Neighbourhood-Connect
Neighbourhood Connect is an app that allows its users to get in touch with people who live around them. They can seek help in terms of car pools, knowing about where to get the laundry from or just simply befriend.
As a young working professional, when I moved just 25 kms away from home to be closer to work I felt lost! I was not sure of the best ways to reach office, where to get groceries from, how to install a gas connection etc. I also felt lonely from time to time as my family and friends seemed too far from me. This inspired me to dig more into this problem and find out if there are others like me who move away from home from work and struggle. Turns outs, everyone wanted to find a way to connect.
The navigation of the app is simple and clear. A user comes in, logs in/signs up via Facebook or Email and then makes a profile. After expressing their interests from the app, users can proceed to view a list of people near them with similar interest and connect with them via chat and call.
When I started working on it, my UI was too modern and minimilistic and people found it hard to identify buttons and input boxes. They found the UX cumbersome as there were lots of inputs required with not much help text. There was a big debate on the what the colours should be. I made the app more visual, more skeuomorphic (yet modern) and got a great response!
Here’s an image to show the evolution
Improvements were made with self observations, AB testing and in-person interviews.
I would definitely try to make this app live with the evidence that it is a useful product.