Concept for facilitating social interaction by mediating groups of introverts/extroverts and guiding them through a curated friendship making experience.
User Research
Collaborated with a team of designers to tackle the problem of increasing anxiety due to a lack of social interaction during the pandemic. Our solution involved optimally pairing introverts and extroverts and pacing their social interaction in steps inspired by the metamorphosis of butterflies.
Research involved collecting data through a variety of forms to better understand the roots of social anxiety and gauge our target group's desire for friendship. Our results indicated that there was indeed a desire for connecting with others and that competitive and collaborative games were a great way for breaking the ice.
Visual Design
Our main goal was to create a comfortable space for those prone to social anxiety, so we used soft, welcoming, and earthy colors. These colors matched up with our theme of metamorphosis and nature as an analogy for growth, allowing us to add imagery such as grass, leaves, and bushes. This imagery helped us communicate our product brand throughout all in-app screens.
Final mockup screens
Reflection
Playtonic pushed me to consider how to indirectly communicate a welcoming environment to users. My main takeaway was how visual design can emphasize the purpose of an application. I now understand that branding is much more than the presentation of a product and can define the entire experience of a user.