I explored different color options and grids while designing which took up a bulk of my time.
ReFlection
Thoughts
I initially wanted to solve this problem of several apps for activities planning as it has been a real problem I’ve encountered. Forgetting where I put which ticket or scrolling through my messages has lead to unnecessary stress which I hoped to solve with this app design.
Compared to my first design project, I wanted to experiment with more UX research tools while expanding my understanding of UI design in Figma. Hence, this project may have been a bit messy.
Personal Critiques
I had quite a bit of doubts while working on this project as I felt that there was too much information and features to pack into one app. Moving forward I would like to focus on a more niche issue within the app that produces a tangible difference.
Learnings
Predicting the user’s actions by placement of buttons contributes to the overall feel and functionality of the design.
Narrow down your design focus to a specific problem.
Consider iconography as a main way to communicate with users