When moving into a new city or even for people who have been around, it is still very difficult to connect with people in and around their geographical area for doing leisure activities that require company. For instance, in an apartment, there could be 4 of them who are willing to play a football game but need 7 more to start a game. Often times, it's nice to meet with a bunch of other artists who can just jam and make art together or probably attend an event nearby than hang out with the same set of friends in a restaurant yet again. Recess aims to solve these problems by connecting users with other's of similar interests and are in close proximity to their location. The app also aims at giving users information about spaces available nearby to carry out leisure activities. Visual arts, music, dance, fitness and sports are few of the categories that the app aims to cater to.
This is a scarcely explored market area and comes with many failed models. Before getting into the crux of what the app has to offer to it’s target audience, gaining lessons out of these already existing, not-so popular models will help avoid some blatant mistakes. With proper user research, the app can be tailored to existing demand which will make way for a successful run in the market. Meetup, Playo, Athleto and few other apps like Kutumb which is functional only in bengaluru and predominantly for non-english speaking community are close competitors for 'Recess'
Playo has been in the market since 2015. Ever since, the app has gained a lot of trust amongst the users over time and has seen tremendous improvements in the app functionality. What started out just in Bengaluru, is now present in few parts of the UAE too. The app due to its prolonged existence, has gained user trust moreover, it also follows a user verification process which makes the app safe to use. The app lets you avail discounts on the venues you book depending on how frequently you use the app and their service. It also has an inbuilt chat functionality which is extremely useful to discuss details about the game you sign up for. This app however is predominantly only for sports and fitness. Meetup is an app for connecting with likeminded social circle. In addition to functionalities similar to that of Playo, Meetup has mainly concentrated on bringing people to events in and around their geographical location. In spite of their presence in the market for as long as Playo, they haven't penetrated as much. Apart from these close competitors, big players like Instagram and facebook are indirect competitors. Facebook has the group feature which lets you connect with a community of people but not as task specific as ‘Recess’ aims to be.
Some of the Critical questions that arose at this point of product ideation
- Do people look to connect to their neighbours or their nearby community for carrying out recreational activities?
- Are they comfortable finding peers online to meet in real life?
- Do they have the urge to socialise and meet new people. If yes, How often do they look for such peers?
- What other methods do they use to meet new people?
- Have they ever used an app for connecting with people offline before?
- If yes, what do they like and not like about the app. Any feature that they wish was a part of the app?
Except for a few questions, the research predominantly should be questionnaire based. At this point, it is necessary to understand the user behaviour and psychology with regards to how they find collaborators offline as well as their general recess patterns. For understanding how to make the product secure, It is necessary to review articles on cyber security and also analyse user verification methods popularly used in apps.
The objective of the research is to understand the user psychology in line with connecting to people from their close geographical areas for recess. The research also tries to answer the critical questions that have arisen at this product development stage. By targeting the research on 2 cohorts, the analysis will point at if everyone invariable of their previous exposure to apps like Recess, trust and would like to use it. It also touches upon various themes like, demographics, personality, habits, social behaviour and app usage behaviour of the consumers. The results from this qualitative research can be converted as relative quantitative data for deciding on the key functionality of the app.
The Recess app is designed to help users connect in person with their community people to carry out leisure activities. In brief analysis of the competitor landscape, it is clear that there certainly is demand for this product especially after the back to back lockdowns due to the ongoing pandemic. People are now desperate to get out of their homes and to meet people in person. The usual recreation is to head to a restaurant or a bar after work. Since this app encourages physical activities and a different motive for meeting people, it is sure to stand out. The app also aims at including non-sporty community based activities like photography, music, flow arts etc which makes it unique from the already existing ones.
Value Proposition at this point
Positioning ‘Recess’ as an essential app to have when moving into a new community for settling in.
- Conducting online survey on the 2 Cohorts
- Article review on cyber security and security features in similar competitor apps.
Age group - 18-45
Mobile phone users
Demographics
Name
Age
Where are you originally from? And where do you currently live?
What do you do? (College, School, full time work, Freelancer, Homemaker, in between jobs)
Personality
Do you pursue or have any hobbies?
What is your regular weekday like?
What is your regular weekend like?
Would you think you are an? (Introvert, Extrovert or ambivert)
Habits
How often do you do things that are of interest to you? (Music, painting, playing a sport etc)
How dependent are you on the Internet during recess?
Social behaviour
Do you have the urge to socialise and meet new people. If yes, for what activities / reasons?
How do you usually connect with new people? What are your typical ice breakers?
Do you look to connect with your neighbours or near by community people for recreational activities?
Have you ever shifted between cities / Places that you have lived in and found it difficult to connect with neighbours or meet new people?
App usage behaviour
What are your most used apps on a normal day?
How often do you do online shopping? (Including Groceries, food)
Do you like downloading new apps just to explore?
Are you comfortable finding peers online to meet in real life?
Have you ever met someone in real life, whom you connected with first on Instagram, Facebook, tinder etc?
What are your concerns about apps that connect you to people from your community to carry out leisure activities?
Demographics
Name
Age
Where are you originally from? And where do you currently live?
What do you do? (College, School, full time work, Freelancer, Homemaker, in between jobs)
Personality
Do you pursue or have any hobbies?
What is your regular weekday like?
What is your regular weekend like?
Would you think you are an (Introvert, Extrovert or ambivert)
Habits
How often do you do things that are of interest to you? (Music, painting, playing a sport etc)
How dependent are you on the Internet during recess?
Social behaviour
Do you have the urge to socialise and meet new people. If yes, for what activities / reasons?
How do you usually connect with new people? What are your typical ice breakers?
Do you look to connect with your neighbours or near by community people for recreational activities?
Have you ever shifted between cities / Places that you have lived in and found it difficult to connect with neighbours or meet new people?
App usage behaviour
What are your most used apps on a normal day?
How often do you do online shopping? (Including Groceries, food)
Do you like downloading new apps just to explore?
Are you comfortable finding peers online to meet in real life?
Have you ever met someone in real life, whom you connected with first on Instagram, Facebook, tinder etc?
What are the apps you use to connect with your community people and eventually meet them in real life for recreation?
What are your concerns about apps that connect you to people from your community to carry our leisure activities?
What do you like about the apps that helps you connect with people in real life? - (Specific features, options in the app)
How often do you go back to using such apps?
Playo and Meetup are competitor apps which are doing well in this area of connecting people to their community to carry out offline leisure activities. Having read through their privacy policy features, it is understandable that the security features mentioned are quite similar to any other social media platform. Like Instagram & Facebook, these apps have several features that aid their functionality, but might be of concern in the privacy front. For instance, to have improved functionality, both the apps allow for users to sign in using third party apps like gmail or Facebook. This is a common feature found even in several e-commerce apps. Its a very convenient functionality offered by platform where the user need not type out their basic details all over again. Instead, they just let the third party app share the info. But by doing so, the user is giving consent for cross sharing of data amongst these apps. There is a category of information called ‘Sensitive Personal Data or Information’ - SPDI which consists of information relating to passwords, financial information such as bank account details / debit card details, sexual orientation, medical records and history, biometric information etc. This is the most important and most personal set of details collected by the app. The privacy clause for Meetup and Playo suggests that, such important personal information will not be shared unless authorised by the user. Therefore, in conclusion, the privacy and security features of these apps are totally in the hands of the user. However, in order to enjoy the full functionality of the app, there is a significant amount of personal data trade off. This is inevitable in the current internet era especially for apps that help one connect with other people.
The concerns with verifying bot users and people faking their identity online
According to an article on ‘Legal action against fake account on social media’ by Arpit Kalra and Ragini Ghosh, “There is no specific law in place that holds social media platforms liable for the creation of fake accounts within their network. This is because the network only acts as an intermediary and does not directly create the account”. The Information Technology Act, 2000 gives immunity to these social media networks by taking away the liability for content posted by any third parties from the host. However, Section 66D of the IT Act states that, anyone impersonating their online presence might be subject to imprisonment for upto 3 years or might be levied a fine of upto 1 lakh rupees. Thus, the apps which provide a breeding ground for such fake profiles have immunity from the law from being sued. Although, it is imperative that, if the app is notified about such malpractices by the user, they should take immediate action of reviewing the situation and providing a solution for the same.
Data derived from the survey with the users were transcribed and made as notes which were then analysed using the affinity mapping method to identify common behavioural
patterns and insights.
The collected data was qualitative in nature but in order to form patterns that are true to itself, the data was relatively quantified. Each major theme(Pink, green, light green, blue and black) from the affinity mapping was taken, and analysed based on the similarity in the answers. By means of counting, similar answers were grouped and converted into a relative quantitative data.
The questionnaire as well as the study on ‘cyber security rules’ and some of the ‘IT Act’ in India pertaining to app privacy policy, suggests various answers to the critical questions jotted at the beginning of the research. It is observed that majority of them invariable of their personality traits, look to connect with their neighbours or nearby community for recreation or friendship. In the Targeted age group, most of them are also open to using an app for connecting with peers. However, there are certainly few concerns like the fear of being cheated by fake personality or about data theft etc. The survey suggests that, people look to connect with their community people for several reasons, some to just find companionship, whereas some are task oriented like for playing football or to sketch together. Few others are apprehensive about the idea of connecting with their community people all together and that mostly stems from their introverted personality.
few users are apprehensive about the idea of connecting with their community people all together and that mostly stems from their introverted personality.
When asked about the apps they generally use to connect, there were several mentions of Instagram, Tinder, bumble, LinkedIn and Facebook, apart from that people also use apps like, Meetup, Playo, Team reach, Quizup and Rovo. Amongst these people, few use the app particularly to just schedule their play time with their already known friends or they use the app to book venues for playing. These apps offer discounts and has a very easy way of booking slots at a venue to play.
Some key features that the users love are that its quick and easy to communicate. These apps help you understand the user’s vibe before you meet them in real life. Users also appreciate being able to share location, links and images easily through these apps. A particular user that uses the app ‘Meetup’, feels that the best part about the app is that the user can preview who are all attending an event happening at the nearby community and how old or young they are. On the whole, the features that stand out the most are the ones that help do the initial ice breaker online. For instance, the users like the Q&A feature in ‘Bumble’ & Instagram. Users also find it convenient to connect with people of similar interests without any past impression.
Recess can be introduced to people who move into new apartments like how generally apps like ‘Mygate’ (Security management app) are essential. This will aid in smooth transition of fitting into their community.
The research also brought out other methods used by the users to meet new people. The most popular ones seem to be through mutual friends or through office parties or membership clubs. It will be interesting to find out means to incorporate such trustable real life experiences into the app. For Instance, if ‘Recess’ can bring out a membership policy (Offline/online) which will not only increase the sense of security for the users but also make them feel like they belong to an actual community, will be a familiar and comforting process for the users. For Instance, Recess can be introduced to people who move into new apartments like how generally apps like ‘Mygate’ (Security management app) are essential. This will aid in smooth transition of fitting into their new community.
With the insights and a fair understanding of User behaviour, the personas were drawn. Usually personas are drawn and differentiated based on a demographic. However, in this project, it made more sense to segment users based on their exposure to social media apps rather than follow traditional methods. The reason for doing so is that even when someone who is unaware of social media apps and trends, might actually explore this app since it aims at connecting people offline. Therefore, segmenting users based on their app exposure was
found fitting.
The primary persona here refers to cohort 1 from the survey segmentation, in which the user is not exposed to any apps that connects them to their immediate community for carrying out leisure activities. This user thinks it's important to connect to neighbours and is willing to meet nearby community people for carrying out leisure activities, especially for sports or pursuing arts like music, dance and crafts. However, the user is not very comfortable exploring apps that aid in this process. Contrary to this mindset, the user is well versed with other apps for online shopping as well as the common social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook and claims to use them on a daily basis. Therefore, the aim of the design is to help the primary persona gain trust in using ‘Recess’ as well as to use the platform as often as the other social media platforms and to pave an easy way to connect with their community to carry out their hobbies.
On Contrary, the secondary persona refers to cohort 2 from the survey segmentation, in which the user is already exposed to apps that connects them to their immediate community for carrying out leisure activities. However, they are still apprehensive about meeting people through these apps. Some people in this category use the app for its other options like booking venue or scheduling games with people that they already know in real life. The aim of the design is to gain the secondary persona's trust in using the app as well as pushing them to switch to ‘Recess’ for its other unique functionalities like booking venues, Exploring events & gaining memberships to different communities. The design should also aim at inculcating a regular habit amongst the users to check for any events or activities happening nearby or options to connect with nearby community on a regular basis.
Value proposition derived after research
Building happier communities by enabling local connections for leisure & Recreational activities
Insight into Some key features of recess to stand out in the market
- Users will be verified to avoid malpractices
- partnering with cafe’s, Play areas and offer discount for users who book through the app.
- Suggestions based on relevance of interest and location proximity
- Focus more on community building along with providing a short time solution for finding a collaborator.
- Positioning ‘Recess’ as an essential app to have when moving into a new community. Can collaborate with apartments and builders to suggest this app as a part of onboarding into their communities.
- Partnering with security management apps like Mygate to increase validation of the product.
Each insight and problem identified was given a 'How Might We' question. This method was followed to keep the ideas broad enough to include all possible solutions but narrow enough to address the need. Multiple problems which had a similar root cause was clubbed together. This eventually lead to the formation of the app's information architecture after careful evaluation of each idea.
Sketching out concepts and ideas as low fidelity paper wireframes which are later converted into high fidelity wireframes
Exploring a scenario of a sample user trying to navigate through the app to accomplish a task.
UI design style guide
The user downloads the 'Recess' app after hearing from a friend about being able to use it for connecting with nearby community people for leisure activities and signs up using OTP.
The user looks at the community feed and finds out about a painting meet up happening next to a lake nearby to her house.
The user takes a look at the host's profile to gauge the authenticity of the event. After which she messages the host about few doubts that she has about the meet using the personal message feature in the app. She then decides to attend the event and clicks on the going button and notices that the event now shows up in her 'upcoming activities' section.
Recess can incorporate features which shows the user the amount of time and money they spend on leisure activities. This will aid in managing their recess allowances and time to have a balanced life.
Slowly transition from a
COMMUNITY BUILDING APP - LEISURE & RECREATION MANAGEMENT APP.
https://www.behance.net/search/images?similarStyleImagesId=495690299
https://www.mondaq.com/india/social-media/1109666/legal-action-against-fake-account-on-social-media
https://playo.co/privacy
https://help.meetup.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409808081421-Account-security
https://ezgif.com/video-to-gif/ezgif-5-d682ce3c69.mov
https://www.mockupworldhq.com/screens/iphone-11-pro-max-free-app-presentation-mockup/#google_vignette
https://www.figma.com/community/file/1092720274049784466
