App Experience & Community

UX/UI design of a mobile app prototype for expats in Barcelona, developed through a full design thinking process that began with user research and behavioral insights. By combining findings on local culture, social needs and logistical barriers with iterative ideation and structured prioritization, the project evolved into an intuitive navigation system designed to foster community connections and offer a seamless way to discover curated and authentic experiences.

Key Insights from User Research

In this phase, I analyzed all qualitative data collected from interviews, surveys and observations to identify key user motivations and pain points. Through the affinity mapping process, we uncovered five behavioral patterns, and later identified strong correlations between them. These connections revealed two main user groups: Advanced Expats, who seek high-quality experiences and enjoy exploring local culture in depth, and Social Explorers, who seek shared experiences and human connection. These insights guided the design opportunities for each profile.

User Personas

Building on the insights from the research phase, two distinct user groups clearly emerged, each with different motivations, expectations and barriers when exploring experiences beyond Barcelona. To translate these patterns into concrete, human-centered profiles, I created two user personas that represent the core needs and behaviours identified in the study. These personas, a culturally curious professional seeking authenticity and a socially driven newcomer looking for meaningful connections, help ground the design process in real user contexts.

Journey Map

This journey map outlines the end-to-end experience of an expat booking an organized trip. It follows the user from the moment they discover the activity through friends, to the decision-making and booking process, the experience itself, and finally the post-activity stage where they share feedback or leave a review. Mapping this full journey allows us to understand motivations, emotions and pain points across each phase, revealing key opportunities to improve the overall experience.

Ideation: Shaping Opportunities

Building on the insights from the research phase, two distinct user groups clearly emerged, each with different motivations, expectations and barriers when exploring experiences beyond Barcelona. To translate these patterns into concrete, human-centered profiles, I created two user personas that represent the core needs and behaviours identified in the study. These personas, a culturally curious professional seeking authenticity and a socially driven newcomer looking for meaningful connections, help ground the design process in real user contexts.

Idea Voting & Strategic Prioritization

After generating a large number of proposals during the ideation phase, the next step was to synthesize the HMWs into more concrete and actionable ideas. Once defined, we mapped all ideas into an effort–benefit matrix, which allowed us to quickly visualize which ones offered the highest impact with the lowest implementation complexity.This comparative analysis helped us prioritize effectively, identifying the solutions with the strongest potential and establishing a clear foundation to move forward with the development of the final solution.

The Solution

After generating, categorizing and prioritizing all ideas according to effort and expected value, we identified which concepts offered the strongest potential for the final product. This process helped focus on high-impact opportunities and define a clear direction aligned with user needs and project constraints.The outcome of this synthesis is presented in three blocks: what the solution is about, how it works and what problem it solves, providing a structured and evidence-based overview of the final proposal.