Sammen

Researcher / Interview and Ideation Facilitator / Flow- and wireframe designer / Prototype designer

In this assignment, we explore the theme: neighborhood communities. Our goal is to create a user-friendly app that helps local residents engage, stay informed, and build connections within their community

The Process

Goals and problems

Design challenge

The Result

jonny-gios-3ntBdQ56Slo-unsplash

Project Overview

Goal

Create a user-friendly digital platform (app or website) that helps local residents engage, stay informed, and build connections within their community. The app should allow people to easily access local resources, participate in events, share goods or services, and communicate with neighbours. Additionally, the platform should aim to foster a positive and inclusive environment that encourages active participation.

Software used

  • Figma
  • Discord
  • Canva
  • Google Sheets
  • OBS Studio
  • Dovetail Ai
  • Grok Ai

Design challenge

User Needs

• A fast, reliable way to discover verified gigs
• Clear, upfront information about pay, requirements, and timing
• A trustworthy platform that reduces uncertainty

Core Problems:

• Fragmented gig discovery across many unreliable channels
• Lack of transparency around payment and legitimacy
• Time lost searching instead of working

Problem Statement

Our target users are adults aged 35 to 70 living in urban areas who struggle to stay active and engaged in their local community because they lack a simple, personalized platform that connects them to nearby events, resources, and people.

If we can solve this problem, it will positively impact users by making it easier to discover relevant opportunities, build local connections, and foster a stronger sense of belonging.

It will also benefit our business by fostering long-term engagement, strengthening user trust, and positioning Sammen as the go-to digital hub for inclusive, community-driven living.

Process and research

The project were structured after the 5 stages of the design thinking model

Empathise

  • Literature review
  • User Interviews
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Affinity mapping

Define

  • Personas
  • User Scenarios
  • Problem statement
  • Vision Statement

Ideate

  • HMW
  • Mindmap
  • Dot voting
  • Brainwriting
  • 100$Test
  • Sketches

Prototype

  • MoSCoW
  • Lo-Fidelity
  • Content audit
  • IA
  • User Flows
  • Task Flows

Test

  • Low-Fi Usability Testing
  • High-Fidelity Prototype
  • Recommendations

Roadmap

Research Goals

How

How could a community app fight loneliness by connecting residents and creating engagement for their local area?

What

What motivates people to participate in community-driven initiatives or share their own resources/services?

Who

Who is the target group for a neighbour community platform, and what is important to them?

Primary Persona

Secondary Persona

Information Architecture

User Flows

Resources
Event
Community

Prototype Elements

Low-Fidelity prototype

Signup
Onboarding
Home
Resources
Search
Events
Profile

The result

During this assignment, we learned that it’s easy to overthink and overdo an idea. We learned that when you have a big and wide target group and try to meet a lot of needs from different kinds of people, it’s easy to end up with a lot of different solutions and features in the same app, in an attempt to please everyone. Instead, we should have focused on getting the concept down, carving away every redundant feature, so we could meet the core needs that are common for everyone (or most) in the target group. But at the same time, this is part of the process. Every stone carver starts with a big piece of stone, and it’s not until after a lot of work and carving away that he ends up with the perfect sculpture.

Insights

  • The elderly participants had a greater need for visible clues to specific features because they do not use shortcuts as much. E.g., a visible scroll bar to understand that she could scroll, and to be able to scroll comfortably/like she is used to. A cross in the top right corner of the text and number fields to press to remove what’s already in the field.
  • The participants wanted a simpler/more general design. Not too specified with a lot of categories and pages. The users felt that that would be a barrier to getting in touch with others.
  • The participants wanted a more familiar layout in general. Especially the login/signup pages and how to create a new post confused the participants.

Recommendations

We recommend removing unnecessary pages and categories, making a simpler design and navigation. It could be smart to design it closer to Facebook – a widely used social platform that people in all age groups use.

Specific examples being:

  • A newsfeed where posts, events, and important information are gathered in the same place.
  • Text field for creating a new post at the top of the page instead of the bottom.
  • Making sure the app has visual clues for features like a scroll bar.

Insights

  • The participants were confused whether this is a neighbourhood, a community, or a community group app.

  • Our users were quite confused and frustrated during the test because of unclear wording and confusing design choices in the app, and things didn’t work as planned

  • The participants wanted a neighborhood app with closed groups (with the closest neighbors) and an administrator for safety and a low threshold for reaching out, offering help, asking for help, and lending things out.

Recommendations

We recommend using only the word “Neighborhood” instead of changing between neighborhood, community, and local community. This is to avoid confusion and communicate that the app focuses on building relationships with neighbors in your immediate vicinity.

Iterated Low-Fidelity prototype

Signin
Home Page
Neighbor Help page
Event Page