Flock Senior Degree Project
As a college graduate, many of my peers had entered the workforce in different locations across the country and were adapting to different schedules and life outside of college. I noticed that coordinating our schedules became difficult due to different time zones, schedules, and lack of streamlined planning. With my research, I wanted to explore why recent graduates have difficulties staying in touch and how to minimize the barriers that prevent this group from staying connected.
The Problem
Problem Statement
Recent college graduates cannot seem to stay in touch or plan reunions post grad as they relocate across the country.
Research Question
What do recent college graduates need to supplement long distance friendships in order to maintain engaging, long-term relationships between friends?
Process
Research Methods
My research methods included an 8 question survey with 6 short answers and 2 long answers. In addition to lead my research, I used articles and case studies to better understand my target demographic.
Findings
I found that the most meaningful interactions college graduates had with one another after graduation were experiences that mimicked ones similar to those had while they were in school with one another such as going out to eat, getting a coffee, and grabbing a drink. Respondents tended to miss the everyday experiences the most.
Barriers
I found the barriers that friends experience the most included
Schedule Coordination
Distance/Proximity
Lack of communication
Solution.
“This lead to my design solution of creating a service to streamline these methods while in a long distance setting by planning virtual hangouts with one another, along with a mailer box to facilitate their hangout. ”
The difference between this mailer and web service- called Flock, is that users enter their schedules so they have no conflicts with one another, and can plan activities for a hangout depending on the time of day.
This service links through the Zoom® app, but provides the customization through the Flock website to coordinate and streamline the scheduling process for busy, young professionals who are adjusting to entering the workforce.
The goal of Flock is to create the everyday experiences that friends don’t get when they do not get when they are long distance, such as grabbing a cup of coffee or grabbing a drink, while creating an interactive, fun experience for friends to catch up with one another within their busy lifestyles.
BRANDING & STYLEBOARD
To develop my logo, I explored gender-neutral feeling fonts that had a playful feel to establish an inclusive brand with bold, bright colors which would be eye catching and fun. Colorful illustrative elements highlight the three different types of boxes that users could select based on their schedules and availability, and highlight conversation cards users would use within their conversations with one another.
Schedule Coordination
To highlight the times of day- morning, midday, and nighttime, that users would select based on preference, I incorporated sky-like illustrative elements to highlight the different times of day.
Each box contains items to facilitate their virtual hangout- including icebreaker cards, beverage, item to drink the beverage out of and a reminder sheet with instructions on how to access the web component.
Lack of Communication
The goal of these cards are to help strike up conversations with friends, as per my research, many college graduates have not seen their friends since graduation. This way, important topics are covered and the conversations immediately surpass small talk into deeper topics and meaningful conversations.
Mimicking Everyday Experiences
During this step, the user answers questions about their beverage preferences to make sure the box is personalized to their tastes. In this instance, for a morning hangout, the quiz asks questions about the flavor they prefer, what appliances they use in their kitchens, etc.
These questions help create an experience for the user that they would have in person by sending a coffee they would enjoy and asking the user questions that they would remember to ask if they saw each other everyday.
Customization.
Through my research, I found that users valued the option of choice and customization when using a new service or product. Therefore, after your first initial purchase of Flock, users have the option to pick and choose which pieces of the service they would like to move forward with.
