Sociable

Problem Space

Problem Statement  

People often struggle to find local events they want to go to because current options are inconvenient to navigate and decentralized. This makes it challenging for individuals to explore their passions, connect with other like-minded individuals, and build deeper relationships within their community.

Problem Background  

A fundamental part of our humanity is our need to connect with others and build safe and supportive communities. Studies have shown there’s a “strong association between social relationships and health where more socially isolated or less socially integrated individuals are less healthy, psychologically and physically” (House et al., 2004).

Now more than ever, an increasing number of individuals struggle with loneliness and more since the pandemic. Studies show that “in recent years, about one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness” (Murthy, 2023). One popular way to meet new people with shared interests is through social events such as classes, concerts, and networking events. People want to go to events and there are events that interest them, but often end up not going simply because it’s hard to find. It’s difficult to find all the events that are happening in your local community because information is scattered in different sources such as social media, event apps, and advertisements.

Research Insights

The main pain points found through the research with the current user experience of finding events are:

• There is no centralized source to find all events within a local community

• Users currently hear about events through many different mediums such as word of mouth (81% of users), social media platforms (76% of users), Google or other search engines (43% of users), email subscriptions (33% of users), event discovery apps (29% of users), and advertisements (24% of users)

• Users were not able to find any events that interested them

• 57% of users found that it would be more convenient to find events if they were provided with personalized recommendations and event notifications

• Users would miss events because they did not know about them

• 95% of individuals who were surveyed and interviewed missed interesting events because they did not know about them

• There is not enough information about events and users would need to spend time researching into the events

When conducting user research, 100% of individuals below the age of 40 who were surveyed and interviewed attend events in their local area to meet new people, explore their interests, and build relationships within their community. As well, 81% of the surveyed individuals often meet new people during events and stay connected with them afterwards.

Landing on the Solution

Explanation of Solution

The proposed solution for tackling the problem is to consolidate all local events from different sources, (i.e., social media, event discovery apps, advertisements, etc.) into one platform for people to easily find or get notified of the events that they might be interested in. This will address the challenge where there is a lack of a centralized platform to find all local events that people are interested in, as well the pain point that many people miss events due to the lack of awareness.

In addition, the solution will provide people with personalized event recommendations through analyzing user interests, previous event attendances and engagement to inform people of upcoming events that might interest them so they can plan ahead and share with their network. Automated notifications for new events of interest and saved events by users will also be introduced to alert users of new event updates and remind them about upcoming events. This will help users keep organized of all the events they’re interested in attending and keep track of event details conveniently.

User Flows/Mockups

Future Steps

I plan to continue to work on this project after the program ends. I will continue to identify key pain points for users and conduct further research into the pros and cons of current popular channels. This will enable an experience that addresses the market’s biggest shortcomings while keeping what’s working well.

There are also questions around solutioning that need to be answered. How will the events data be retrieved? Is the data available at all? How much would it cost to keep this data fresh and relevant? If the data isn’t currently available, it may be necessary to create partnerships with companies out there (i.e. Instagram) to acquire the necessary data.

Marketing Asset

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