Tether
An app created for introverts to connect and stay connected
in a fun and engaging way.
This application was inspired by the need for connection during the Covid 19 Pandemic.
A group project.
We began our assignment by brainstorming questions for a stakeholder interview. For this particular assignment, we would only be interviewing the "money" behind the project.
Research
By combining refined information from the interview, and analyzing the statistics for mental health during the Covid 19 Pandemic, we created a great foundation to begin defining
our ideal user, and what the goals of that user would be.
"It was like somebody hit the hard reset button on everything"..."(So now) it'll kind of narrow the scope (of) which people do I hang out with?"
"Many people talk about missing their families or best friends. They may not realize how much they miss their casual friends, too, and how much that hole in their lives add to a sense of isolation."
"Most American adults are considered lonely."
Anxiety and depressive disorders increased significantly between
2019 and 2021
Average share of adults reporting symptoms of
Anxiety Disorder and/or
Depressive Disorder
11%
Jan- June 2019 (NHIS)
41%
January 2021 (Household Pulse Survey)
User Profile
Our target users are the typical introverts. They are thoughtful, quiet, and reserved individuals who deeply value their close friends and connections. They can find it difficult to keep up with those valued relationships, which can lead to social anxiety or feeling lost when it comes to ways to connect.
How Might We:
Our How Might We's encompassed
the attributes we felt were the
key elements for the
path of our design.
Design
The User Flow was created to be simple but engaging. Through our research, we found adolescent users became a priority as well. Both flows were addressed.
The low fidelity wireframes reflect the simplicity and fun of the application.
My personal contribution was creating the
design of adding contacts.
After the stakeholder approved the initial design,
we moved to creating the
high fidelity wireframes in Figma.
Key Takeaways
Insight
Creating an application based on a business forward mentality was an insightful experience. I appreciated the mental health research that needed to be done in order to get into the mind of the user.
Gamification
Reaching out to connections can be daunting, so implementing gamification into our app was fun and created a really engaging experience. It was something that I enjoyed exploring and designing.
Group Dynamic
So much of UX education is done on a singular level. I am very grateful I had such an open and talented group of people to work with on this 1st group endeavor. I very much look forward to exercising collaborations in the future.