Dinner Club App Design

OVERVIEW AND APPROACH

This project focused on designing a dinner party app that encourages users to send referrals by making party invitations exclusive to app members. The app streamlines event planning, allowing hosts to create and manage party details while subtly guiding users to invite friends to join. The goal was to enhance user engagement and app growth through seamless social integration.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Our project focuses on the prompt: ‘To coerce user behavior.’ The challenge was to design an app that subtly coerces users into referring friends by making dinner party invitations accessible only to those within the app. The goal was to drive user engagement and app growth by integrating social pressure and exclusivity into the event planning process.

TARGET USERS AND DEMOGRAPHICS

For the social savvy hosts with effortless event planning 🎉

The target audience for the Dinner Club app consists of socially active individuals aged 25-45, primarily urban professionals, young entrepreneurs, and homemakers. These users are likely to engage with lifestyle and culinary brands, and they are active on social media platforms. The app is designed to appeal to their desire for exclusive, seamless event organization

USER RESEARCH

Primary Research

The design process began with in-depth user research, where we created detailed user personas to identify and understand our target audience. These personas allowed us to pinpoint the specific needs and behaviors of potential users, including their social habits, tech literacy, and motivations for hosting dinner parties. By focusing on these key aspects, we ensured that our design would resonate with our users, addressing their main needs for convenience, social connection, and a streamlined event planning experience.

DESIGN

Ideation and Mood Boarding

During the ideation and mood boarding phase, we explored a wide range of concepts to define the app’s look, feel, and functionality. This creative process involved generating over 50 ideas that stretched our limits and pushed us to think beyond conventional design. We then curated mood boards to visually capture the app’s aesthetic, drawing inspiration from modern lifestyle trends, sleek interfaces, and engaging social platforms.

Brainstorming App Features

In the brainstorming phase, we focused on defining the key features and sections of the app that would create a comprehensive and engaging user experience. We explored a variety of ideas, including recipe collections tailored to different party sizes and cuisines, an option to save favorite recipes, and a streamlined invitation system with customizable e-vite templates. Additionally, we developed features for tracking RSVPs, capturing and sharing party photos, and building detailed user profiles. This phase allowed us to finalize the app’s core functionality, ensuring it would meet user needs and encourage social sharing and engagement.

Style Guide for the Brand Identity

We established the visual language and personality of the app. We defined the color palette, typography, and iconography to create a cohesive and appealing aesthetic that resonates with our target audience. During this phase, we also designed the app’s logo, ensuring it embodied the brand’s essence and stood out as a recognizable symbol of the app’s identity.

User Journey Mapping

User journey mapping was used to outline the ideal experience within our app, guiding the creation and finalization of features and interactions before design execution. By mapping out each step of the user’s interaction with the app, from initial sign-up to hosting and attending dinner parties, we were able to identify key touchpoints and opportunities for engagement. Through user journey mapping, we ensured that every feature was thoughtfully integrated to meet user needs and subtly encourage the desired referral behavior.

Low Fidelity

We created low-fidelity sketches to explore and visualize the core structure and functionality of the app. These early sketches allowed us to quickly iterate on layout concepts, user flows, and feature placements without getting bogged down in details.

SOLUTION

Wireframes

We translated our low-fidelity sketches into detailed, interactive designs. These wireframes provided a clearer visual representation of the app’s layout and user flow, allowing us to refine feature placement and navigation. By leveraging Figma’s interactive capabilities, we could simulate user interactions and gather early feedback after this stage.

TESTING

User Testing

After completing the first iteration of wireframes in Figma, we moved into the user testing phase to validate our design choices. We conducted usability tests with target users to gather insights on how they interacted with the app, identifying any pain points or areas of confusion. This feedback was instrumental in understanding how users were navigating the app and what needs to be changed for the second iteration.

Key Findings

Most users found the referral feature easy to use, particularly when inviting friends who were not already connected within the app.

Analysis: This indicates that the interface was intuitive and straightforward, effectively supporting the desired referral behavior without causing friction or confusion.

Almost all users indicated that their default method for inviting friends to a party would be through text messaging, rather than using in-app invitations alone.

Analysis: This insight revealed a potential challenge, as users might bypass the referral feature by simply texting invites outside the app, which could hinder the app’s growth and intended social engagement.

While users found the referral process easy, the likelihood of them actually using it was not as high, particularly if they could easily revert to their usual method of texting invitations.

Analysis: This suggested that while the feature was well-designed, additional measures were needed to encourage users to fully engage with the referral system within the app.

Solution to Identified Problem

One significant issue identified through user testing was the risk of users bypassing the in-app referral feature by taking screenshots of invitations and sending them via text. To address this, we proposed the implementation of a screenshot blocker. This feature would prevent users from taking screenshots of invitation details within the Dinner Club app, ensuring that all invitations and referrals are processed through the app itself. This solution aims to increase the likelihood of users utilizing the referral feature, driving app engagement and growth as intended.

DELIVERABLES AND FAQs

Prototype and Report

After completing user research, branstorming and low fidelity wireframing phases, we compiled all our research and designs into a final report and presented to our class! Here’s the link to the final presentation.

Here’s the Figma Prototype!

Design Strategies Used

The app initially introduced a progress bar based on the number of dinner parties hosted to motivate users and encourage competition. However, the design evolved to a referral tier system, ranking users based on the number of referrals they send. As users climb the ranks, they unlock various perks and rewards, making the referral process engaging and rewarding. This gamified approach taps into users’ competitive instincts, encouraging them to invite more friends and grow the app. Another key strategy was to evoke an emotional response that would subtly pressure users into becoming active participants within the app. The app features a shared photo album for each party, accessible only to attendees who RSVP ‘Yes’. This creates a sense of exclusivity and belonging among attendees, encouraging those who aren’t Dinner Club users to sign up. The app plays on the fear of missing out (FOMO), encouraging guests to fully participate in the social aspects of the event.

Reflections and Learnings

This project was a deep dive into the ethical complexities of design, where our primary challenge was balancing user engagement with subtle coercion. Through careful research, creative ideation, and strategic execution, we crafted a user experience that successfully guided behavior while still delivering value. One key takeaway was the importance of understanding user psychology. Looking ahead, with more time, we could explore advanced personalization features, allowing users to customize their event experiences even further. We would also refine the designs further based on additional user feedback, ensuring that every interaction is as seamless and intuitive as possible.

MEGHANA.K