Findr
Timeline: Apr 2023 - Jun 2023
1. Introduction
Have you ever met someone who is queer? Or perhaps you identify as queer yourself? With 7.1% of Americans identifying as LGBTQ+ in 2022, it’s likely that you answered yes to one of these questions. Yet, despite this growing visibility, many queer individuals still struggle with a common and often overlooked challenge: loneliness. With such a large community, why is loneliness still such a pervasive issue for queer people?
The Queer Loneliness Epidemic
This loneliness stems from a variety of factors that affect the queer community, including:
- Fear of discrimination
- Strained relationships with family members
- Difficulty in finding people with shared experiences
- Lack of media representation
- Intersectional marginalization faced by queer POC and queer people with disabilities
These challenges create barriers to forming meaningful relationships, leaving many queer individuals feeling isolated, even within their own communities. As a result, the LGBTQ+ community disproportionately faces loneliness and mental health struggles. But why should we accept this as the norm?
Disproportionate Mental Health Issues
Helping Queer Folks Find Community
For my CMPM 131 (User Experience for Interactive Media) course, I had the opportunity to collaborate with a team of classmates to design a product that uplifts and empowers the LGBTQ+ community. As passionate members of this community, we developed Findr, an app designed to help LGBTQ+ individuals connect by discovering queer-friendly spaces and events. Our goal was to create a resource that fosters a sense of belonging and provides a safe environment for users to meet like-minded people.
2. Exploring the Depths of Queer Loneliness
To inform our design, we explored various media sources and conducted informal interviews with our queer peers to understand their struggles. From this, we identified some key insights:
Queer People Often Struggle with Building Meaningful Connections
"Many LGBTQ+ people who live outside of big cities are lonely because of the difficulty finding other LGBTQ+ people in their lives and locations. Within big cities, and other places where there are higher numbers of LGBTQ+ people, loneliness can still be an issue because the visible LGBTQ+ community revolves around specific kinds of socialising which don’t work for everyone, and aren’t always compatible with meeting like-minded people or forging deeper relationships."
And It is Especially Difficult for Queer People with Disabilities
"I looked up groups that welcomed lesbians but weren't based around the nightclubs and I found a hiking group and a wine tasting group. And that was it. Not hugely helpful when my legs don't go too far and my stomach riots at just the idea of alcohol!"
Organizing Our Findings with Personas
To organize our findings, we created personas to represent various queer identities, like the one shown below.
Shelby
Bio
Shelby is an introverted person who wants to build a circle of queer friends who understand and accept them. They live alone and don't know many queer folks in town.
Goals
- Meet queer folks with similar hobbies and interests
- Find queer spaces that suit their introvertedness
- Feel comfortable being their authentic self
Frustrations
- They have limited spending money
- They have trouble finding nearby queer events and spaces
- They suffer from social anxiety and have a hard time with connecting with people
3. Creating a Hub for Queer Spaces and Events
Queer spaces and events play a vital role in fostering community, connection, and support among LGBTQ+ individuals. These spaces often provide a sense of belonging, allowing people to express their identities freely and connect through shared experiences. However, many of these spaces and events are not well-known. And so, our team decided to create a mobile app to help the queer community come together and overcome feelings of isolation.
Designing a Prototype and Getting Feedback
First, we sketched low-fidelity wireframes and asked our queer peers for feedback. Based on those insights, we then developed a high-fidelity prototype of our app, with me taking the lead on the visual design efforts. Next, we gathered participants for usability testing, where we observed their interactions with Findr and asked about them their experience.
Events
- Filtering events: We implemented tags to help people search for specific types of events. This is especially beneficial for people with disabilities, as it enables them to search for events that fit their accessibility needs.
- Hosting events: If someone can't find an event that matches their interests, they can create and promote their own event on Findr. While we planned to design an in-app interface for event creation, time constraints limited our ability to implement this feature.
“Being able to open up an app and not have to think about what to do tonight is nice.”
“I would use [Findr] specifically to find queer events. There doesn't really seem like there's something out there that does that already."
Spaces
- Finding relevant spaces: People can search by category/tags, which are helpful for finding spaces that suit their interests and needs.
- Finding nearby spaces: We added a map marked with queer spaces so that people can visually see what places are close to them.
- Review system: We implemented a review system to help people learn about what to expect from different spaces. This feature is especially important because it provides insights into the experience of visiting as a queer person, along with valuable information about safety and accessibility.
"It's hard to find safe spaces in Tampa that aren't just gay bars, so I would use [Findr] for that."
4. What I Would Do If We Had More Time
Given the tight one-week timeline to design the prototype, there are several areas we would refine and improve if we had more time.
01
Add recommended spaces and events
During usability testing, one participant suggested having a list of recommended events and spaces tailored to their profile's interest tags. This feature would make it easier for them to find events and spaces that are relevant to their specific interests.
02
Create a method for listing events within the app
We intended to design the "create new event" feature so people could add events directly within the app. However, due to time constraints, we were unable to implement this and instead redirected people to email us with their event details.
03
Polish and iterate on the aesthetics
Compared to the login screen, the visuals on the other screens feel less modern, creating a slightly inconsistent aesthetic across the app. I would like to iterate on these screens to make them more visually appealing and cohesive.
5. Final Reflections
We believe that Findr could be an excellent tool to help queer people find LGBTQ+ events, discover queer-friendly spaces, and connect with other queer individuals.
Designing for Mobile
Designing for a mobile view was a new challenge for me, having only designed for desktop before. With the limited space in mobile apps, I learned that it is essential to strike a balance between functionality and simplicity.
Creating Inclusive Designs
By listening to queer people with disabilities, I recognize the critical need to center their perspectives in creating inclusive and accessible designs. Moving forward, I will focus on deepening my understanding of accessible design.