01: Challenge

• Create a mobile application that allows strangers to connect through parties.
• Evaluate existing players within the social space to determine brand positioning and the application’s unique selling proposition.
• Build a brand narrative that is unmatched by other competitors.
• Ensure that user security and safety are baked into the experience.
• Design the MVP experience for a version 1.0 launch.

02: Approach

• Researched and analyzed existing competitors to determine gaps in experience offerings.
• Conducted UX audits of top competitors in order to gain insight and guidance for user motivations.
• Collaborated with the greater team to create user scenarios that the app could facilitate.
• Established two different user types, along with user flows for each type.

03: Solution

• Built an entire brand (strategy, positioning, mission statement, target audience, voice, branding, and design guidelines) from the ground up.
• Created an MVP mobile app experience that was unique within the digital social interaction space.
• Crafted an integrated launch campaign to promote the application and drive sign up.
• Pitched final project to C-suite partners.

This idea came from one of those briefs that creatives both love and hate to be given. “Identify a problem and create a solution to solve it.” That’s it. It was the type of brief that causes creatives to burst with simultaneous excitement and anxiety due to the endless possibilities. Though somehow, we managed.

After finding and creating a variety of problems to solve, we selected the one that we thought would be the most interesting to tackle:

“There are a variety of apps and internet platforms that allow strangers to connect, but none that allow them to connect through parties.”

The solution to this problem was an experience that was almost completely anonymous end-to-end, where strangers could host invite-only, no-holds-barred parties that would be attended by other complete strangers. In presenting this idea to our creative directors, they were, by their own admission, so scared of the implications of it that they felt we had a duty to bring it to life.

As a team, we defined our target audience, “Curious Strangers,” and collaborated on the app experience itself. We wanted our users to feel like they were participating in something exclusive; something that they would want to brag to their friends about the next day at work. For this reason, we mapped the digital experience to mirror what is so common with parties in the real world: lines and VIP lists. App Attendees would apply to parties and Hosts could accept or deny them. Hence the name, “Bounce.” On top of that, we wanted there to be very little restriction to the experiences that Bounce would offer.

Where we ended up was creating an application where just about anything could happen: 90’s hip-hop basement parties, hackathons, furry raves. You name it and it could happen on Bounce. The weirder the party, the more Bounce-worthy it became.

We pitched the final product to Winston Binch (DLA, CDO) and Pete Favat (DLA, CCO) and they loved it. They gave us until the end of the internship (a couple weeks) to build out what the MVP would look like and then determine how we would launch it.

Once we designed out the MVP and created the launch plan, we left it up to Deutsch LA to carry Bounce the rest of the way. In the months following, Bounce would go through some slight changes before being renamed “Klusterflock.” From there, a launch site was created to gauge interest and viability. Unfortunately, that’s where Klusterflock stopped in its tracks. Though I still believe it deserves its day in the spotlight.

• Facebook Authentication: Being that it was an app for anonymous partying, we wanted to make sure that it was still safe and secure for users. By using the Facebook API for profile creation, this allowed us to have a record of who was hosting and attending parties. That way, if something were to happen, there would be a roster of all the people who attended the party using Bounce and we could aid in fixing any potential mishap that occurred.
• Photo Application: In order to keep as much anonymity as possible, Attendees can only request an invite to the party by sending a photo and short message in response to the Host’s party prompt.

• Security & Safety: Attendees cannot see the Host’s address details for the party until an hour before the party starts. Otherwise, the address details remain blacked out as an added security measure.
• Acceptance Notification: I wanted for the user to feel like she won the lottery when a Host accepts her into his party. I designed for this feeling by only alerting Attendees when they have been accepted to a party and never when they have been denied.

• User Rating: In order to prevent asshole users from attending or hosting a Bounce party, Attendees can rate their Host and Hosts can rate their Attendees post-party.
• Step-by-Step Host Flow: Since planning a party requires a lot of data entry, I broke down the process of creating a party into multiple steps. This allows for the user to focus on one section at a time and not be overwhelmed by the process.

• Established the information architecture and provided documentation for the application, as well as designed and wireframed all of the screens for two different user profiles.