How might we…
Design alternatives for users who are reluctant to post reviews publicly but still want to participate?
Solution
Allow users to leave both public and private review.
PLACIE
AI-powered companion that helps you discover places
Overview
Placie aims to create a connected environment for users to find and explore places they are interested in or likely to be interested in through a personalized places recommendation feature. It allows people to explore restaurants, cafes, and tourist attractions easily and effectively through gamified interfaces.
Problem
The current place-finding apps provide recommendations in silos. Food, cafés, and attractions are separated, forcing users to switch between platforms. This fragmented process frustrates users, wastes time, and prevents them from having a seamless discovery experience. There is a clear need for an integrated, personalized recommendation app that combines all categories, enabling users to find places more quickly.
User Research Method
Directed interview (6 parts)
Number of Interviewees: 7
Findings
Through the interviews, I was able to gather meaningful qualitative insights that guided how I should approach solving the problem.
1. 67% (4 out of 6) of users showed a strong preference for a community-oriented app.
2. 83% (5 out of 6) of users wanted an app with integrated features.
3. 67% (4 out of 6) of users expressed high demand for AI features.
User Persona
How might we statement & Solution
How might we…
Offer users recommendations for places tailored to their preferences, by leveraging the reviewes that are previously posted?
Solution
Add AI algorytm so that users feel more attatched and recommend more personalized places.
How might we…
Provide a feature that allows users to see global rankings, including their friends and other users?
Solution
Adding a leaderboard page where users can compare rankings with their friends, based on the XPs they earned.
Wireframe
Structuring this low fidelity wireframes enabled me to explore between visual elements, usability, and user flow, which led me to narrow down into the optimized screens.
Initial Design
First User Test
User Test Goal: "Create an account and review the recent places you whet through Placie."
During the usability test with 6 participants, 100% were able to complete the main goal flow, demonstrating overall task success. However, a minor system error occurred when participants asked about what AI button is, which slowed downed the task completion time.
Despite this, participants provided valuable qualitative feedback.
1. 4 out of 6 participants (67%) suggested choosing between the diary and review features to reduce cognitive load.
2. 2 participants (33%) suggested to make AI button more appealing, which is the key feature of this app.
Overall, participants highlighted Plaice’s clean interface and intuitive navigation while also identifying opportunities for improvement in review-related and AI pages.
Iterate, Iterate, Iterate
Reflecting the user test results, during the iteration, I realized that using the wording ‘review’ instead of ‘diary’ in the navigation scheme was more appropriate, identified gaps in the flow leading users to the AI feature, changed the background map, and improved the UI of the buttons by removing stroks and using neutral colors.
Final Design
Second User Test
User Test Goal: “Leave a review after discovering a place you’d like to visit through Romy (AI assistant)."
During the usability test with 6 participants who participated in the first user test, 100% were able to complete the main goal flow, demonstrating overall task success.
Design System
What did I learn?
1. If I could collaborate with developers, I would incorporate algorithm into an app to enhance recommendation feature.
2. As someone who closely observed my peers’ pain points, I found it meaningful to directly interview them, incorporate their feedback into the app, and ultimately work toward addressing their challenges.