Overview

OBJECTIVE

Viva is THE app for fun group hangouts with others in your local community and we are revolutionizing the way people meet and make friends. I believe all of us have struggled at some point in our life meeting new people, whether that be when you came to college or moved to a new city for a job. This is the experience for every 3 out of 4 Americans who experience moderate to high levels of loneliness every single day.

APPROACH & DELIVERABLES

This was an independent project I started as a UIUX designer with my roommate and friend who are both business-oriented people. The goal of the project was to create an application that centralizes casual hangouts based on common interests.

The application needed to be completed and delivered by the end of May 2021 in time for the Blackstone Ventures Competition.

Research

Viva seeks to differentiate itself from other platforms out there by allowing users to create and join events and make it more convenient and centralized.

USER PAIN POINTS

• Social apps have deviated towards hookup/dating platforms that do not create genuine friendships and force users into falsely representing themselves.
• No platform to plan and host casual activities with peers in your community in one centralized location.
• Existing platforms are too expensive, poorly designed, and target the wrong customers.

MARKET RESEARCH

1. Most social apps (the dominant ones) have deviated towards being more for the dating/hookup culture. We need to gauge the number of real friendships that come out of these apps. The issue is that it relies on being desired by someone and then maybe doing an activity, and that desire has been determined by photos rather than mutual interests. We need to reverse the way that match is made and prioritize the activity first since that creates the relationship with the person.
2. There are very few meetups where people find "community", they may find a few friends but this is different. To form a strong community I don't believe the pool can be as large as a place like Meetup or FB Groups. People dig exclusivity.
3. Platforms are incredibly overpriced right now. (We need to gauge how much people would be willing to pay in the survey, compare that with the current price of competitors, show how much they are overcharging, and show how we can price competitively and affordable to our target market).

USER INTERVIEWS

• Comfortable hanging out with strangers as long as there is a purpose.