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PROCESS
2.
Research
User proto-persona
Exploratory user interviews
Affinity mapping
Competitive analysis
1.
Understand, Define
Understanding problem space
Defining project goals
Deciding methods
Forming project timeline
3.
Design, Prototype
Ideation
Prototyping
4.
Evaluate
Concept Testing
Design recommendations
Future Directions
Problem
College students spend too much time coordinating plans, texting back and forth to find a time and day that works instead of actually hanging out, leading to frustration and missed opportunities.
Hi! Do you want to get lunch tomorrow at noon?
Oh sorry I can’t I have class tomorrow. What about dinner wednesday?
Oh darn. No I can’t, I have a mentor session from 6-8. Thursday work?
Hmm maybe next week...I'm leaving on thursday until the end of the weekend to visit my grandma.
No problem!
*there is indeed a problem*
VALUE PROPOSITION
To help students quickly coordinate spontaneous plans alongside their other commitments, reducing scheduling friction and stress so they can better balance their social lives with their academic priorities.
Target Audience: undergrad college students (age 18-23) who lead a busy life
HYPOTHESIS 1
Users will perceive added value when their friends’ real-time status is integrated into their own schedule, making it easier to decide whether to initiate a hangout.
HYPOTHESIS 2
Users will perceive coordinating a social event with StatusCue as requiring low effort.
HYPOTHESIS 3
Users will be more likely to adopt StatusCue if it integrates seamlessly with their existing calendar.
INITIAL KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS
97%
respondents use text message to coordinate social plans.
54%
respondents said they prioritize academic commitments over social activities.
72%
Have said that a successful strategy they used overcome the challenges when coordinating social plans is keeping an organized calendar or scheduling in advance.
PROTO-Persona
I conducted 7 exploratory interviews and a pre-screener survey with 33 participants to assess the problem space, following a structured interview guide, and created a proto-persona to summarize the findings.
GRACE
“I use Google Calendar to plan and schedule everything. It’s hard enough to organize the things I need to prioritize, let alone plan hangouts with my friends.”
I created an IRB protocol and consent form to ensure that all participants voluntarily agreed to participate and be audio recorded
RESEARCH METHODS
n=33
Pre-Screener
n=7
Pre-test
Moderated Test
30-45min Concept test
Post-test
Qualitative (5-item) & Quantitative (8-item)
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Measurement Plan
Due to limited resources and time, I was unable to test the underlying construct of scheduling friction behavior. This is how I measured my hypotheses instead:
HYPOTHESIS 1
How helpful was it to see your friends’ real-time status when deciding whether to initiate a hangout?
HYPOTHESIS 2
Users will perceive coordinating a social event with StatusCue as requiring low effort.
HYPOTHESIS 3
Users will be more likely to adopt StatusCue if it integrates seamlessly with their existing calendar.
How much effort did it take to plan a social event using this extension?
How likely are you to use StatusCue if it integrates with your existing calendar?
Competitive analysis
Howbout
Value Proposition: Shared calendar for group coordination among friends.
Key Features:
-
Free, no ads
-
Syncs all existing calendars
Weaknesses:
-
Competes with established calendars (gCal + Apple Calendar)
-
Too many features, overwhelming
-
Requires others to download app
WHEN2MEET
Value Proposition: Quickly find common free time for groups
Key Features:
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Simple availability selection, no account needed
-
intuitive and straightforward
Weaknesses:
-
UI is unprofessional, has ads
-
Formal for casual social meetups
PING: SOCIAL MAP
Value Proposition: Share status and location in real time to facilitate spontaneous meetups.
Key Features:
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Real-time friend location mapping
-
Quick status updates and availability alerts
-
Notifications when friends are nearby
Weaknesses:
-
Privacy concerns with sharing location
-
Requires receivers to download app in order to be effective
Calendly
Value Proposition: Automate scheduling for professional meetings.
Key Features:
-
Calendar integration
-
Custom event types (1-on-1 meetings, group meetings, interviews, etc.)
-
Meeting polls for group scheduling
Weaknesses:
-
Focus on professional planning/scheduling
Spontaneous
PING: SOCIAL MAP
Professional
Casual
CALENDLY
HOWBOUT
WHEN2MEET
Structured
Key Insights
-
Many solutions have too many added social features.
-
User want the quickest way to coordinate and plan with others
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Most users use iMessage to plan social meetups
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Users all have workaround solutions to make their planning more efficient
MARKET GAPS
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Lack of privacy with sharing location
-
Many solutions are apps attempting to replace existing tools
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No apps currently combine structured planning with live social status
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Most mobile app solutions require multiple users to download for social planning.
Status Cue
The solution
CORE CONCEPT
StatusCue is a seamless Chrome extension integrated directly into Google Calendar, eliminating the need for users to download a separate app. Users can update and share their status, view others’ availability, and coordinate social plans effortlessly.
Students spend over 16 hours a week on coursework but only 6–10 hours socializing and spending time with friends...but why?
We found that scheduling friction is one of the primary reasons students forfeit spending valuable time with friends. So I created a solution designed to make planning priorities and your social life easier.
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Click to view clickable prototype
Privacy & Status Sharing
-
Users can view their friend's status that they choose to share
-
Users can share and edit their current status (active, busy, location).
-
Location sharing is optional to reduce privacy concerns.
Navigation Structure
3 main tabs:
Friends:
Events:
Community:
View friends’ current status and availability.
Create events for specific groups such as clubs, teams, or friend circles & post them here
Browse public events posted by institutions, organizations, or schools.
EVENT Discovery
When browsing events, hovering over an event activates the ghosting feature. This temporarily overlays the event onto the user’s Google Calendar, showing whether it fits without conflicts.
When the common availability toggle is on, entering a time range lets StatusCue scan everyone’s calendars for shared free time.
Finding common availability when creating an event
StatusCue suggests meeting times and sends a poll. Once a time is chosen, it’s automatically added to everyone’s calendar.
Concept testing
"I like that I can see a preview of everyone's availability when creating a new event"
“It helps me know when people are available, so I know who I can reach out to and when.”
This is a sample recording of a participant testing and interacting with clickable prototype.
"Some people don’t want to declare their whole schedule to their friends.”
STRENGTHS
-
Clear visibility of availability makes coordinating hangouts and study sessions easier.
-
Supports boundaries better than location sharing by showing availability without exact location.
-
Useful availability matching (percentages, best matches).
-
Simple friend list helps users quickly manage who they coordinate with.
WEAKNESSES
-
Privacy concerns: It may be unclear what information from your calendar you will be sharing
-
Relies on accurate calendars: If users don’t update their Google Calendar, the app loses value.
-
Not always appropriate: Works best for close friends; less useful for acquaintances or large groups.
-
Potential overlap: Too similar to shared calendars or location-sharing tools.
-
Extension barrier: Requires installing a browser extension; limited mobile use.
“It’s similar to sharing location but better because it sets a boundary.”
Findings
All hypotheses were correct!
-
Viewing real time status helped users plan an event
-
It required fairly low effort to create an event using the extension
-
Participants are highly likely to adopt the tool if it integrates with their existing calendar
NEXT STEPS
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Simplify prototype
-
Remove the “community” tab so users are not overwhelmed and can easily navigate through the main features of extension - will add back when necessary
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What if there is no availability? Users can view all potential times they can meet instead of picking a time to meet (gives users more flexibility)
-
-
Align more closely with Google Calendar
-
Creating an event was confusing - make the process more similar to google calendar and add buttons
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Observational Metrics
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use observational measures instead of self-reported measures to better understand the level of effort.
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Share it around campuses
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If this product is successful in providing a solution for an unmet social need through multiple concept and usability tests, I would want to eventually create a functional product to promote and share with others around campus.
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