JoinME
Join Me is a social networking start up designed to encourage users to become social butterflies, fostering connections among individuals interested in fitness and outdoor activities. The app enables users to connect with others in their vicinity and organize meetups to engage in a variety of sports. Join Me will offer an array of options with running, walking, hiking, skiing, and snowboarding fully built out. Additionally, rock climbing and yoga are in the works. JoinME will launch on the app store soon!
What is JoinME?
My Role at JoinME:
UX/UI Design
Team:
Brianna Guidotti (founder) and Scott Guidotti (founder/developer)
Company Goal: Create an app that makes users feel it was crafted by an expert
The founders prioritize user needs, ensuring a meticulously designed app that instills the sense it was created by experts in the sports if offers. I was tasked to design each of the activity invite cards with this goal in mind.
Expert Interviews
What is some important jargon within the “insert sport here” community?
Are there sub genres or different types of your sport?
How do you measure difficulty in your sport?
Does your sport require any gear or props?
What would you consider the most important detail to mention if you were making plans with a friend to do this sport together?
I began the design process by interviewing experts in each sport the app offers. Asking 5 questions to gain a deeper understanding of each sport before I embarked on the card design.
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The amount of information required for each activity card clashed with the limited space available. This created a struggle to prioritize essential details while avoiding overwhelming users with too much information on a small card.
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Structuring the information within the confined space of the activity card posed difficulties in maintaining clarity and intuitive navigation. The challenge was to organize the information in a coherent and digestible manner, ensuring users could easily find what they needed without confusion.
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Conflicting design preferences among the founders added complexity to the process. One founder advocated for a clean, minimalist design, while the other preferred a more vibrant and attention-grabbing aesthetic. This discrepancy made it challenging to develop a unified design direction that satisfied both stakeholders.
Design Challenges
Designing a Solution
To address the challenge of information overload and limited space, I utilized iconography sourced from the Noun Project. By replacing lengthy text descriptions with concise icons, we maintained a sleek and visually appealing aesthetic while effectively communicating essential information.
Iconography
Through expert interviews I determined that distance was the most crucial factor for walkers and runners, while difficulty level took precedence, yogis, hikers, and rock climbers. Additionally, skiers and boarders number one factor was the location. This insight guided the restructuring of information architecture, prioritizing these key elements on each activity card.
To organize the remaining sport-specific information effectively, I conducted a card sorting activity with the team. We arranged the remaining details by order of importance to ensure clarity and user-friendliness.
Lastly, by placing universally relevant details such as place and time at the bottom of each card, we maintained consistency and facilitated quick access to essential information
Sensical Structuring of Information Architecture
We chose to keep the content and structure minimalist and add a pop of excitement by letting users choose their own colorful background image. This way, the content is clean and tidy but it still brings back and element of fun which better reflects the heart of Join me, it is a social networking app after all!
Reworking the Design Concept
User creating the invite
Invite card on feed
Final Card Designs
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Running
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Hiking
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Ski and Snowboard
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Walking
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Yoga
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Rock Climbing
As JoinME continues to evolve…
I find great excitement in being a part of its growth journey. Remaining active within the team, I frequently serve as a design consultant, addressing various inquiries and helping to design the reaming screens of the app. As the app and my projects within it progress, I look forward to updating this page to reflect our ongoing advancements.
