K-Buddy App
Co-founded and designed an all-in-one social and place-finding app for foreigners in South Korea.
Overview
The number of foreign residents in South Korea is growing by 21% annually, driven by the popularity of K-pop and K-culture. Despite this increase, many services in Korea are not foreign-friendly, limiting the cultural experience for foreigners. To address this, a group of developers and I created an app to help foreigners feel more welcomed and comfortable in Korea.
Contribution
Brand Identity
UX/UI Design
Icon Design
Illustrations
Design System
Team
Amy Lee (Product Designer)
Soo Young Choi (Founder, PM)
Jun Hyeok Lee (Engineer)
Jaewon Heo (Engineer)
Jung Woo Kim (Engineer)
Timeline
12 Months,
Expected to be launched in Jan. 2025
Understanding User Needs & Pain Points
Discovery
Our project began with qualitative interviews involving a diverse group of individuals who have either lived in or visited Korea. These interviews, conducted both remote and in person, unveiled common pain points and needs among participants.
shared pain points & needs
Google Map inaccuracies in Korea cause significant difficulties in navigating locations.
Desire to experience Korea like locals.
Limited communities for foreigners to seek assistance and socialize.
Aligning User & Business Goals
Value Proposition
Finding the sweet spot where a product meets both user needs and business goals is crucial. We conducted a competitive analysis of brands targeting foreigners, identified business opportunities, and defined K-Buddy's target audience.
Competitive Analysis
We discovered that many foreign-friendly competitors focus primarily on tourists, so we saw an opportunity to create a product that targets both visitors and residents in Korea.
values
For Users
Local favorites & authentic cultural experiences info
Customized trip planning assistance for Korea and beyond
Socializing with other foreigners in Korea
Income opportunity: customized itineraries & live chat services
For Business
Partnership opportunities with travel companies & local businesses via in-app ads
Maximize revenue through percentage fees from business user partnerships
Our Solution
Solution for Each Problem & Need
Here are the features we developed for each major problem and need we identified through our research.
Solution
Provides accurate English addresses and direct links to Korean maps.
Solution
Local reviews and ratings on places.
Explore others' itineraries and experiences in blog sections.
Custom itinerary services for complete trip planning.
Open community space for questions and answers.
Live chat support for personalized assistance.
Design Decision-Making
UX Structure
The core features' functionality and design were developed based on affinity diagramming sessions, information architecture, user flows, and references to Jakob's Ten Usability Heuristics and principles of human psychology.
goal
design decision
Enhanced suggestions.
Highlights trending/new items.
Introduces popular places or contents at the top.
Provides related content links at the end of each blog read.
Applied theories
Nudge
Bright color indications and shortcuts leading to service detail or content pages influence users to click on popular and relevant contexts. These design choices are made to maximize their satisfaction by reducing the time spent searching.
goal
design decision
All-time accessible floating action buttons and bottom navigation bar.
Provides the most important action buttons as floating and always accessible.
Main CTA buttons are available to quickly access at the bottom navigation bar.
Applied theories
Fitts's Law
According to Fitts's Law, movement time to a target depends on its size and distance. To minimize distance for key elements, I placed CTA buttons at the bottom for the community and purchasing sections, making them easily accessible.
goal
design decision
Progress bars for unfinished sessions.
Zeigarnik Effect
The Zeigarnik effect suggests unfinished tasks are more memorable than completed ones. I applied this to the progress bar, showing users their progression and encouraging them to finish.
goal
design decision
Provide feedback with illustrations that congratulate users on their achievements.
Positive Reinforcement
Referring to this method that increases the likelihood of behavior modification, I used illustrations and texts to congratulate users on completing tasks, encouraging them to finish future tasks.
goal
Help users avoid clicking the wrong buttons.
design decision
Disable some action buttons when it’s not applicable.
Applied theories
Error Prevention
Following Jakob's Ten Usability Heuristics, I activated only specific action buttons to prevent users from accidentally causing system errors.
Validating Design Effectiveness
Usability Testing
Before product development, we tested high-fidelity wireframes with five participants to evaluate design discoverability and identify user issues. Here are our findings and revisions.
Tasks
Activity #1: Just by looking at the categories, tell me what you think each section does.
Activity #2A: Imagine you need help for an upcoming Korea trip. Try to write a question.
Activity #2B: Let's say you completed the post and it's been a week later. And you want to check your post again. How would you do that?
Activity #3: Find out a coffee shop and how you can get there.
Activity #4: Request a personalized trip plan that's under 10 dollars per day.
Activity #5: Let's say you've heard or seen the marketing that you can earn some money by providing services to other users. Figure out how to start making money with this app.
Recording of One of the Participants in Activity #5
key takeaways
The category name 'market' doesn't clearly reflect its functionality. Participants mentioned that it sounds like there are goods you can purchase or sell, which is slightly different from services.
Participants struggled to find how to become a business member, often checking the 'market' category first. Information on becoming a business member should be promoted throughout the app, not just in one section.
design iterations
as-is
Users expected the application for Business Membership to be in the 'Services' section, which they found under 'My Page'.
to-be
Information about Business Membership is highlighted in both the 'Services' and 'My Page' sections for better discoverability.
Brand Identity & Design System
logo
The quotation mark in the logo's "K" symbolizes the brand's communal spirit, encouraging active interaction among users. Reflecting this dynamic character, the bright colors of K-Buddy enhance the sense of fun and energy that defines its lively community.
icons
Designed icons based on the Material Design guidelines, following the icon grid and keyline, and utilized the standard 24x24dp size with 2dp padding.
illustrations
Designed icons and illustrations that embody the fun dynamics of the app, enhancing positive user experience.
design system
Established a design system including colors, typography, sizes, icons, and illustrations for sustainable app maintenance and development.
Our Next Step
Future Plans
After the initial launch of the app, we plan to take the following steps:
Conduct post-launch evaluation of the product with selected users and iterate on the design.
Identify the most popular features and focus on them to enhance usability.
Examine the least popular sections, analyze the reasons, and develop solutions.
Timeline
