Context
Networking opportunities for women disappeared during the pandemic and still haven’t bounced back. Events that empower women to mentor, sponsor, and support each other are crucial––especially in traditionally male-dominated industries. Research shows that women are excluded from vital networks when compared to their male counterparts, but many are missing the resources needed to initiate networking events themselves. What if there was an app specifically designed to facilitate these connections? What would it look like to create a space dedicated to safety, inclusivity, and privacy for all users?
Networking opportunities for women disappeared during the pandemic and still haven’t bounced back. Events that empower women to mentor, sponsor, and support each other are crucial––especially in traditionally male-dominated industries. Research shows that women are excluded from vital networks when compared to their male counterparts, but many are missing the resources needed to initiate networking events themselves. What if there was an app specifically designed to facilitate these connections? What would it look like to create a space dedicated to safety, inclusivity, and privacy for all users?
Challenge
The goal of the project was to provide the means for users to create impactful networking opportunities, and ultimately foster professional growth and collaboration in a safe space. The app seeks to streamline the organization process, making it easier and more efficient for users to arrange and manage these events.
Design Decisions
A round of user testing revealed some updates needed to key flows to better reflect the app's primary function (planning events) and as it's commitment to building a safe and inclusive space.
As the key function of the app, the majority of time was invested in building an intuitive experience for creating a new event. Further user testing revealed some some confusion around the intended interaction with tags on the profile screen and event creation flow.
Final Screens
Retro
This project was a great lesson in staying focused on the core functionalities of a product and the user's needs. After conducting a round of testing on high-fidelity wireframes, I made significant changes to the home screen in response to comments about including more imagery and personalized content. The original design was overly mission-driven and generic, while the updated design includes a clear CTA for event planning and features location-based recommendations.
An exciting next step for Coven would be to build out the AI-powered event planning assistant, which would help with things like creating agendas, generating schedules, proofreading keynotes, and more!
Thank you!
