Circle: Fostering Connection Beyond the Workplace
Helping Coworkers in Large Offices Connect Over Lunch Break
Project Type
Independent Project
My Role
UX/UI Design
Project Duration
6 Weeks
Overview
Problem: Workplace Isolation Undermines Employee Well-Being and Collaboration
Isolation and loneliness have become an increasing challenge since remote working became popular during the pandemic. The physical separation of coworkers has led to the decline of friendships and connections at workplace, which adversely impact happiness and collaborations at work.
Data from a survey by Wildgoose showed:
63% of employees at enterprise-sized companies (1,000+ employees) said friends make work more enjoyable
23% of people under 25 said they’re lonely in their workplace, and wanted friendship with colleagues
4X more popularity received for in-person team-bonding activities than for virtual ones
Companies also benefit from interpersonal relationships because they nurture communication and collaboration between employees.
Solution: Circle App Helps Coworkers Connect Over Lunch
Post/join lunch activities in the feed
Match with a coworker one-on-one
Introduce yourself in the profile
The idea stemmed from my experience at my architecture firm, where we had a dedicated lunch channel on Office Teams. We used it to share lunch ideas and coordinate group outings. Over time, it became our go-to space for self-organized social activities and also served as the perfect natural way to welcome new employees. Circle is built on this concept, transforming that experience into a mobile app with added features for both group and one-on-one connections.
Research
Understanding What the Market Already Offers
I started the market research by comparing three professional networking apps: Lunchclub, Bumble Bizz, and Meetup:
All three platforms are catering to a large population of consumers by providing opportunities for professional networking based on industry, interests, and location. However, they lack a localized feature for users to connect with their current professional social circles. This presents a market gap for a middle-sized platform specifically tailored for colleagues to bond within the same company. This platform could be integrated with the communication software used by companies to offer more seamless experience in the future.
Understanding the Gap from User Side
Hypotheses
I started the user research with the following hypotheses:
1.
Bonding with colleagues results in better satisfaction at work
2.
Smaller groups foster relationships easier than large groups
3.
Remote or hybrid work schedule is not enough to keep employees engaged
4.
Companies care about employee well being and will pay for this product
Getting Insights from Interviews
I interviewed five participants to learn about their professional social circles and their personal experience on building connections in a workplace.
The responses helped me validate most of the hypotheses and provided further insights:
Identifying the Target User
Visualizing the Ideal User Journeys
This storyboard illustrates the ideal path of how two coworkers in a large company can meet casually in person and get to know each other using the Circle app.
Ideation
Defining and Prioritizing Features
Based on the research, I started listing out the potential features:
Features to Be Prioritized
Features to Come Later
Mapping the Information Architecture and User Flows
Flow 1: Share/React to a Lunch Activity
Flow 2: Match With a Coworker to Have Lunch Together
Flow 3: Receive a Match Request From a Coworker
Explore How Matching Works
Iteration
Getting User Feedback
5 participants interacted with the initial Figma prototype to test 3 flows:
Initiate a match request and receive the approval
Receive and approve a match request
Give feedback for the match
Users are not satisfied with the need to approve the match
“I don’t want to know who refused to connect with me.”
“I feel it should only show me the match when it’s mutual.”
Users feel awkward to review and rate the match
“The questions make me feel weird and I don’t know what they are used for."
“I don’t think that data is necessary for the user because I would only use the match to meet with that person once.”
Improving the Design
Based on feedback from usability testing, I iterated the design with key changes on how users match with each other. The new design automatically matches users without the need for approval, giving users the freedom to pause for the current time period or access their match history to contact previous matches depending on their own schedule.
Revision 1: change the matching method to mutually automatic match without approval
Revision 2: users can choose to pause match for the current week if they are busy
Revision 3: user may get new matches periodically depending on their setting of match frequency
Revision 4: removing the review and rating section for match and meeting
Revision 5: add match history so users can view past matches or choose to contact later
Revision 6: users can set their match frequency or turn off the match feature
Reflections
Given the 4-week time frame, I chose to focus on refining and iterating the key user flow - matching, which turned out to be more complex than I had initially imagined. The feedback I received from usability testing proved very helpful and encouraged me to explore further different ways people connect at workplaces. If provided with additional time and resources, I would conduct more comprehensive user research involving individuals of different seniorities working in corporate offices. I would also like to interview people in management at large companies to validate my assumption that businesses are willing to support the product idea.
