To understand why young adults face heightened stress and loneliness, I conducted both primary and secondary research, setting aside my assumptions for an unbiased approach. This research phase was crucial to grasp the depth of the issue before moving to ideation and design.

• Secondary Research (e.g., Pew Research) confirmed that psychological stress among young adults has risen, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting their communication abilities.
• Beyond the pandemic, findings indicated that many young adults struggle with forming relationships and managing elevated stress levels.

Importance of Both Research Types:

• Secondary research provided a broad understanding and validated the extent of the problem, supporting my hypothesis that stressors extend beyond the pandemic.
• Primary research will be essential for uncovering personal stories and specific pain points, shaping user-focused design decisions.

This comprehensive approach ensures the final solution effectively addresses core challenges faced by young adults. Below are some statistical insights from my secondary research based on a Pew Research study

To validate my secondary research and gain firsthand insights, I designed a user survey aimed at understanding real-life experiences of stress. The survey was crucial in collecting data that reflects the needs and challenges faced by young adults. This approach supported my primary research by:

• Confirming key points from secondary research with direct user feedback.
• Identifying real user pain points, motivations, and behavior patterns.
• Informing design decisions to align with actual user experiences.

The survey garnered 16 responses, which highlighted essential findings that guided the design process.

To deepen my understanding of the issues surrounding loneliness and stress among young adults, I conducted user interviews with three participants aged 18-29 who were recent graduates or had recently left college. These interviews aimed to gain direct insights into their emotions and daily challenges to inform potential solutions.

Key questions asked during the interviews included:

• Post-graduation anxiety: Do you feel better or more anxious now that you've left college/finished your degree?
• Student loan impact: Do you have student loan debt, and if so, does it feel overwhelming?
• Social life changes: Has your social life or energy for socializing changed?
• Expanding friendships: Do you find it difficult to expand friendships? If so, how?
• Life changes: What aspects of your life, personally or physically, have changed since graduating?
• Support group utility: Do you find online support groups or communities helpful? Why?

These interviews were essential for understanding user perspectives and shaping solutions that resonate with real needs.

To better understand the challenges faced by young adults, I created a persona named Camile. This persona synthesizes insights from both my primary research, including interviews, and secondary research from the Pew Research study. Camile represents a recent graduate adjusting to life outside of school and home, encapsulating the needs and motivations of young adults in similar situations.

The purpose of creating this persona is to:

• Empathize: Understand the emotional landscape of young adults navigating major life transitions.
• Inform Design: Guide design decisions by keeping user needs at the forefront.
• Validate Solutions: Ensure that proposed solutions resonate with real-world challenges faced by users.

By grounding my design process in research-backed insights through this persona, I can create more relevant and effective solutions for young adults.

To enhance my understanding of user needs, I developed an empathy map. This tool visually captures user attitudes and behaviors, serving as a vital reference throughout the design process. Its purpose is to ensure that our solutions are rooted in user insights, minimizing biases that could skew our understanding.

Key reasons for the empathy map's creation include:

• User-Centric Focus: It maintains a user-first approach, guiding design decisions based on real experiences.
• Clarification: It summarizes user insights, clarifying needs, pain points, and motivations for the team.
• Bias Reduction: The map prevents unfounded assumptions, ensuring solutions are based on actual data.

Ultimately, the empathy map is essential for creating effective, user-centered solutions that address real user challenges.

After completing the research phase, which combined both primary and secondary insights, I identified a strong desire among users to connect with individuals who share their backgrounds and interests. This understanding led me to initiate the ideation phase, crucial for developing a viable solution.

During this phase, I employed techniques such as laddering, preliminary sketching, and user flows. These methods helped clarify user needs and structure the design process effectively, ensuring that the final solution directly addresses user motivations for connection.

To understand young adults and their need for connection, I explored ideas to bring people together based on shared backgrounds and interests. During user interviews, many participants expressed that online communities would be incredibly helpful in combating feelings of loneliness and stress.

Concepts Developed:

Directory App:

• Connects young people with mental health specialists for essential support.
• Provides a platform to alleviate stress beyond just online communities.

Cultural App:

• Allows users to join groups based on cultural backgrounds.
• Facilitates networking and relationship-building with others who share similar experiences.

These concepts directly address the needs identified in my research, ensuring users have opportunities to form meaningful connections.

Based on my user interviews, I saw the need for a dedicated cultural app to address key pain points identified by my persona. Participants highlighted that online communities are valuable for alleviating loneliness and building connections. This insight solidified my decision to create a solution that would allow users to form and join groups centered around shared cultural identities, common interests, and support networks.

By expanding the concept to include more diverse group options, the app directly aligns with user feedback emphasizing the importance of online group interactions. This approach makes the cultural app the most effective solution for fostering meaningful connections and supporting young adults as they navigate life challenges.

With a clear understanding of how community can aid young adults in managing emotional stress, I visualized actions for my persona, Camile, as she navigates early adulthood.

I developed an online group community app that allows users to:

• Form groups
• Interact with existing ones
• Organize events

Recognizing the need for broader connections, I expanded my cultural group idea to include ways for users to connect beyond just culture, which I believe will be beneficial as well. Drawing on insights from my research and ideation phases, I crafted user flows that illustrate how Camile and others can engage with these key features, ultimately fostering meaningful connections and reducing feelings of loneliness.

Now that I have a strong foundation in understanding the user, the key features, and how users will interact with the app, I began constructing low-fidelity wireframes to establish the app's basic structure. I utilized insights from my user flows and sketches to guide this process and ensure the wireframes aligned with user needs and expectations.

After defining the key screens and features of Gatherly, I focused on branding and building UI components that align with the app's vision of fostering meaningful connections.

I selected blue as the primary color for its association with trust, calmness, and connection, promoting a sense of belonging and reducing feelings of stress among users.

For the secondary color, I chose purple, symbolizing introspection and independence, to encourage users to engage with the app in a way that supports emotional growth and community interaction.

These color choices are designed to create a welcoming and supportive user experience that encourages connection and alleviates feelings of isolation.

I opted for Poppins as the typography for Gatherly due to its modern, geometric sans-serif design that enhances legibility and approachability. This font choice supports a professional yet friendly feel, reinforcing the app’s purpose of fostering community and comfort.

Informed by both the research and ideation phases, I laid the groundwork for the final high-fidelity screens. These foundational steps shaped my UI components and style guide, ensuring that each design decision aligned with user needs and insights gathered.

The final screens include key features such as:

• The ability to create and join groups, facilitating shared connections based on interests and backgrounds.
• Event creation and participation, which promotes active community involvement.
• In-app chat functionality, supporting direct communication among users.

These features were developed to address the emotional stress highlighted in my research, providing a supportive environment for young adults navigating early adulthood and fostering a sense of community and belonging.

After the research, ideation, and design phases, I created a prototype highlighting essential user actions, such as:

• Creating groups
• Organizing events
• Exploring communities

I conducted usability tests with 10 diverse users after completing my first iteration of high-fidelity screens to enhance their functionality. These tests focused on key flows, including creating and joining groups, organizing events, and communicating with other members. This feedback was essential in refining the initial design.

These tests helped identify areas for improvement. I made the following changes:

• Refined the navigation bar to make elements clearer.
• Redesigned specific pages for better clarity.
• Adjusted UI elements to ensure they were more visible and didn't block content.

These changes enhanced the usability and functionality of the app, ensuring that users could navigate and interact seamlessly.