Beacon

App design for urban exploration and socialization

Beacon

Moving to a new country or city is a life-changing challenge and can feel very lonely.

Beacon will help the user navigate through the pressure and the cultural shock of moving to a new city, San Francisco. It will help the user explore the city according to their interest and meet a network of professionals that can help them adjust to this new life.

The objective of this project was to create a product that could help a specific target audience cope a drastic change in their lives.

Design Process

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

My Role

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Competitive Analysis

GEOCATCHING

Archetype: the quest - inspire people to go out and explore their surrounding to find a treasure.
Value Proposition: it’s built in a unique way where you can join or go on preexisting hunts on your own or with people you already know.
Website Design: uses too many pop up windows. Because they are pushing you to buy the product is hard to see how it really works.
Brand Strengths: easy to identify.
Brand Weakness: the main message does not translate (explore)

LET'S ROAM

Archetype: voyage and return - targets people who want to explore the city as a team. They take on this voyage together and will become stronger for it.
Value Proposition: innovative app that got people engaged in the quest.
Website Design: it is not visually engaging, feels static.
App Design: the instructions are vague which makes the app hard to understand and what to do and how to get there.
Brand Strengths: nice icon design, consistent.
Brand Weakness: if not familiar with the icon the brand is too complex.

Target Audience

Men and women
Ages 23 - 28
Knowledge seekers
Pursuing a higher level degree of education
Moving to San Francisco
Who enjoy exploring new places and learning about new cultures

Personas

**Maria - The Dreamer**

Maria’s dream has always been to open her own photography studio. She earned an undergraduate degree in business and now is ready to further her education in photography. She loves to travel and is looking forward to embrace life in a new country.
**Goals**
Learn about how the photography industry works in San Francisco
Explore photogenic and unique places of the city
**Actions**
Find places to visit
Make a list of places she likes and would recommend
**Pain Points**
Finding diverse information
Adjusting to a new culture

User Flow
The dreamer

Goal: Explore and photograph the most interesting scenes of the city. She uses beacon as her treasure map of all the photogenic places to visit.

**Juan - The career focused**

Juan recently graduated with a BFA in graphic design. He wants to continue learning about his field, but is ready to do so in a new Country. He is looking forward to meeting new people and enjoying the thrill of moving to a new place.
**Goals**
Make new friends with similar interest
Explore and learn about the city
**Actions**
Walk around and explore places he finds interesting
Create lists of things he wants to do
**Pain Points**
Surpass cultural differences
Finding unique places and experiences

User Flow
The career focused

Explore the design scene in the city. Be inspired by street art and meet people with similar interest. He uses Beacon as a way to make connections and find like minded individual.

Feature List Research

In order to identify the most important features for the app I sent out a survey to a small sample of the target audience.

Prioritized Feature List

According to the survey results this is the list of most important features.

List of scavenger hunt according to interest
See information about the hunts (how long, how far, interest, description)
Message, see photo and contact other hunters that are close to the beacon
Profile, save places you have visited and change settings
Explore map with recommendations around you

Concept Refinement

This beacon activated treasure hunt is a great way to explore the city and meet new people. When the user gets close to one of our beacons, they will be given information about the location. When they get close to each other we’ll create the opportunity for them to connect. The main goal is to explore the city and connect with new people by doing so.