Overview

Vicinity is a digital platform designed for students living away from home, helping them discover and navigate local services with ease. The app offers student reviews and recommendations for essential services like food joints, healthcare facilities, laundry services, and more. Vicinity not only simplifies access to reliable options but also fosters a supportive community by enabling students to share experiences and feedback.

Role

As the UI/UX designer for Vicinity, I:

• Conducted user research to identify pain points in accessing local services.

• Designed user flows and prototypes for seamless navigation and intuitive functionality.

• Developed a community-driven interface where students could easily browse, rate, and review services.

• Incorporated visual elements that resonate with student lifestyles while maintaining usability and clarity.

Challenge

Students often face difficulties in finding trustworthy and affordable services in unfamiliar cities. The main challenges were:

• Building Trust: Creating a platform where students feel confident relying on peer recommendations.

• Simplifying Service Discovery: Designing an intuitive interface for quick access to service categories and reviews.

• Encouraging Community Engagement: Ensuring active participation from users to keep the information up-to-date and relevant.

• Addressing Diverse Needs: Catering to various student requirements, from dining options to healthcare and beyond.

Solution

The final design made service discovery stress-free and engaging by featuring:

• Categorized service listings (e.g., food, healthcare, laundry) for easy browsing.

• Student reviews and ratings to highlight the most reliable options.

• A location-based filter to display services in the user’s vicinity.

• A favorite and bookmark feature for saving frequently used services.

• A complaint and feedback module to enable students to raise concerns and improve service quality collectively.