Singletons - Micro Community Platform

Singleton is an online social platform for busy young professionals living in the same residential areas.

While we are in the middle of the coronavirus crisis, it is quite an unusual time for everyone. We all figure out how our system is vulnerable. Over the last couple of decades, the world has faced various crises that have led to changes in society. We created sentiments against politicians, global warming, pollution, privacy, and even companies. We have new terminology, such as “social distancing”.

COVID-19 has made us stay at home for months and redefined our social code. Social relationships with our friends, families, and professional lives are being redefined. Roughly, our lifestyle is changing. This crisis may also represent new opportunities. The usage of technology and the redefinition of indoor and outdoor activities force us to think about new solutions.

Perhaps we can use our time with our devices to rethink the kinds of the community we can create through them. Prof. Sherry Turkle, MIT

The design process for Singleton was meticulously structured into three distinct phases. The initial phase, User Research, delved into understanding the unique socialization preferences and digital behaviors of the target demographic. Key findings revealed that Millennials, constant social media users, favor digital communication, while Gen Z, being digital natives, communicate through images and short texts but also value face-to-face interactions. This research culminated in the creation of three detailed user personas and a compelling storyboard, illustrating the real-world problem Singleton aimed to solve: the challenge of discovering local events, interest groups, and connecting with neighbors on existing, often cumbersome, platforms. The second phase, Ideation, involved extensive brainstorming to conceptualize the platform's core functionalities. Based on the established persona goals, a comprehensive user flow was developed, outlining key tasks such as account creation, searching for and joining interest groups, checking posts, and connecting with other members. This led to the creation of a detailed information architecture, mapping out the navigation, functions, and interrelations between various screens. The final phase, Prototyping, translated these ideas into tangible examples. Low-fidelity prototypes were first developed to define the layout and navigation, with a crucial focus on ensuring user residence verification through a secure proof-of-address system. This phase then progressed to the creation of high-fidelity prototypes for all essential screens, including the Landing Page, Home/News Feed, Calendar, Events, Groups, and User Profile pages, showcasing the platform's visual style and user interface.

The culmination of this project is a set of high-fidelity prototypes that visually represent the Singleton platform, providing a tangible solution for young professionals seeking to establish meaningful social connections within their immediate communities. The platform successfully addresses the documented challenges faced by the target demographic in fostering local community engagement, offering a dedicated space for them to find interest groups, meet new people, and engage in mutual support with their neighbors, thereby fulfilling the project's core objective of redefining local social interaction.

In September 2000, there was an article published in the Advertising Age about the new demographic portion of our society named Generation Z. Other proposed names for the generation were iGeneration, Gen Tech, Gen Wii, Homeland Generation, Net Gen, Digital Natives, Plurals, Post-Millennials, Generation Snowflake, Neo-Digital Natives, and Zoomers.

Generation X people were born between 1960 and 1980 amid global political conflict. They are the first digital immigrants who experienced the arrival of the internet. This is why they can adapt to change so easily.

Generation Y people were born between 1980 and 1995 and experienced the birth of globalisation. They are the first multi-screen users. Social media arrived with this generation, and they use social media at all times, especially Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. They are optimistic and narcissistic. The culture of the selfie was born with them. They are also called Millennials.

Generation Z people, born between 1996 and 2009, are known as digital natives. They communicate with images and short texts. This is why they love to use Snapchat and Instagram. They share non-stop and generate content. They are also committed to helping others, inclined to group activities and committed to the environment.

The generation born after 2010 is called Generation Alpha. Still, we have time to see their behavioural differences from other generations.

The target users of Singleton are Generation Y and Z. Therefore, for the User Research phase, I will focus on the socialisation preferences and parameters of these groups.

By 2019, the total number of Generation Y reached 17 million, and Generation Z reached 18.2 million people in the UK. With 40% of all consumers expected to be Gen Z by 2020.

Generation Y (Millennials) became the main user group for Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. One of the most defining habits of Millennials is constant connectivity. They share their feelings and thoughts on social media daily. Because of the daily use of various social media platforms and messaging applications, Millennials are characterised by shorter memory spans compared to previous generations. They developed an attitude of processing information in short pieces and struggled when faced with more complex ideas.

Generation Z (Post-Millennials) receives their first mobile phone at the age of 10. They are born into an age of rapid innovation, and the level of technology they are expected to use is higher than in previous generations. They spend at least 3 hours on their mobile devices.

Generation Y people were born during a period of economic growth, which makes them optimistic, trusting, and collaborative. But Generation Z people grew up during the economic recession, which makes them more pragmatic and more aware of global problems. Approximately 60% of Generation Z want to change the world, while 39% of Generation Y want this.

Under the pressure of an economic recession, Generation Z learns to manage their personal finances much more quickly than previous generations. They can create a more comprehensive financial approach to protect themselves and avoid debt.

Generation Y has become digital immigrants, while Generation Z is already digitally native. Post-Millennials, born and raised in a hyper-connected world, are generally independent, sceptical, and hold more realistic views than Millennials or previous generations.

For Post-millennials, technological products and services aren't particularly exciting. Most of them are continuously experiencing top-notch devices. While Millennials strongly prefer digital communication, Generation Z will choose face-to-face communication when possible.

According to the main characteristics and preferences of both Generation Y and Z, I created 3 user personas.

George works at an advertising agency as a media buyer. He has a busy, stressful work environment. George continuously follows the media, assesses the effectiveness of various platforms and channels, and then makes the important decisions about where their advertising campaigns will be released.

After a busy week, George prefers to plan his weekend by seeking new experiences in his local neighbourhood. He just wants to contribute by being an active member of his community. George is looking for local events, workshops, or opportunities to meet new people with the same interests, but Facebook and other social platforms require too much effort to find suitable alternatives. So this is cumbersome for him to find relevant information about his community and reach the people in the same residential area.

Singletons create an opportunity for George, who wants to establish social connections with others in the same neighbourhood. It also provides a solution for finding similar interest groups, meeting and helping his neighbours.

There are many social community platforms on the market. One of the biggest is Facebook. Other platforms are trying to specialise in different verticals.

By reviewing the functionalities of existing community platforms, I sought insight into Singleton’s core capabilities.

There are lots of functions we can specify for a community platform. I tried to collect all the different functions on a whiteboard. Then by regrouping those functions.

Before starting the User Flow, I am trying to see the core processes based on George's persona goals.

I created a basic user flow for George to complete the core tasks, such as creating an account, searching for interest groups, joining a selected group, and checking existing posts and members in the group. The final point is to connect with a group member by sending a message and receiving acceptance.

Based on the previous flow, I tried to look at the product holistically and increase the level of detail through navigation, functions, hierarchy, domains, and subdomains. Tried to see cross-relations between different screens.

Low-fidelity Prototypes

Information architecture gave me a chance to see the whole picture.
Based on this IA, I started thinking about the project's layout and navigation. We are making a location-based solution, and creating a user account requires address proof as an important step.

I decided to do a small amount of research on similar products where verifying the user’s residence is crucial. And end up with a possible solution.

How to get proof of address in the UK
If you want to open a bank account in the UK, you'll be asked to prove your identity. Often this means showing a valid…transferwise.com

Requesting two of these documents will solve the issue.

• Valid UK driving licence
• Recent utility bill (gas, electricity, water or landline phone)
• Council tax bill
• Recent credit card or bank statement
• Recent Building Society or Credit Union statement
• Tenancy agreement

High-fidelity Prototypes

When creating wireframes, I focused on the UI's visual style.