Our Project
What is the biggest issue with AI for humans? Building real world connections with people. AI is an incredible tool, but it struggles to replicate the depth, empathy, and authenticity of real-world connections. JumpIn helps you "jump in" on activities in your area in moments in life where you may feel the least connected with the people in your community. It aims to be one puzzle piece in solving the worldwide loneliness epidemic, brought on by ubiquitous phone use—among other factors.
Research Process and Findings
We did market research, a survey, and some additional research into the human "epidemic of loneliness," which states that 1 in 3 people in America feel lonely every week. An APA poll from last January reports these sobering findings. “30% of Americans aged 18-34” feel lonely every day or several times a week. We postulated that one of the main reasons for this epidemic is our phones and social media. As is suggested by this WebMD article on beating loneliness, one of the best ways we can escape our phones and overcome loneliness is by connecting with other people in real life, using activities and hobbies as a way to get to know others.
Through our market research analyzing similar apps with similar goals, we found:
- Current activity-finding apps focus more on the events than essential human interactions that happen at these events.
- Our application idea is very similar to a tool called Meetup, so we added the chat feature to personalize the interactions more.
In our survey, we asked the following questions: What does being human mean to you? What does a community mean to you? What helps you get out there and make friends/go to activities when you're scared? What do you wish existed to help you or others create a community? And we asked their age range, to confirm our assumption that it is more common for young people to struggle to find their community.
Through our ethnographic research, we found:
- 42.8% of people overcome fear when attending activities by either bringing someone they know or knowing someone there. Many also reported they just need to "do it scared."
- A community is a group of people who care about and support one another, often brought together by one common interest!
This research informed the following decisions and features:
- Assign one or a few group leaders for every event who reaches out and connects with you when you sign up for their event. This group leader can become that one person who helps them attend the activity and have fun.
- Design the app to be deleted, (similar to Hinge, a popular dating app) make it simple and to the point. This makes sure people can just get out there and build their community!
Most Important Design Decisions
Our user testing research informed the following design decisions:
- We added the option to add to calendar and notify the user (from usability testing round 1).
- We ensured quick browsing by making our activity details page a large modal, popping up from the bottom of the screen. This makes it easy to leave the details page by tapping outside the modal.
- We highlighted the filter feature on the homepage to help users see which day the events they were viewing take place (from usability testing round 2). A great experience is when they know exactly where they are in the process and what they are seeing.
- We added more "escape routes" so the user could go back or skip steps.
- We added illustrations for that extra element of fun!
Built With
- figma
