Panda Plans: Simplifying Group Meetups
PRODUCT DESIGN | PERSONAL PROJECT
Planning never felt so easy!
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CONTEXT
Making plans with friends, colleagues, or clients is often more difficult than it should be. The endless back-and-forth about location and timing leads to delays, compromises, or even cancellations. In a fast-paced world, people need a more efficient way to coordinate plans that consider convenience, time, and preferences.
TIMELINE
Feb 2024 — April 2024
ROLE
Design and Research
PROCESSES
Interviews, Surveys, User Journey,
Sketches, Wireframes, UI design
PROBLEM DEFINITION
While planning to meet, getting everyone on the same page is tough
All too often, there’s a lot of back and forth to decide the time and location of the meet. Making sure it is convenient for everyone is too hard. It leads to compromise or having to cancel the plan.
How might we help people plan a meet faster while ensuring it is convenient and fun for everyone?
INITIAL HYPOTHESIS
Meeting spots equidistant to everyone = More satisfaction and faster agreement
People who live in different parts of the city often think about commute time. I hypothesized that if people could meet half way, they would lose less time and money hence agree on a plan more easily.
Let’s see if my research can validate this!
TARGET AUDIENCE
Students
Working Professionals
between 20-40 years who go out to meet friends, family or colleagues.
SURVEYS AND INTERVIEWS
I rolled out a survey that was filled by 24 participants across multiple age groups.
The survey’s main focus was to:
1. People's decision-making patterns when choosing a location to meet others
The key factors influencing their choices
The challenges they face in the process.
I then conducted 5 semi-structured interviews with people who indicated interest in the survey form. My key goal was to identify the main steps one follows when making a plan
“While commute time is a consideration, we also like to try new activities, even if they mean extra travel!”
“None of us have the time to research and it is almost impossible to get everyone to agree on a thing”
“I wish I had a genie that would pick for us and we’d just show up, no planning hassle”
KEY FINDINGS
Only 20%
of participants considered commute time as a primary deciding factor.
58%
of participants’ problem was getting everyone to agree on a location and time
80%
of participants choose
places based on social media reviews, despite distance.
Typical steps to plan a meetup
Since most of them were more interested in the activity and people they’re meeting, here is the sequence they followed
Message people
Decide time
Research for places
Vote
(on chat)
Look at more options
Confirm
REVISED PROBLEM STATEMENT
How might we help people plan a meet faster while ensuring it is convenient and fun for everyone?
I revised my hypothesis after realizing that the whole process of planning a meet needed to be simplified. Helping people find
places midway would solve a very small fragment of the problem.
Factors people consider
Distance
Novelty of activity/place
Social media reviews
Reservations
Safety
Parking
Price
Time of day
USER JOURNEY
EXPLORING
I started off sketching some key concepts for the app.
UI: ITERATION 1
The first set of screens I designed lacked personality and had inconsistencies.
The name itself, MeetApp was a problem. The design suffers from a lack of personality due to its generic layout and absence of branding, resulting in an underwhelming user experience. Since I also didn’t work on a component library, there were a ton of inconsistencies in font sizes, shadows, border radii.
REDESIGN (and RENAMING)!
Introducing Panda Plans, a thoughtfully designed meeting planner that brings personality & cohesion to the user experience.
After going back to the drawing board, I decided to rename the app and add a mascot to bring in a touch of personality. I also reworked the colors and overall component library for a more consistent set of screens.
WHY A PANDA?
Pandas embody the perfect balance of laziness and efficiency—just like this app.
They take life easy, conserve their energy, and focus only on what truly matters (mostly eating and napping). Panda Plans is built for people who want to plan effortlessly so they can spend less time stressing over schedules and more time enjoying their day.
FINAL UI SCREENS
Splash Screens and Home
Flow to Make a Plan
This casestudy is best viewed on desktop
This casestudy is best viewed on desktop