DAY & NIGHT
Students living in Philadelphia, as well as people who have moved recently to the city, find it difficult to discover interesting activities to do and places to visit. They find it difficult to access recommendations for new attractions within their current social circles, since most of their friends go to the same places / do the same things in their free time.
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PROBLEM
Students living in Philadelphia, as well as people who have moved recently to the city, find it difficult to discover interesting activities to do and places to visit. They find it difficult to access recommendations for new attractions within their current social circles, since most of their friends go to the same places / do the same things in their free time.
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USER INTERVIEWS
37
SURVEY RESPONSES
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RESEARCH
I conducted 4 user interviews with students and recent graduates in Philly, following the discussion guide below:
How do you usually spend your free time?
Do you feel that you are running out of things to do / places to visit in Philadelphia?
How do you discover new places to visit / interesting activities to do in Philadelphia?
[If methods are through an app/website] could you walk me through how you search for new attractions?
Is there anything about these current methods of discovery that you consider is inconvenient / lacking?
If there is a new platform where you can share reviews on interesting attractions, would you be interested?
USER 01
Penn Alum
2+ Years of Work
5+ Years in
Philadelphia
(Current Resident)
USER 02
Recent Graduate
(from West Coast)
Just moved to Philadelphia
<1 Years in Philadelphia
USER 03
Junior at Penn
2+ Years in Philadelphia
Avid foodie; runs an Instagram review account
USER 04
Freshman at Penn
<1 Years in
Philadelphia
I launched a survey using Google Forms that collected 23 responses. The questions asked were:
How many years have you been living in Philadelphia?
How do you usually spend your free time?
Do you feel like there are a lot of interesting activities to do / places to visit in Philadelphia?
How do you find new attractions in Philadelphia?
Which of the methods you mentioned previously have you found to be the most helpful? Why?
What do you think is missing from the aforementioned methods?
HOW DO USERS USUALLY SPEND THEIR FREE TIME?
ATTRACTIONS IN PHILADELPHIA
USer journey
How do users find new attractions in philly?
TAKEaways
Based on my research and synthesis, it was clear that students and those who were new to Philadelphia were having trouble finding attractions in Philadelphia, with many believing that said attractions were very limited. Moreover, there were 3 main issues with the current methods users utilized to find new attractions:
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GOING OUT WITH FRIENDS
Visiting clubs and bars, usually as regulars of particular establishments (e.g., Smokey Joe’s, Tango, etc)
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SYNTHESIS & TAKEAWAYS
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RESTAURANTS/CAFES
Going to eat at a nice restaurant with friends or a significant other, or visiting a cafe
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STAYING IN
Resting up after a long week
47% of Respondents
believed that there weren’t a lot of interesting things to try in Philadelphia
recommendationS from friends
SOCIAL MEDIA (Instagram, tiktok)
Problem 01
Recommendations are limited within social circles, especially if the friends within the circle have similar preferences or lifestyles as the user
Problem 02
Moving from social media to Google Maps for details (location, time to destination, operating hours, etc) is a hassle and feels cumbersome
Problem 03
Looking for an account on social media that matches personal preferences is difficult and time-consuming
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TRAVELING
Usually someplace nearby, such as New York, Boston, or Washington DC
4 out of 4 interviewees
agreed that they were running out of new things to try in Philadelphia
Recommendations
from friends
SOcial media (Instagram, tiktok)
wireframes
EARLY ui designs
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day & night: Two themes
I introduced the Day and Night themes to my early UI designs. This was based on peer feedback that I received, which pointed out that one key distinction that was important to users was whether the attraction was for nighttime or daytime.
Instead of adding this distinction as a filter, I tried building the identity of the platform around having two themes: the Day Theme and the Night Theme.
Discover page
My wireframes focused on the Discover page of the platform, which would allow users to browse through different attractions. I explored two possible directions:
to present multiple attractions at once (left) and vertically scrolling down the page, similar to websites/apps like Airbnb, or
to present a single attraction at a time (right), and allowing users to swipe through each attraction, similar to websites/apps such as Tinder or Likewise.
MAP view and details
I also wireframed an alternative way to view attractions on a map; users would be able to alternate between one of the two viewing formats featured above and the map view.
I also created a wireframe for a “detail view” mode that would allow users to learn more about an attraction.
Attraction by attraction
Between the two display types that I explored with my wireframes, I decided to show one attraction at a time. Users would be able to swipe right if they found an attraction to be interesting, and left if they weren’t interested. They could also use the buttons at the bottom of the page to “save” the attraction to their profile or press “more” to view additional details.
detail view
While fleshing out the Detailed View, I focused on expanding on the information presented in the initial Discover page: some categories include a brief introduction of the attraction, its price, rating, and distance. Specifically, going into Detailed View, users can view additional photos, examine each individual rating, and view the location of the attraction on a map.
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Early designs
4 user tests
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Browse through attractions
on the main discover page
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look through details on an attraction
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WRITE A REVIEW
KEY insights from user testing
During the 4 user tests, i asked each user to perform 3 tasks with the prototype:
Browse through attractions on the main Discover page.
Look through Details on an attraction.
Write a review.
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DEfining
platform identity
I decided to build the app around delivering recommendations to users and giving them a concise and accurate picture of what an attraction was, rather than “being another Yelp.”
I focused on this purpose and stripped away non-central functions (such as the map view, or providing overly detailed reviews).
feedback 1
Only 1 user was able to figure out they needed to swipe through the attractions. The others were only able to swipe to the next attraction after I pointed it out to them.
feedback 2
Some users pointed out that they wanted to get more information on the attraction, particularly what the theme and atmosphere of the attraction was.
feedback 3
A user suggested that the distance (1.5 miles) be displayed as the time it takes to get from the user’s location to the attraction.
feedback 1
Users felt that there was too much information on the Details page compared to it’s size. In particular, users felt that the profile pictures of reviewers were difficult to press (pressing the picture would take them to the reviewer’s profile)
feedback 2
Some users pointed out that they wanted to get more information on the attraction, particularly what the theme and atmosphere of the attraction was.
feedback 1
Users struggled to find the “+ Add Review” button on the top right corner.
feedback 2
One user also pointed out that if they wanted to find detailed reviews, they would rather use apps like Yelp, rather than this platform.
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making an intuitive user experience
The designs had to be redesigned so that users could easily grasp key functions, such as swiping through different attractions or adding reviews.
I decided to separate the Review function to a separate page, while altering the presentation of each attraction so that it was more obvious that they were “swipable.”
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more efficient use of screen space
The current layout of the app was confusing and to a certain extent overwhelming for users (particularly for the Detailed View page). There was a need to rework how items on the screen were arranged.
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user testing insights
DAY & NIGHT
DISCOVER
I designed Day & Night, an app for both mobile and web that allows users to: 1) explore new attractions in Philadelphia and 2) share interesting places/activities that they find.The focus of this app was to create a fun, “light-and-breezy” experience for users to find things to do and explore in Philadelphia. This meant that features were simplified and mainly focused on the key decision factors that users considered when evaluating attractions, such as: activity type, atmosphere, price, ratings by other users, and distance.The Discover Page is the main function of Day & Night.
Users are able to browse through different attractions and express their interest/disinterest in them. Their input is factored by Day & Night’s algorithm to better understand user preferences.
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Start page
Day & Night has a Day Theme and a Night Theme. The two modes are central to the identity of the app, and users can alternate between them to find things to do during the day and the evening.
Upon opening the app, users can switch between the Day Theme and Night Theme through the toggle located on the top the screen. They can also choose tags that interest them to view a curation of relevant attractions. If they have no preference, they can click “Surprise Me” instead.
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ATTRACTION CARDS
Another centerpiece of the user experience for Day & Night is its cards. Each card contains an overview of the attraction.
On mobile, users can swipe through card, similar to dating apps like Tinder; users swipe right if they are interested. The likes and dislikes informs Day & Night’s algorithm and helps it curate a better recommendations for users.
For Desktop
The card metaphor was further extended onto the desktop version; users can view “a deck of cards” or alternatively view card-by-card. Rather than swiping left or right, there are like/dislike buttons.
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TAGs & filters
Users can use Tags to define the activity type and atmosphere that they are looking for, while Filters allow them to narrow down attractions in their desired price range, rating, and distance.
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VIEW DETAILS
OVERVIEW
Upon finding an attraction that piques their interest, users can click on View Details to get an overview on the attraction. This contains the average price that other users spent at the attraction, as well as the distance to the attraction (by driving, public transport, and walking). Users can also go directly to attraction’s website or view it on Google Maps.
Buttons placed on the bottom of the screen also allow users to 1) Like or Dislike the attraction, 2) share the attraction with their friends, and 3) bookmark the attraction to view later on their Profile page.
For Desktop
The initial Discover page for the desktop version of Day & Night also provides an overview of attraction card “decks” with trending tags.
REVIEWS
Users can also look at reviews left by other users in a separate tab through the view details page. On Day & Night website, the reviews accessed on the same page as the overview.
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solution
REVIEW
The review page allows users to leave reviews on attractions.
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REVIEW
Day & Night’s users can leave reviews to share their experiences and help other users find new attractions. Each review is extremely simple, asking only for 1) the price (how much each user spent at the attraction) and 2) a short review (no longer than 200 characters).