Swanned
Swanned was designed to help British and Irish expats in Australia form friendships, explore dating, and build community in a way that feels relaxed and transparent.
As part of a four person UX design team, I helped translate and design user needs into a trust centered mobile experience that makes it easier to discover events, meet people with shared interests, and create genuine connections in a new country.
Role
UX Design (Intern)
Team
4 UX Designers
Duration
4 weeks
Tools
Figma
FigJam
Miro Photoshop Zoom
Responsibilities
Competitive Analysis
Flow Chart
Wireframe
Prototype
The Problem
People moving to a new country often struggle to build meaningful social connections. While existing dating and meetup platforms make it easy to meet people, they rarely communicate users' intentions clearly, making interactions feel uncertain and sometimes unsafe.
Our challenge was to design an experience that helped British and Irish expats in Australia connect more confidently through transparent, intention driven group meetups.
User Pain Points
Project Goal
Design a group meetup experience that encourages trust, transparency, and authentic social interaction.
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Reduce uncertainty
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Improve trust
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Encourage participation
Discovery
Understanding Our Users
Before designing solutions, our team wanted to understand how people form new relationships after relocating overseas. We divided our research across three methods: user surveys, user interviews, and competitive analysis. Where we examined existing social and dating platforms to identify common features, experience gaps, and opportunities for Swanned to offer a safer and more meaningful way to connect.
Takeaways
From Insights to Opportunity
Design Opportunity
Our research revealed that users weren't looking for another dating app; they wanted confidence before meeting someone new. This insight became the foundation of every design decision we made.
"How can we foster a safe environment where expats build trust through groups before meeting one-on-one?"
We went ahead and applied the following design principles in order to address this question.
Designing the Experience
Instead of focusing on features, we designed the experience around the user’s journey from discovering an event to confidently joining it.
My Contribution
As one of four UX designers, I contributed to both the research and design of Swanned. My primary focus was conducting a competitive analysis and designing experiences that made group events easier to plan and join.
Key Design Decisions
Creating trust before commitment
People wanted to understand the purpose of an event before joining.
Encouraging meaningful connections
Users expressed interest in meeting people through shared experiences rather than immediately pursuing romantic relationships.
Making participation feel safe
Joining an event with strangers can feel intimidating.
Final Solution
Swanned brings together transparent event discovery, meaningful social interactions, and intuitive planning tools into one cohesive experience designed specifically for expats.
Reflection
