CONNECTUS!
Case Overview
Project brief
Find a challenge in Madrid, meaningful to us as a team, which impacts other people / community.
About the Chosen Problem
Around 21.9% of Spanish population is feeling lonely (Statista).
Graph source: Junquera, N. et al (2023, March 19). El nuevo perfil de la soledad: joven y precario. El País.
Target Audience
Population of Madrid
6,783,241
Young People
1,233,990
Young Expats
197,438
Expats afflicted by loneliness
167,822
As the graph from EL PAÍS shows, the younger the age, the higher the percentage of loneliness in a population, while our research showed 85% of expats are affected by loneliness.
Chosen target audience:
18-35 y.o. expats living in Madrid for at least a year
Goal
To identify causes and effects of loneliness in Madrid, ideate, design and test possible solutions with the needs and wishes of the target users in mind.
Problem Statement
85% of expats in Madrid (18-35 y.o.) face significant loneliness due to a lack of support networks, cultural barriers, and unfamiliar environments. This loneliness can cause mental health issues like depression and anxiety, as well as physical health problems. Current initiatives focus on the elderly, leaving a gap in addressing the loneliness of young expats.
Value Proposition
We are CONNECTUS! a community that empowers foreigners feeling lonely by giving them access to psychotherapy, events, activities and opportunities to connect with like-minded people, as well as raising awareness about loneliness.
Methods Used
- • desk research
- • quantitative survey
- • in-depth interviews
- • high fidelity prototype
- • user testing
My Role
- • desk research
- • conducting in-depth interviews with target audience
- • prototyping a solution (app).
- •see the deployed version below.
Project Duration
3 months
Discovering phase
Research - 3 Perspectives of The Problem
Young Expats
- • 16 in depth interviews
- • 50 surveys answered
Psychologists & Experts
- • 3 in depth interviews
NGOs
- • 3 in depth interviews
Young expats explained loneliness as
Experts explained 3 main triggers of loneliness
Lack of support network
Lack of safe environment
Cultural shock
Ideation phase
Solution Features Ideation
Initial Ideation
Final Idea
Connecting People
"I miss having a social life and going out with true friends."
"Having a group that people do not identify with generates more loneliness."
Recommending Events
"When I am busy, involved with hobbies, work or activities, I feel less lonely."
"Maintaining a good mood (moving, exercising and seeing people) helps combat loneliness."
Mental Health Support
"I don't know how to handle my feelings on my own."
"Loneliness is usually associated with other mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety."
Connect with people & activities
Connect with psychologists
Developing phase
Prototyping & Testing
Registration process
High fidelity prototypes v.1
User testing key takeaways
The app was tested on 20 expats living in Madrid from 6 months to a year.
Key feedback
What worked well?
“I like that registration process is simple and familiar - I can do it with two clicks, using my gmail account.”
“I like the personalisation part of the app, where the app takes into consideration my interests and personality in order to match me with the best possible matches, events and professionals suited for me, and not just giving me a list of all that exists.”
Even better if…
“It would be much easier if the questions in the questionnaire weren't all on the same screen so that I don't need to scroll so much, I would love to know how many more I have till the end of the questionnaire.”
App
High fidelity prototypes v.1
User testing key takeaways
The app was tested on 20 expats living in Madrid from 6 months to a year.
Key feedback
What worked well?
“I love that the app is really easy to use, and I can connect with verified professionals who can help me overcome big change such as moving to a new country.”
“Very helpful because when you are alone in a new country, it's usually difficult to meet people with the similar interests as me and this app makes it much easier.”
Even better if…
“I would feel safer if I knew that people on this platform are verified. The fact that people on similar apps can pretend they are someone else scares me.”
“It would be awesome if I could also filter people by country they are from. I sometimes miss my own people.”
Final Layout of The App - changes after testing
Registration process
1. Reducing cognitive overload
- putting each question to a separate screen allowing users to focus on a single task at the time and solving a problem of being overwhelmed by long list of questions
- minimising decision fatigue and increasing the likelihood for a user finishing the questioner
3. Improving readability and accessibility
- putting each question to a separate screen allows the text to be in larger font, more readable, and easier to interact with, benefiting users with visual impairment or learning disability
2. Clearer progress feedback
- adding a questionnaire progress bar allowing users to know how many questions they have left till the end, giving them the sense of orientation and control
- if the user has a sense of control and orientation the motivation to complete the task is higher
4. Increased responses accuracy
- focusing on one question at the time, allows more careful consideration of the answer and provides better quality of customer data and finally a better service for the customer
App features
1. Adding national community groups feature
- creating groups based on nationality and cultural background allows users to quickly find people who share similar traditions and reduces feelings of cultural isolation providing emotional comfort while adopting to a life in a new country
2. Adding verification feature
- adding obligatory verification badge confirms the authenticity of each user and increase trustworthiness of the users and the app itself
- it reduces the risk of fake profiles and increases the users' retention to the app
Solution - CONNECTUS! App
Final solution conclusions
“Very helpful because when you are alone in a new country, it's difficult to meet people with the same interests as me.”
“100% I will recommend it. So, people can support each other.”