Social Hangouts for Remote Workers

The problem

The Covid-19 pandemic forever changed the traditional, in-office work model. Remote and hybrid work has become the norm and is expected to become a permanent fixture in the modern workforce. We have observed that remote workers often feel lonely and isolated during their workday, which has a negative impact on their mental health. 

How might we improve remote work so that those who suffer from feelings of loneliness and isolation can find a way to create community and friendships?

The solution

We believe that creating a meet-up app for remote workers will help them feel less lonely during their workday and create opportunities to connect socially.

Timeline

5 weeks

Role

UX/UI Designer 

Deliverables

UI style guide, brand voice, information architecture/site map, sketches & wireframes, responsive high-fidelity mock-ups 

Tools

Figma, Miro



  1. Emphasize

User Interviews

  • 4 participants

  • Men and Women - Ages 20-45

  • Work from Home/Remote Employees

  • Work from home from at least 3x week and 1 year

Interview Process

  • We conducted 4 user interviews to understand the impact that remote work has on the mental health of the workers and the impact working remotely has on their personal lives.

  • The user interviews revealed that remote workers feel disconnected from their social groups and find it hard to make friends.

Proto-persona

Annie Jackson

  • 30 years old

  • single

  • remote worker

  • relocated from Atlanta to DC and started a new remote job

  • very social

Values and Behaviors

  • Self motivated, social butterfly

  • Loves listening to self improvement podcasts

  • Enjoys socializing with others but due to her WFH she doesn’t get to meet like minded people and collaborate in different activities

  • Likes to volunteer, dance and yoga

Affinity-diagram

Goals and Pain points

  • meet new people after recent relocation

  • create genuine friendship

  • get out of house to improve mental health

  • has a busy schedule post-work

  • wants to find a way to decompress with other after a long work day

2. Define

Empathy Map

User Persona

Veronica Smith

  • 30 y.o. from Columbia, MD suburbs

  • non profit fundraiser

  • single

User Journey

Goals

Create a social group with other work from home employees

Behavior

  • Extrovert and relies on social interactions for mental stimulation in professional and social life

  • values authentic social connections and relationships

  • self motivated to experience new opportunities

  • enjoys volunteering, dance and yoga

Needs

  • Genuine conversations and friendships

  • Outlet to relieve her stress from work-mental break

  • Companionship other than co-workers

Frustrations

  • has little interaction with people outside of work. Stuck on Zoom or work calls

  • Misses creating relationships and energy of the office. Feels isolated and unmotivated at work which impacts her performance

  • Doesn't know where to find social connections in her WFH location to meet others.

3. Ideate

User Flow

  • Ability to chat one-on-one or in a group chat.

  • Ability to find friends in live time, at specific locations.

  • Users are verified and create safe, genuine social connections.

  • Ability to meet up using a local recommendation or personal invite; adding it to the user’s phone calendar

Feature Matrix

User Flow

Features

  • Customized profiles help increase finding friends with the same interest.

  • Chat and meet up with new friends using live check-ins and local recommendations.

Iterated Version of User Flow

Wireframes

Primary Features

  • Create a profile

    Users create customized profiles that help them fins matches based off factors such as location, reason for using the app, etc.

  • Find and Chat with a friend

    Users are able to swipe through profiles of other users in their area to add to their friend list and chat

Testing

Lo-fi prototyping testing

  • We conducted 4 remote moderated user tests to understand how easy it is for the user to create customized profile, add the friend and go to the chat screen

  • Our target users are remote working professionals age 20-45.

Tasks

  • Create a customized profile

  • add a co-worker to the contact list

  • go to the chat screen

“I like minimal steps. If it goes past 3 screens, you’ve lost me and I do not want to finish the task”

“I like the clean layout”

“I like that you verify the users with the image, it makes it feel safer ”

“I got confused on a profile page, no way back or the “next” button ”

Prototype

Next Steps…Developing local event recommendations feature to schedule meet-up new friends