On My Way

Crafting a founder's idea, into a digital application that blends social interaction with personal growth

3 week team project

Project summary

“On My Way is not just about doing something good, its about doing something good together.”



Victoire Mandonnaud, Founder, On My Way
Funding, misrepresentation, negative stereotypes and isolation are regular challenges activists face. Enter a new platform envisioned to tackle these issues.
We turned our founders vision into a design solution that connected change makers, inspiring growth and supporting their collaborative efforts... Here's how.

The challenge

A platform that united activists and enabled the building of real-world communities, required innovation beyond typical social networks. The challenge lay in providing a real-time solution to the question, "I want to act. What can I do?"

The results

Our solution creates directories of like minded people, leading to a vibrant social eco system. Offering users access to events, with a personal QR code making connecting seamless. Monetisation is achieved through ticket sales and donations. Welcome to On My Way.
Final Prototype
Application at initial handover from the founder

Role & project overview

As part of a three-person team, I drew on my experience managing design teams and stakeholder presentations to establish a strong project foundation. I led pre-kickoff meetings and designed key screens including then onboarding and feed.
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We embraced collaborative leadership, sharing project management duties to foster ownership, growth, and teamwork, driving the project's success.

Assessment & fact finding

selected research methods

  • Heuristic Analysis
  • Structured Interviews & Synthesis
  • Competitor and Comparative Research

Heuristic analysis

key findings

We received the app from the development team at an early testing stage. Up to this point, it had been workshopped solely between the founder and developer. Crucial for identifying usability issues early in the design process
  • Low Usability
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    The apps lack of any design system made its usability near impossible, it felt similar to an early stage wireframe than a finished design.
  • No Design System
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    ‍    The app lacked a consistent visual identity. Fonts, icons and call to action buttons were of various shapes, sizes and colours.
    The layout and use of negative space resulted in large ares of empty pages.
  • Unfamiliar Language
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    ‍    Copywriting across the app did not relate to every day language, making subheadings and catergorisation unclear.
Heuristic analysis as presented to client. Click to enlarge

Competitive & comparative research

key findings

Reviewing direct and indirect competitors such as aimed to uncover opportunities as well as areas we could differentiate our product by offering something unique.
  • Bla Bla Car
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    Key safety features. These include driver reviews, women only rides, profile verification, “super” driver status and real time ride tracking.
  • Go Fund Me
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    Gives users the power to create fundraising campaigns in six steps. Charities have a registered charity number displayed, (RCN). Demonstrating the charities legitimacy.
  • Meet up
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    ‍    Offers location based search feature. Users can search for groups or events in a specific city, neighbourhood, or within a specific radius.
  • Playtomic
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    ‍    Easily allows players to book a range of sports courts (mainly for padel), at their local centre.
    The app shows the availability of courts in real time, allowing users to book open spots immediately.
Key Screens From Primary and Secondary Competitors.

Structured user interviews

findings & results

We wanted to understand how people discovered and shared events, how they stayed informed, arranged meet ups within their network and made new friends.
“I care about homelessness and women's rights. I acknowledge I do not actively do a-lot about these issues, mainly because I don't know how.”

Research Participant

Interviewee pain points

By identifying  pain points, we uncovered the decision making process of event attendance, and how they connected with other attendees.
  • Interviewees struggle to understand how to engage with issues.
  • A lack of "activism" on popular social media networks lead to feelings of isolation.
  • In person events with "role models" created unforgettable experiences.
  • Access to high profile events gave our interviewees feelings of gratitude.
  • Activists know the importance of building a critical mass, it being essential to generate the momentum needed for change.
Overview from user interviews

User persona

Problem statement

“Celine stays informed by following trusted thought leaders across multiple channels, including newsletters, social media, podcasts, and book recommendations.

She wants to streamline her research process and cut down the time spent staying informed, so she can focus more on expanding her social network."
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Research Participant

How might we's

Ideation

On My Way Mood Board

Initial sketches

Wireframing

Click images to enlarge.

Testing our design

conducting usability tests & improving our design

  • Assess how intuitive users find the apps flow (onboarding, join a group, share profile).
  • Understand users first impressions of the app and its overall usability.
  • Access to high profile events gave our interviewees feelings of gratitude.

Usability testing

findings & results

  • Testers needed a calendar feature to be reminded of event sign ups.
  • The filter icon on the feed page was missed by all testers.
  • Hierarchy of information on feed page unclear - "were people more important than groups?"
  • Layout of feed page created confusion.

Design recomendations

  • Lead users eye to desired call to action button, for example “next” could be larger, or in bold, than “skip”.
  • Filter menu to be more prominent, to be found more efficiently.
  • Redesign home feed so hierarchy of information is clear.
  • Add a calendar reminder feature.

Prioritising key features

1. Tailored onboarding.
Personalising the experience & reducing cognative load by keeping no more than seven choices on the screen.
2. All-in-one information hub, including a curated feed page.
A consolidated platform for easily accessible information - designed intuitively.
3. Begin acting, now.
Find whats happening where, close to you and as conveniently as you would like.
4. Share your details with a scan.
A personal QR code that seamlessly connects you to your new community, building your network within On My Way.

Design iterations

from usability testing

Before
The layout for these call to action buttons could lead to ‘skip’ being easily miss tapped - this layout also gives equal importance to both buttons and doesn't lead our user eyes to our preferred action of ‘next’.
After
Reducing the size of skip and removing its stroke leads our users eye to our preferred action of ‘continue’.
Before
Testers did not have an obvious way to be reminded of events they had signed up for.
After
We added a modal to the home screen that can expand and collapse on tap. Giving our users an easy way to be reminded of recent event sign ups.
Before
1. Filter menu button was missed by all testers.

2. The initial feed page layout gave testers the impression that people were more important than groups, it also increased cognitive load through horizontal and vertical scrolling.
After
1. Filter menu placed in its own modal that sits on top of the main page.
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2.We separated our feed page across two screens. Giving greater clarity to the information on the page, reducing cognitive load.

Next steps

  • Introduce a subscription package
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    Create a steady revenue stream for On My Way, ensuring financial sustainability while offering tiered features to users.
  • Further research on consumer habits around spontaneous decision making
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    Understanding how users make last-minute decisions will enable the design of features that enhance flexibility, improve engagement, and create a more dynamic experience.
  • Onboard & feature local businesses

    Featuring local businesses enhances On My Way’s authenticity, showcasing community efforts and reinforcing its role as a grassroots hub.‍

Learnings

  • Gamifying features increase engagement

    Gamifying features like badge earning boosts engagement by satisfying users' desire for achievement, making the experience more fun and motivating.
  • Setting Up For Success (Planning)
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    Breaking work into manageable tasks helped prioritise key features and iterate quickly. Regular stand-ups and a clear timeline kept us aligned and adaptable for success.
  • Clear Visual Hierarchy
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    A clear visual hierarchy enhances usability by reducing cognitive load, as demonstrated in the separation of people and groups into distinct sections. Making navigation intuitive and information easier to process.
Final Prototype
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