Crossed App Internship
Context: In 2022, I worked as an intern for the Crossed app. Crossed is a mobile app that allows users to find potential social connections and business opportunities in their immediate social network. When two users cross paths, they have the option to match with each other and move forward with the connection.
Problem: People may become interested in others as they engage with them in their immediate area, but are frustrated when they cannot have an easier way to get to know the person and social scene of their area. Our goal was to give people a convenient path to socially connecting and networking in a way that will not make them feel overwhelmed, in addition to providing a unique experience that sets Crossed apart from other social apps.
Timeline:
10 months
Tools:
Figma, Adobe Illustrator
My Role:
UX/UI Designer
The Process
Research —> Ideation —> design —> prototype
Research
We started with competitor analysis to gauge how users typically connect socially, and also how they tend to network. I compared some notable platforms that seemed to have a similar goal to what Crossed was trying to accomplish, such as Tinder, Bumble, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
Competitor Analysis Insights:
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Swiping up and down is becoming the standard action for advancing through information
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People use apps for all kinds of social connecting, not just romantic dating
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Premium features successfully achieve business goals
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Insights that one can gain from social apps could also work in a networking context
Ideation
After research was conducted and key insights were gained, my next task was to ideate. I needed to create a user flow that captured the problem space in a way that made sense.
Design
The most important insight was the marriage between a networking, dating, and friend-making environment. Next was to ensure the design plays a critical role in how users receive the information.
Feedback Analysis
Potential users were shown early prototypes to evaluate their understanding of the usability of the app. The early designs of the navigation menu were found to be unintuitive, and therefore, it was redesigned into a more familiar horizontal navigation interface.
Swipe up and down
Although popular, apps like Tinder and Bumble get a bad reputation among users. With users comfortable with popular apps such as TikTok, swiping up and down provides a fresh yet familiar way to advance through the profiles on the home page. The left and right swiping feature is reserved for scrolling through the profile’s uploaded image gallery.
Crossed Modes and Preferences
Users have the option of switching between dating, friendship, and business modes depending on their wants and needs. In business mode, the user will have the opportunity to select an industry and get connected with people who share the same interest. The colored ring around the user’s profile picture will indicate which mode they are currently using.
Networking
With premium, users are able to provide and view a work phone number and email address as a point of contact. Without premium, this information is hidden by default.
Premium DM feature
When a user buys Crossed premium, they have the option of sending a friendly message to somebody they have crossed paths with without having to match with them first. Additionally, when the recipient gets the message, they will have the option of matching with the person or indicating that they are not interested.
Prototype Video
