Date
Sep - Dec 2024
Project Type
Academic Project
Tools Used
Adobe Illustrator
Figma
FigJam
Google Forms (Survey)
Responsibilities
UX/UI
User Research
Collaborations
UX Design Teammates
Research
While we knew we wanted to do something social and related to concert-going, we began with initial research into this problem space to identify the key issues and how we could develop a solution. Understanding that there was a niche in this area that our idea could fill, we set off on conducting user research by interviewing a range of people. We started by learning how people actually plan, attend, and experience concerts. Our team conducted user interviews and a short survey to understand what makes people excited to go and what might hold them back. We talked to concertgoers of different ages and experience levels, from frequent festival attendees to people who avoid going alone.
Most participants loved live music but said they often miss out on events because friends are busy or they don’t feel comfortable going solo. Some mentioned feeling anxious in crowds or uncertain about logistics like parking, navigation, and communication once inside a venue. These conversations helped us frame the opportunity: how might we make going to concerts feel more social, safe, and effortless?
To organize our findings, we created an affinity map that grouped recurring themes around social connection, planning, safety, and accessibility. From there, we developed user personas and journey maps to represent different types of concertgoers and their needs. These insights guided our design priorities and helped shape Meeteor’s features, especially the matching flow and interactive event map.
The three distinct User Personas we created (persona face images generated by ChatGPT)
After synthesizing our interview and survey findings, we created storyboards to visualize and empathize how someone might use Meeteor in real-life. This helped us communicate the emotional journey behind our concept: from the frustration of missing out on a concert to the excitement of finding new friends to go with. Mapping this out early clarified our design direction and ensured every feature supported real user needs.
Storyboard: After her concert plans fall through, Marissa finds new friends through the app and ends up even more excited to go.
Early affinity mapping helped us organize interview insights into key themes like connection, safety, and event logistics.
Design Process (Part 1: Early Exploration and Testing)
Moving into the design process, we began by sketching ideas for how Meeteor could work. Each of us explored different ways to bring connection, convenience, and fun into live event planning. The goal was to capture the feeling of belonging that users described in interviews, not just build another event app.
I focused on the matching feature, sketching early flows where users could see who else was attending the same show and start forming groups before the event. I wanted it to feel easy and social, more like joining a group of friends than meeting strangers. I also started thinking about how early branding could make the app feel friendly and inviting.
We then created paper prototypes to test the usability and practicality of our ideas. Watching people move through tasks like finding events and forming groups helped us simplify navigation and cut unnecessary steps. These quick tests also confirmed that users understood the app’s purpose and found the concept exciting. Their feedback helped shape how we refined interactions and laid the groundwork for the visual system that came later.
Paper prototype testing the matching flow, where users could swipe through potential concert matches, view profiles, and start conversations. Seeing people interact with these screens helped simplify the process and confirm that the idea felt fun and intuitive.
Early sketches exploring layout ideas and user flows for event discovery, matching, and group interactions.
Design Process (Part 2: High-Fidelity Design and Branding)
After testing our paper prototypes and refining the main flows, we moved into high-fidelity design. Our goal was to create a look and feel that felt social and playful, but still clean and trustworthy. I took the lead on branding and visual development, iterating consistently based on my group’s feedback to create a design system we all felt proud of. I built custom assets, including the logo, globe background, emoji-inspired navigation icons, and other small UI elements that gave Meeteor its personality. Whenever a teammate needed an asset for their flow, I designed it so everything felt cohesive.
Once our first digital prototype was complete, we conducted “Think-Aloud” usability tests to see how new users interacted with the app. Each of us observed a participant and noted their reactions across all features/flows. During this round, another teammate’s test user identified a concern that related to my matching flow, which led me to revisit my design and explore a new solution. I adjusted the interface to communicate better how users could connect and interact while keeping the overall look and tone consistent with our original concept. That round of feedback helped make the experience smoother and more intuitive.
The final design used soft gradients, rounded shapes, and a consistent color system to keep the interface approachable. The goal was to make users feel excited to explore, and even more excited for meeting up and rocking on! Creating these visuals was my favorite part of the process. It combined creativity with usability in a way that felt fun and rewarding to bring to life.
Project Retrospective
Looking back, Meeteor taught me a lot about collaboration and how to stay flexible throughout the design process. Our group worked really well together, and it was rewarding to see how everyone’s ideas came together into one cohesive product. I especially enjoyed taking on the visual design side and creating assets that helped define the app’s tone, but it was even better seeing how those details supported everyone’s features as the prototype evolved.
One of the biggest lessons for me came from iteration. When feedback from testing touched on parts of my flow, I learned how to rework designs without losing the original intent or personality.
☞ Final Presentation Slide Deck (direct link)
