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Promly actively curates and cultivates digital spaces that resonate with the teens they serve—Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Prioritizing safety and mental wellness, they are dedicated to nurturing meaningful human connections within these spaces, fostering a sense of belonging and camaraderie.
Promly is a social enterprise and digital platform designed with the goal of empowering and supporting Generation Z (Gen Z) individuals. It aims to create a positive impact on this demographic by fostering human connectedness and providing holistic support and education, both online and offline. The core idea behind Promly is to offer a space where Gen Z can find their people, voice, and peace.
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Promly has successfully achieved its initial objective of providing accessible mental health resources for Gen Z users, the Promly mobile app now directs its focus towards fulfilling its second goal: cultivating genuine human connections within the community.
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Extensive user research was conducted to gain insights into the needs, preferences, and challenges faced by Gen Z users in building supportive connections. Surveys, focus group interviews, and focus group user testing sessions were conducted to understand user motivations, pain points, and desired features related to forming meaningful relationships.
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In order to learn about the real experiences people have had while selecting friend suggestion features I interviewed several individuals in weekly led Focus Groups. Here, I focused on asking open-ended questions about their experiences interacting with out users to learn about their process on how they would add users and validate my understanding of the friend selection process.
Users prioritized location and age as the main factors that they consider when adding a potential friend.
Current search options do not have a user flow to to find users based on location and age.
Users are not able to access a person's compatibility with the current profile page being displayed.
It is important to note that Promly is a start up in its early stages and with it comes notable constraints. By recognizing these challenges, we can effectively navigate the development process of the friend suggestion feature and find innovative solutions that align with Promly's goals and constraints.
Promly currently has media restrictions that prevent the inclusion of video and photo sharing features, despite user demand for these expressive mediums to accurately access user personality and compatibility. Additionally, the development of the friend suggestion algorithm and user-specific location capturing are underway. To foster organic user growth, the initial version of the friend suggestion feature will be built without reliance on photos and videos. Subsequent app phases can then progressively introduce these media functionalities.
Promly is a mental health app designed to support and connect Gen Z users in a safe and empowering environment. While the app initially provided resources and tools for mental well-being, it lacked a built-in mechanism for users to find and connect with like-minded individuals. The objective was to introduce a friend suggestion feature that would recommend potential friends based on shared interests, experiences, and mental health goals.
To gain a comprehensive understanding of user needs, motivations, and desired outcomes related to the friend suggestion feature in Promly, I utilized the Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) methodology. This approach enabled me to prioritize user motivations and consider contextual factors that influence how Promly users search for potential friends. By employing the JTBD methodology, I could develop a more user-centric and effective friend suggestion feature.
By applying Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) methodology, conducting user interviews, and performing preliminary research, we successfully identified the target users of Promly, assessed its competitors, analyzed their strengths and weaknesses, and gained insights into the user process, needs, and motivations during the friend selection process. Based on these findings, we distilled our insights into "how might we" (HMW) statements. These statements act as a guiding framework to effectively address specific user needs within the friend suggestion feature.
To initiate the design process and explore potential design solutions, I employed divergent thinking techniques, specifically brainstorming using a method called laddering. This approach allowed me to generate a wide range of ideas. Subsequently, I engaged in convergent thinking to refine and narrow down the best idea from the pool of generated ideas.
Using the HMW questions as a starting point, I engaged in a brainstorming process to generate solutions for each identified problem. Employing the "Crazy 8's" technique, a rapid sketching exercise in design, I generated multiple ideas within a set time limit, usually eight minutes. This approach encouraged fast and divergent thinking, enabling exploration of various concepts and solutions. By considering different levels of specificity and perspectives, I comprehensively explored the problem space during this ideation process.
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After brainstorming, I had generated a plethora of ideas to address these problems. To proceed, I developed a strategy to identify the goals I aimed to achieve and prioritize the solutions. To analyze the app's requirements effectively, I employed a value vs complexity matrix, which helped determine the features with the highest value despite their complexity. To begin, I established the project goals to gain a comprehensive understanding of our objectives and identify the points of convergence between business and user goals.
Now that I sketched out my ideas, I wanted to test the decisions I made and make sure that the structure and flow of the app is intuitive for our users. Before working on the visual design, I wanted to first make sure that the design was functional. In order to do this, I decided to create a paper prototype which would help me quickly test the design on real users and make any priority revisions before integrating the branding and visual design.
Now I wanted to deep dive to get a better understanding of the overall journey users would be taking to navigate their way to finding potential friends within the app. I wanted to better empathize with our users and go through different routes they might use to add users in the app, different decisions they would be making, and key data points users required to make their decisions. To do this, I created a user flow for a typical user.
To align with the client's vision, I conducted weekly check-ins to gather feedback on the design. The Product Manager provided valuable insights, emphasizing the importance of fostering meaningful interactions among users, which require more attention than a typical social networking platform. Considering this feedback, the proposed prototype will feature a limit of 10 daily friend suggestions. Additionally, user actions such as chat functionality and suggested prompts will be implemented before users can add suggested friends, aiming to cultivate more personalized interactions.
Using my understanding of the user, our goals, the app's architecture, and user interactions, I created low-fidelity wireframe sketches for the screens. I identified the key tasks users would want to accomplish with the friend suggestion feature based on their goals. Then, I specified the essential screens needed to support users in completing each task, such as user profiles and seamless switching between friend groups and suggested friends. To better understand user interactions, I utilized task flows to visualize how users would navigate these tasks, the screens involved, and the actions taken in a linear flow.
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During a small focus group, I observed the users' process of finding other users within the proposed prototype. While they followed a similar process as outlined in the prototype, there was a notable concern regarding how to add a user. In the prototype, the Product Manager intended for users to chat with each other before adding, aiming to foster intimate connections. However, all users in the focus group expressed a preference for adding first and then initiating a chat as their typical user flow. They requested an "add" button on the main page of the friend suggestion feature. Overall, the current user flow demonstrates intuitive design but requires minor adjustments based on user feedback. Additionally, I regularly checked in with the client to receive feedback on the design. The Product Manager provided valuable input, emphasizing the importance of allowing users to chat with individuals before adding them. This feedback will be incorporated into the next design iteration.
The user interface was designed to be visually appealing, intuitive, and supportive of the app's mental health focus. Friend suggestions were presented in a card-based format, showcasing the user's profile picture, username, shared interests, and a brief introduction. User-friendly actions, such as adding a friend, sending a message, or exploring shared resources, were incorporated into the interface.
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During the final focus group, users responded positively to the new friend suggestion iteration such as the added actions of chat, add, and the refresh button. They stated it gave them more freedom to choose how they would interact with new users. In addition, users were able to to tap on the profile page for an additional user page. In future iterations, this additional user page can include photos and videos. After user feedback, I spoke with the Product Manager who gave further feedback regarding the uniformity of the prototype. Further investigation included a redesign of the filter buttons and their states. Furthermore, screens such as the filter were changed to black backgrounds to help keep in line with Promly's design systems.
Throughout the UX design process for the friend suggestion feature in Promly, I employed various methodologies such as user research, HMW statements, crazy 8's, and task flows to gather insights, generate ideas, and refine the design. Conducting user interviews and focus groups allowed me to understand the specific needs and preferences of Promly users, helping to shape the feature accordingly.
I learned the importance of aligning with the client's vision and regularly checking in with them to receive feedback. The Product Manager's insights were invaluable, particularly in understanding the users' desire to add users before engaging in chat interactions, which influenced the design direction.
The use of divergent and convergent thinking techniques, such as Crazy 8's, allowed me to explore a wide range of ideas and evaluate them effectively. Incorporating user feedback and iterative design approach helped me create a more user-centric solution.
Based on the reflection and the feedback received, the next steps would involve refining the design of the friend suggestion feature. Specifically, I would focus on incorporating an "add" button on the main page of the friend suggestion feature to accommodate the users' preference for adding users before initiating chats.
Furthermore, I would continue to collaborate closely with the client and the Product Manager, ensuring regular check-ins to gather feedback and address any additional concerns or requirements. This collaborative approach will help refine the feature and ensure it aligns with the client's vision and the needs of Promly users.
Additionally, user testing and feedback sessions should be conducted to validate the updated design and make further improvements. This iterative process will help create a seamless and intuitive user experience within the friend suggestion feature.
Overall, the reflection and next steps aim to enhance the user experience, address user preferences, and align the friend suggestion feature with Promly's goal of fostering meaningful connections among its users.
If you like what you see and want to work together, get in touch or follow my journey on:
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