Social & Event Engagement App

Introduction

This school project was completed in a team of four and focused on identifying a market gap through research, then designing a product concept intended to address real user needs and market opportunities.

My Role

In my role as Product Manager, I oversaw task delegation and quality assurance, and contributed across UX/UI design and user research

Impact

The project was awarded an A grade upon completion.

MARKET GAP

The event discovery market is fragmented, with platforms like Ticketmaster and Eventbrite focused on transactional ticket sales for users who already know what they want.

So What?

This creates a gap for people who want to attend events, but either aren’t aware of what’s happening locally or don’t have anyone to go with. Without integrated discovery and social features, these users often miss out, leading to lower attendance, reduced engagement, and lost opportunities for event organisers.

Key Findings

A survey and interviews were conducted to understand how prevalent this problem is among Singaporeans and why it occurs, with a total of 102 participants from Singapore.

Interest Is High, but Social Barriers Limit Event Attendance

55.9% of participants find it very important to find people with shared interests
35.6% consider it somewhat important

Despite this, 82.8% sometimes or mostly struggle to find people to attend events with

Common reasons include schedule conflicts and differing interests

Awareness Gaps Lead to Missed Event Opportunities

100% of participants having missed an event at least once
Over 76% missing events are occasionally or frequently

This indicates a systemic issue with event awareness and discovery rather than individual behaviour.

Strong Interest in Social Events, with Diverse Preferences

Users are most drawn to social, immersive, and experience-driven events, but their interests are diverse

This suggests that event discovery platforms should not focus on a single category, but instead support broad discovery while allowing users to filter and personalise based on individual interests.

Target Audience

Based on primary and secondary research, the target audience consists of individuals with disposable income, available time and energy, and a strong interest in social connection: Young Adults between the ages of 25 and 35

Persona

Eric Koh, 25 years old

ABOUT

Abdul is a student balancing a part-time job, earning around $1,200 monthly, and is interested in connecting with like-minded people to attend events together.

GOALS & NEEDS

Wants to meet new people with similar interests
Form meaningful friendships and be part of a community

PAIN POINTS

Struggles to find events tailored to niche interests
Difficulty in finding companions for events
Feels awkward to attend events alone

INFLUENCES

Veronica Tan, 30 years old

ABOUT

Veronica is a working adult earning approximately $4,500 per month who values convenience and wants personalised information and updates.

GOALS & NEEDS

Values quick and convenient access to information
Seeks timely updates on events happening in Singapore
Prefers event recommendations tailored to her interests

PAIN POINTS

Finding events takes up a lot of time and effort
Missing an event she is interested in due to a lack of information on it

INFLUENCES

AN OPPORTUNITY

How might we support young adults in discovering events and connecting with like-minded individuals, enabling them to stay informed about current happenings and build meaningful connections?

Introducing a seamless way to discover events, connect with others, and personalise your experience.

Home - Curated events & groups

Curated events and groups so that users can quickly discover relevant activities without spending time searching across multiple platforms.

Explore - Find events & groups

Find events to attend and groups to join so that users can explore options aligned with their interests and connect with like-minded people more easily.

My Events - Track attending & liked events

Keep track of attending and liked events so that users do not miss events they are interested in and can plan ahead with confidence.

My Socials - Groups, chats, DMs

Connect with like-minded people through groups and chats so that users feel more comfortable attending events with others rather than going alone.

Prototyping Low-Fidelity

Across iterations, changes consistently prioritised clarity, visibility, and user control to reduce confusion and support faster, more confident interactions. Users struggled with unclear terminology and overloaded sections. By clarifying labels and flattening navigation, the interface became easier to scan and understand at a glance.

Improving Clarity & Reducing Cognitive Load

(Information hierarchy & labelling)

My Events - Before

My Events - After

My Social - Before

My Social - After

20% of users found the header on the My Events page confusing. In response, we renamed the header and removed the sub-tabs to improve clarity.

60% of our users preferred to have Upcoming Event Notices pinned rather than collapsible in the chat group.

Introducing Spotlite

Spotlite is a new app focused on creating a vibrant community space for our target audience.

Designed for seamless social and event engagement, Spotlite makes it easy for users to connect, discover events, and personalize their experiences.

Home

My Events

My Socials

Explore

Reflection

I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with programmers, professors, and experts on AITeammate. The project showed strong potential to improve how students learn and use AI, and with more time, I would focus on full user-flow testing and contextual inquiry to further refine the experience.