00

Bridge is an app that reconnects families

through daily small & simple interactions.

Timeline

2 Months (Feb - Mar 2024)

My Role

Web App & Website UX/UI Design

Design & Visual Systems

Branding

Visual Design

Infographic Design

For

SVA Spring 2024 Design Portfolio Class

With

Individual Project

Tools

Figma

After Effects

Illustrator

Photoshop

Procreate

overview

Bridge

Bridge is an app designed for families who often feel disconnected or estranged, aiming to help them rebuild their relationships through small daily interactions.

My role

UX + UI + Visual designer

As I designed the app individually, I focused on creating an easy and simple UX flow for completing daily quests, tailored specifically for a family relationship app. I developed friendly and aesthetic interface screens and assets for mobile. To reflect the app's personality and enhance its appeal, I crafted the visual branding, including the color palette, type system, illustrations, and motion graphics.

project background

70 million people, which is 27% of the Americans, are currently in family estrangement

Estrangement occurs when family members grow apart and lose touch with one another. 70 million, which is 27% of Americans, are currently in an estrangement. Furthermore, at least 80% of people have felt disconnected from their family in their daily lives.

What leads to family estrangement?

THe challenge

How might we help estranged or disconnected families build positive interactions through simple and consistent actions so that they can slowly rekindle their relationships over time?

Problem statment

01

Key features.

Feature 1

Tailored family experience

Every family has unique relationships. Bridge understands these differences and customizes improvement areas and effort levels. Users share their current family dynamics and desired improvements through a short questionnaire.

Feature 2

Start rebuilding relationships with small interactions

Relationships begin with a warm, simple greeting. For families where even common greetings feel awkward, this can be the foundation for improvement. Amid busy daily life, these small gestures help strengthen family bonds effortlessly.

Feature 3

Regular and progressive daily quests

As users progress, they begin sharing more complex quests involving emotions and daily experiences. For those feeling uncomfortable due to distant relationships, Bridge offers a casual, light-hearted approach to help families connect more deeply and easily.

Feature 4

Bridge chapter wrapped

At the end of each chapter, users see a summary that quantifies their efforts and growth in family relationships. This measurable feedback helps them feel proud, strengthens family bonds, and encourages them for the next stage.

02

Research.

secondary research

Understanding the various negative interactions that cause family disconnection

Before conducting user research, I performed secondary research to understand the various causes of family disconnection. These factors range from severe cases requiring expert intervention to minor disputes that can be resolved with personal effort and time.

user survey

What common pain points do users face in family relationships?

The survey received 50 responses to gather quantitative data to know the common factors of family disconnection from participants in the US, UK and South Korea, aged between 18 and 54 years. As shown in the survey, over 80% of people hoped to bond the family relationship but usually failed to encounter. This result serves as a great guidance for me later on on designing daily quest feature.

Problem context

Main pain points.

01

Physical Distance or busy schedule Hinder Quality Time

Long distances and busy schedules complicate the ability to regularly schedule quality time together.

02

Misunderstood Burden
of Communication

Misconceptions that communication must always be deep and serious make users fearful and burdened.

03

Uncertainty on How to Improve Family Relationships

The user's struggle with not knowing the steps to take to reconnect or strengthen ties with family members.

03

Ideation.

persona

introduce Kim

Based on my research, I developed persona that highlight the key pain points faced by Bridge users, ensuring a user-centered design that directly addresses their needs and challenges.

User Research Analysis

User journey map

Understanding the importance of consistent and progressive engagement in relationship building, I meticulously mapped the user journey from the initial app usage through the subsequent stages. This journey map evolved through multiple iterations, with significant changes particularly in the consistency-building phase.

User flow

Simple user flow, yet having gradual effect

Given the key importance of making everyday quests easy and simple to accomplish while still aiding in relationship recovery, I focused on designing a straightforward user flow. I encouraged users to engage in quests regularly, even amidst their busy daily lives.

ideation

Sketches

While working on the sketches, I faced the challenge of ensuring that daily quests didn't feel like obligations, but rather encouraged users to participate regularly. Additionally, when family members posted responses to the quests, it was important to avoid the appearance of a typical social network platform.

Storyboard

Turn the opportunities into our ideas

This story shows Kim, who was our persona, tackling with her family relationship and start to restructure the relationship and as consistently make an effort, 결과를 얻다

After I synthesized the generative research results and identified the breakdowns and opportunities, I did several rounds of ideation and pitching, and then narrowed down the ideas to nine product concepts.

design process

Mid-fi wireflow

04

Iterations.

How did we identify actionable user pain points from our research insights?

Iteration

Prototyping and Testing, over and over again

Upon completing the initial app design, I conducted user testing with four participants. They performed daily quests while I observed and later conducted unstructured interviews to gather their impressions and feedback. Common areas for improvement emerged from this testing, which guided the iterations leading to the final design. Below are photos from the user testing sessions with a male (21) and a female (29) participant.


After the spring meeting with our client, we have been prototyping and testing. We usually have several testing sessions each week and then iterate based on feedbacks we gathered from our potential users.

Iteration 1

Visualize the interaction among family members by the character growing up dramatically

Given that this is a family app, I aimed to create a friendly atmosphere with hand-drawn lines and endearing characters. However, feedback indicated that the characters seemed too childish and the hand-drawn lines reduced the app's perceived quality. Initially, the characters exhibited minimal growth, such as changing clothes and going to school, which did not effectively encourage users. Based on feedback, I redesigned the characters to grow more intuitively, starting from an egg to signify clear progression.

iteration 2

User friendly and engaged feeling visual identity

Originally, I designed the app with a clean, modern look to focus on the quests. However, feedback suggested that this style lacked the warmth and familial feel, resembling a sleek sports app instead. To convey family love, warmth, and bonding, I introduced background illustrations reminiscent of home interiors, adopted a soft purple brand color, and incorporated rounded elements throughout the design.

iteration 3

User flow transition from penalties to positive reinforcement

One of the most challenging iterations involved the user flow. Initially, I designed a flow where characters would get sick if users neglected the app, requiring more difficult quests like writing letters or attending musicals to restore health. This was intended to emphasize the importance of regular communication. However, users found this approach discouraging and harsh, leading them to abandon the app. Consequently, I redesigned the flow to focus on positive reinforcement, encouraging users through a sense of achievement for completing quests.

solution

Consistent and well refined design system

I wanted to infuse every design element of the app with a sense of family warmth. From characters to illustrations, I drew everything using Procreate and Illustrator, and added simple, cute animations with After Effects.