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Where My Party People App - Project

A social event discovery app that helps users decide where to go based on crowd size, vibe, and who’s already there.

ROLE

Product Researcher & Designer

TEAM

4 Designers

SKILLS

User Research

Creating Research Reports

Visual Design & UI Systems

TIMELINE

Jan. 2025 - Mar. 2025

OVERVIEW

Who is Where My Party People App

This app began as a final project in our Fundamentals of User Research course, where we were challenged to design a product our social circles would use in their daily lives. My team and I immediately gravitated toward something social—we knew we wanted to create an experience centered around connection. After days of brainstorming and iterating, we realized we all shared a love for going out and having fun. That insight led us to build a product tailored to the party scene—something that makes planning, connecting, and enjoying events easier and more fun.

ROLE

Product Researcher & Designer

TEAM

4 Designers

TIMELINE

Jan. 2025 - Mar. 2025

SKILLS

User Research

Creating Research Reports

Visual Design & UI Systems

THE PROBLEM

Scattered Plans, Missed Opportunities

College students often rely on a mix of group chats, social media, and word of mouth to find parties—which can be unreliable and chaotic. It’s hard to know where the best events are, who’s going, or what the vibe is like before showing up.

NOOK'S QUESTION

Students need a centralized, real-time platform that helps them discover parties, check the scene, and coordinate with friends—making going out easier, safer, and more fun.

NOOK'S QUESTION

Students need a centralized, real-time platform that helps them discover parties, check the scene, and coordinate with friends—making going out easier, safer, and more fun.

NOOK'S QUESTION

Students need a centralized, real-time platform that helps them discover parties, check the scene, and coordinate with friends—making going out easier, safer, and more fun.

NOOK'S QUESTION

Students need a centralized, real-time platform that helps them discover parties, check the scene, and coordinate with friends—making going out easier, safer, and more fun.

OUR SOLUTION

The Vision for Where My Party People App

We created Where My Party People At?, a mobile app that helps college students easily discover, evaluate, and coordinate social events. With real-time updates on party size, music, and live footage, users can decide where to go and who to go with—all in one place. Features like friend check-ins, live chats, and verified party listings make the social scene more accessible, safe, and fun.

USER INTERVIEWS

Getting the Party Started with Real Users

To better understand the event-going habits of our target audience, each of us interviewed five people from our social circles and 5 people from our class. These conversations gave us insights into how students discover, decide on, and coordinate events. We learned what excites them, what turns them off, and what they feel is missing from the current event apps they use.

CHECK OUT THEIR INSIGHTS

Hover over or click a character to read their insights!

CHECK OUT THEIR INSIGHTS

Hover over or click a character to read their insights!

CHECK OUT THEIR INSIGHTS

Hover over or click a character to read their insights!

CHECK OUT THEIR INSIGHTS

Hover over or click a character to read their insights!

ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

Digging into the Root Causes

We analyzed why users decide to attend or skip parties, focusing on their need to quickly assess if enough people and friends are there and if the vibe is “worth it.” After discussing with our professor, we realized this concept could scale beyond parties to broader event discovery.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

Who’s Already Partying?

We analyzed six apps commonly mentioned by users—like Partiful, Poppin, and Snap Maps. While these tools help discover events, they often fall short in showing real-time vibes or supporting group coordination. Our app fills these gaps by helping users find, evaluate, and enjoy parties with more confidence and connection.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Existing apps help users find events, but few support the real-time coordination and social insights college students actually need

USER PERSONAS

What Do Party Goers Need

We created a user persona to better understand our target audience’s needs, goals, and behaviors—guiding our design decisions to stay user-focused.

ITERATIONS

Refining the Vibe

With limited time, we prioritized sketching the two core screens: Home and Profile. We went straight into mid-fidelity designs, starting with a dark theme, but after user testing, we switched to light mode for better readability and a more inviting vibe.

USABILITY TESTING

Putting the Party to the Test

We reconnected with the original 5 people in our circles and expanded our reach by testing with 5 new classmates. This gave us fresh perspectives while validating ideas with familiar users. We also gathered feedback from others outside our immediate network to ensure our design resonated with a broader audience.

DARK VS. LIGHT MODE

Users found the dark mode hard to read, especially in daylight or on older screens.

SOLUTION

We switched to a clean light mode with higher contrast for better readability and a more inviting vibe.

IMPLEMENTING HEAT MAPS

Users liked the idea of a map but felt it didn’t give enough information about how active each event was.

SOLUTION

We introduced a heat map overlay to show how populated each event was in real time, helping users quickly spot the most happening spots.

SOLUTION

Introducing Where My Party People App

An event discovery app that helps college students decide where to go out by showing real-time crowd insights, popular events, and which friends are attending.

WHERE MY PARTY PEOPLE APP DEMO

This is where users discover events happening nearby—from music and sports to social gatherings and networking opportunities. It’s the go-to hub for exploring what’s poppin’ around you.

REFLECTION

What I Learned From Where My Party People At

  1. RESEARCH DRIVEN DECISION MAKING
  1. COLLABORATION IN A FAST TIMELINE
  1. DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL CONTEXT
  1. RESEARCH DRIVEN DECISION MAKING
  1. COLLABORATION IN A FAST TIMELINE
  1. DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL CONTEXT
  1. RESEARCH DRIVEN DECISION MAKING
  1. COLLABORATION IN A FAST TIMELINE
  1. DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL CONTEXT
  1. RESEARCH DRIVEN DECISION MAKING
  1. COLLABORATION IN A FAST TIMELINE
  1. DESIGNING FOR SOCIAL CONTEXT

This was my first time conducting in-depth user research and building a product from the ground up in just 10 weeks. Working with three other UX researchers in my course, I learned how to balance insights with quick iteration, stay user-focused, and adapt based on real feedback.

NEXT STEPS

Expanding Where My Party People App

Because of our short 10-week timeline, we weren’t able to fully flesh out many of the features we had envisioned—like a more detailed RSVP process and social integrations. Moving forward, our next step would be to refine and expand on these core features to improve the overall user experience and better support event decision-making.

THANK YOU

Thank You To My Amazing Team <3

I wanna give the biggest thanks you to my teammates (Tony, Ronald, and Emily). You guys are actually some of the funniest people I've ever met and Im so happy we all ended up sitting together during Murray's class! Thank you for making meetings something everyone genuinely looked forward to and the many inside jokes we created in such a short period of time. Also...AYE WE GOT AN A!!!