Role: Creator and Designer for a social review app.
Team: Solo project with conversations and advice from friends in IOS dev
My friend, Bailey, made a habit of going to every coffee shop in Chicago and leaving a review on the coffee and the vibe in order to share with her coffee-loving friends who do the same. Local is for her.
Local is a map-based review app where friends and communities get to collaborate by building out reviews and content for restaurants and venues in their local area — filling in the map together. I interviewed friends and conducted research to design an MVP of a map and profile-based collaborative platform that makes sharing experiences and hidden gems easy and communal.
Most socially review apps are driven by a large community of strangers, but most people value recommendations from friends far and above strangers. The best way to get a good recommendation is by asking friends if they have tried any new restaurants. But gathering recommendations can be inefficient because it requires text or in-person meetings and people are limited to their close circle of friends who they feel comfortable asking.
Local makes sharing restaurants with friends direct and fun by allowing users to add reviews and collaborate to fill in the map of their local area’s food scene. The charm of Local is that it leverages private groups to create broader social networks so you can get to know your friend’s friend’s recommendations when you get added to a larger group.
I designed a modular platform based on location profiles pinned to a map experience. These location profiles can then be created collaboratively and maintained by the community with either personal or group profiles. Modules are designed to foster connectivity at every opportunity.