ReConnect Community Center

Improving community engagement by enabling residents to easily discover and book events through a mobile app.

Smartphones displaying a community event app with details about yoga classes in a park.

Roles

Timeline

UX Researcher

UX/UI Designer

8 weeks

April to June 2025

Product

Team

Mobile app

Solo project

Context

This project was completed as part of the UX/UI Design II course at ReDI School of Integration.

Problem

Community engagement is dropping in the events promoted by the ReConnect Community Center

The ReConnect Community Center acts as a vital hub for the local neighborhood by promoting events organized by nearby businesses. They noticed that engagement was dropping and feared the residents were becoming more isolated, and the community was losing its vibrancy. 

Events are being advertised only through different social media posts, and the process for searching, booking, and tracking events is very time-consuming and confusing for residents.

So, how to make it easier for residents to engage in events happening in their neighborhood?

Illustration of a woman with curly hair and a striped shirt, wearing a blazer, next to a quote box that reads: 'It takes me too much time to go through all this information and there's like no easy approach how to do it.' attributed to a 32-year-old mom of two.
Illustration of a woman with glasses and a bun holding a mug, with a quote about hearing about more events from a retirement grandmother, dated 70 years old.

Solution

A centralized digital event catalog is the way

Easily discover events to go to

• All types of events in one place, instead of checking multiple platforms

• Search and many filter options available to quickly find relevant events

• Personalized recommendations based on resident interests

• Save events for later viewing

Book in app and be reminded

• Detailed event page with all information, including accessibility feature

• Book events and manage tickets directly within the app

• Add participants to the booking to better manage children's events

• Share interesting events to invite and connect with friends and family

• Be reminded so that there are no more missed events

Adapt the app to your needs

• Manage your interests to receive tailored recommendations

• Save your dependents information to speed up the booking process

• Define your notifications options to always be on track

• Edit the language and theme to better match your needs

User interviews

Users have very different needs, yet share similar ones

To better understand the struggles users faced and what was important when deciding which event to attend, I conducted interviews with community residents. With the gathered data, I created personas and empathy maps. This way it was possible to identify many common needs, as well as some individual differences.

Venn diagram comparing features for a person looking for event information: on the left, features for her kids, including booking events, knowing which kid is booked, and planning time; on the right, features for accessibility concerns, such as forgetting events, accessibility info, password management, and time to plan; in the middle, shared features like finding nearby events, searching based on interests, tracking booked events, reminders, and sharing event info.

Challenge

How might we make it easier for residents - of all ages and with different needs - to engage in events happening in their neighborhood?

Illustration of a city skyline with tall buildings and street lamps, surrounded by trees with orange leaves.

Empathising with the user helped me to gain a clear picture of the situation. It was also important to consider the community center's goal as a non-profit organization and their desire for the neighborhood to thrive.

Combining these two aspects, I created problem statements and challenge maps, culminating in the main HMW question that guided our solution approach.

Competitive analysis

Competitors user flows have strong and weak points

I conducted a competitive analysis to gain a comprehensive understanding of three popular event apps in Munich: Meet Up, Muenchen App, and Rausgegangen. My goal was to explore their solutions and identify their common features and user flows. I discovered some were clear and straightforward, while others needed improvement.

These apps were not targeted at specific neighborhoods; instead, they featured events occurring throughout the city. To expand my analysis, I also looked into Nebenan and Nextdoor, apps focused on neighborhood engagement. However, I quickly realized that their emphasis was primarily on social interaction, including public forums, private messaging, and other features that did not align with the scope of our problem.

Comparison table of three event management apps showing user ratings on tasks like sign up, browse, search, see details, book, set reminders, and manage events, with each app's logo at the top.

Prototype and usability test

Good flow, but some minor improvements needed

After defining user flows and sketching paper wireframes, I created a mid-fidelity prototype of a mobile app that translated user needs into visual elements and workflows. The idea was to keep well-done elements and design patterns from competitors while enhancing others, tailoring them to our users' needs.

Using this prototype, I conducted moderated usability tests to pinpoint areas for improvement. I also received feedback from peers and teachers.

No major changes were identified; however, our testers highlighted several minor adjustments to enhance the final solution.

What worked well

Four people standing together, each with a speech bubble containing positive feedback about an app, including comments about its flow, navigation, overview, and event search features.

What to improve

Mid-fidelity

Final design

Mobile app screen showing a community event platform called ReConnect. Features include links to all events and categories, with some annotations about UI issues such as confusing links and cluttered time zone info. Event listings display date, time, type, location, and cost.
Mobile app interface of ReConnect Community Center showing upcoming events like yoga and gym, with options to search, filter, and view events, and tabs at the bottom for Home, My Events, Notifications, and Profile.
Smartphone screen displaying a booking form for an event. The form includes ticket options for adults and children/teenagers, participant information, and a review button.
Mobile phone screen displaying a booking form for a gym class named 'Gym for all,' scheduled for June 2, 2025, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Piusstraße. The form shows ticket options for adults and children, and a list of participants with checkboxes.
Mobile phone screen displaying a booking confirmation with a checkmark and message "Your booking is confirmed!". Details include event title, date, time, location, ticket count, and participant names. Buttons for adding to calendar and setting a reminder are at the bottom.
Smartphone screen displaying a confirmed booking for a yoga class in Munich on June 2, 2025, from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, with participant Kristina Müller and a QR code.
A smartphone screen displaying a reminder setup interface with options for selecting reminder time and notification method, an 'Add another reminder' option, and 'Cancel' and 'Save reminder' buttons at the bottom.
Smartphone screen displaying a reminder setup form for an event, including options to select notification preferences and time before the event.

The style guide

Branding and UI Components

A comprehensive infographic detailing a community center's digital interface design, including user interface elements for event management, notifications, filters, and scheduling, with visual representations of mobile app screens, buttons, notifications, and event cards.

The Final Prototype

Interact with the high fidelity prototype

Reflection

What I would do next

  1. Validate the final design with users and stakeholders. It would be necessary to conduct usability tests on the final prototype and also get the stakeholders to ensure the solution aligns with their business goals. Additionally, validating technical feasibility with developers before full implementation is advisable.

  2. Iterate further to polish the design and the app features. Improving accessibility appears to be crucial to ensure the solution works effectively for older community members and individuals with disabilities. Also, develop a management counterpart for local businesses, and the ReConnect team would be the natural way to expand this product.

  3. Measure actual impact when the app is in use. Developing, deploying, and measuring its usage would be important to evaluate the real impact on user engagement. Metrics such as the number of bookings, attendance, new participant retention, and user satisfaction would be some of the key ones to consider.

Lessons to take with me

  1. Good research is key to really understanding the user needs. It was crucial for me to conduct a good user interview and really understand the different needs and pain points of the users. That made some design decisions very clear and straightforward, because there was always a question on the background: “Does the user need/want/benefit from this feature?”.

  2. Asking for feedback helped me grow. In this project, I received valuable feedback from both teachers and peers. Their input helped me identify my mistakes, recognize areas for improvement, and determine what aspects could be disregarded. I felt much more confident in my own decisions, although I had to overcome many doubts along the way.

  3. Details are essential, but an end has to come. Deciding on colours, typography, and the overall look of the UI took me too long, because I was too picky about many details. There was no brand identity to follow, and we had complete freedom to create the UI. Ultimately, I realised that details are crucial to achieving a professional design, but we do not have unlimited time or resources to dig into it forever.