PURPOSE

Create an aesthetically pleasing mobile application for single adults to enhance their dating experience. The app allows users to organize/join single or group activity-driven dates in their local area. The goal of the application is to promote connection, produce a wholesome environment for people to meet new friends, highlight local attractions and activities, and help individuals build relationships as they spend time with others who have similar interests.

MY ROLE

This project was completed with a team of 25 people. At the start, we conducted a vote on who should be the Project Manager (PM). I expressed my interested and presented my qualifications to the group, and in return the team voted me as PM. I spilt the teams into 5 groups and asked one person from each group to be a Team Lead (TL). Each TL would report their group’s progress directly to me. Specific roles included creating a Gantt Chart to track progress, coach and encourage TL, continually creating and implementing plans to oversee the big picture of the project.

PROCESS

We completed the UX design process and included these four key components.

1. Heuristic Analysis - Research target audience and how they use similar applications

2. Design Iteration - Multiple step process in which ideas were generated, evaluated, and adapted

3. First, Second, and Third Usability Studies - Usability plan to show how the data will be collected and then show members of target audience to verify the design

4. Specification Document - Record all design elements that communicate throughly to a developer

TARGET AUDIENCE

The app centered around activity driven dating. Three target audience segments were discovered for this app: serious daters, casual daters, and deal chasers. Serious daters are looking for a significant relationship in their life, casual daters want to have fun and meet new people, and deal chasers are interested in promotions around the town.

PROJECT PRIORITIES

• It doesn’t take long for users to find deals

• Users can successfully navigate through the program

• Users are able to find what they are looking for

• User sees program as worth using and not a waste of time

USABILITY STUDIES

As a team, each person conducted three rounds of usability studies three different times. Each round of interviews brought new perspectives, empathy for the user, ideas, and more relevant designs. The majority of users who have tested the app have spoken very positively about it. Not only do they enjoy the idea and goal of the app, but they find that the colors, design, and wording encourage them to continue using it. The feedback from test users has been in favor of our goals, supporting our main criteria. Users are finding it easy to create or find a date, they understand how to use the app because it is intuitive and simple, and, overall, they enjoy using the app.

KEY LEARNINGS

Being a Project Manager was different than anything I had previously experienced. It was incredible to bring a group together and watch as they transformed this app. I learned how to communicate more effectively with people who don’t think the same way I think. I gained incredible knowledge on organizing a project from beginning to end, delivering data to our sponsor on time, making decisions quickly, and anticipating upcoming issues.