Aroosa: Facilitating the journey for brides of various ethnic backgrounds by connecting them with vendors who understand and can cater to specific cultural and religious traditions, ensuring every detail is tailored to their unique needs and desires. 

Role: UX Designer

Duration: Oct 2023-May 2024 (8 months)

Tools: Figma

Problem: Ethnic brides encounter difficulties in efficiently locating vendors who cater to their cultural and religious needs while planning their wedding.  

Impact: Simplify the search process for brides seeking vendors who honour their cultural and religious customs. 

Discovery of Problem Space:

Ethnic brides consistently encounter challenges when finding ethnic vendors that meet their cultural and traditional needs.

As the go-to friend for event planning, I am no stranger to the casual chatter of “I know someone who knows someone” during wedding prep. It’s a familiar scene as the mainstream wedding planning industry all had one thing in common, lack of visibility of diverse wedding traditions and customs. As I found myself navigating countless weddings, I couldn't help but wonder, how can we simplify this process as it became evident that finding vendors who truly understand and can cater to cultural and religious needs was far from easy.

 Realizing this gap in the wedding planning process, I felt inspired to pursue this project, anchored in the belief that every bride should feel fully embraced and understood in all aspects of her wedding arrangements. 

How Might We help culturally ethnic brides gain access to a diverse range of wedding vendors that align with their cultural preferences, ensuring that their traditions are celebrated and represented on their wedding day?

Secondary Research:

Do these challenges extend beyond just me, or do they affect others as well?

Through my secondary research here are some challenges and insights into what brides face today:

Many brides face challenges in finding vendors that can cater to their needs. According to an article by NBC News, they found that ethnic brides wanted a photographer that highlighted their natural colour (NBC). 

According to The WeddingWire:

Primary Research:

What’s the bride buzz?

To delve deeper into the obstacles brides encounter, their typical behaviour and the driving forces behind them, I interviewed three brides who are currently planning their weddings.

The participant criteria included:

• Bride

• Bride from an ethnic minority background

• Bride is currently planning their wedding

With the information gathered, I then divided the insights into attitudes, motivations, and challenges, creating an affinity map.

Through the affinity maps, their shared insights and frustrations was divided into the following themes.

Experience Map:

Centering the user’s needs and experience will continue to guide my design directions.

Based on the insights gathered from the interviews, I gained a deeper understanding of the challenges experienced by ethnic brides during wedding planning. My research enabled me to develop an experience map to identify the users’ pain points, behaviours, and motivations more effectively.

Task Selection:

Narrowing Focus: Addressing one task at a time amidst multitude of challenges

After examining the experience map, I pinpointed a chance for design enhancement: offering brides an online platform that links them with various wedding vendors catering to their ethnic preferences. I then created a set of 28 user stories leading to three epics, to help me define the function of the task and my product. This approach aims to tackle brides' frustrations, objectives, and behaviours effectively.

The 28 user stories were divided into the following three epics:

1. Connect with Ethnic Vendors

2. Connecting with other Ethnic Brides

3. Creating a Unified Wedding Planning Process

Assessment & Evaluation:

I decided to focus on the following epic “ Connect with Ethnic Vendors”  and the following user story “ As a bride, I want to find cultural clothing so that I can authentically represent and celebrate my heritage on my big day as a way to represent my cultural identity”. I chose this epic and user story as it addresses the HMW statement of seamlessly connecting brides to ethnic vendors to ensure the bride feels celebrated and represented on her wedding day. Cultural attire in numerous ethnic backgrounds is intricately crafted and can be challenging to locate without the right connections. It’s common for brides to wear more than one wedding dress, underscoring the significance of finding the right vendor. 

Task Flow:

Once I pinpointed my primary task, I crafted a task flow envisioning how a user would engage with the product to accomplish the task. The following task flow illustrates the user journey of finding cultural attire for her wedding day, ensuring her cultural identity is authentically represented. 

UI Inspiration Board:

Turning to existing designs for inspiration as I embark on my design journey

Now that I had figured out the task and the user flow, it was time to create sketches, however, I faced uncertainty about the product’s design direction. To overcome this challenge, I opted to develop a UI inspiration board, which would guide me in defining my solution’s features, functionality, and layouts. This helped me envision the specific ambiance I wanted to cultivate for the product. Click here to view the full details of the UI Inspiration Board.

Sketching & Wireframes:

Seeking inspiration and experimenting with layout designs through the traditional method of pen and paper.

Now that I had an overall idea of the design that I wanted to take my product, I began sketching out my ideas until I came up with the final sketch iteration. Using inspiration from other existing UI components and looking at functionalities from other apps like The Knot, I started to sketch out different ideas. 

Following the sketches, I proceeded to develop wireframes. Click here to view the wireframes.

Usability Testing:

Usability Testing: Enhancing experiences, validating design, maximizing satisfaction

I proceeded to transform my sketches into  low-fidelity prototypes. This step was pivotal as I utilized the prototypes to conduct usability tests, aiming to gather feedback for enhancing user experience, app functionality, and usability. I created the first lo-fi wireframe, which underwent five usability tests in which the participants had to complete 6 tasks. Based on the feedback I collected during the first round of usability testing, I refined the designs for the next wireframe iteration. 

Click here to access detailed notes on both usability tests. Session Output Document 1 and Session Output Document 2

Methodology:

• Two rounds of usability testing

• 10 users throughout my iteration

  1. 5 users for each round

• Participants were recruited through word of mouth, friends, and families.

• Sessions were conducted via Google Meet, and information was collected through notes on Google Documents.

Constraint:

• Facing a tight deadline, I encountered a time constraint with both usability testing sessions requiring quick turnarounds. Consequently, I had to conduct the testing and iterations between sessions within a 10-day timeframe.

Solution:

• I employed efficient documentation methods, such as using standardized templates or tools like Google Docs, to streamline note-taking and reporting, saving time without compromising quality.

• I prioritized feedback from the initial session to quickly identify and address critical issues, allowing for more targeted improvements in subsequent sessions.

Click Here To View The Changes (Iteration) Made From Usability Test 1 to Usability Test 2.

Following two rounds of usability testing, I proceeded to develop my prototype. To View The Entire Prototype Click Here

Visual Identity:

Adding the Little Touches That Makes A Difference!

Now that I had the final flow prototyped, it was time to add life to the prototype. I began to think of adjectives that fit the brand identity.

Moodboard and Brand Colours:

Using the adjectives and the more A, less B list guided my search for a moodboard that embodies the desired look and feel of Aroosa. After composing the moodboard, I extracted hues from it to facilitate the development of primary and accent colors, ultimately resulting in the establishment of the brand's finalized color scheme. To see the complete process of crafting the brand's visual identity, please click here.

Typography:

The following stage comprised identifying the most suitable typography to match the desired ambiance. To explore this further, I crafted a typography moodboard embodying romantic, elegant, dreamy, and traditional attributes. Considering these qualities, I ultimately chose the Optima font as it epitomizes romance, tradition, and sophistication. Optima's curved lines exude a traditional and romantic charm that resonates with the essence of the Aroosa brand. Despite being a serif font, it upholds readability, effectively addressing vital accessibility concerns. To see the complete process of crafting the typography, click here.

Logo Development:

The Importance of a Name

As a wedding planning app for ethnic brides, I understand the significance of wordmarks in establishing brand identity and recognition. They serve as a visual representation of our values, style, and personality. Weddings are deeply personal and culturally significant for brides, so our wordmark must evoke a sense of belonging, trust, romance, and authenticity.

While considering various options for the brand name, my goal was to ensure uniqueness, recognizing the individuality of the wedding planning journey for each bride. I explored names that embraced this uniqueness, with an emphasis on diversity and celebrating different ethnicities, aligning with the app's central theme. After careful consideration, I narrowed it down to five choices:

1. Aroosa

2. Brides Best Friend

3. EthnicChic

4. Cultural Charm

5. Cultural Connection

After deliberation, I settled on Aroosa, a word meaning "bride" in Arabic. Across numerous cultures, the term "bride" holds significant meaning. As an Arabic speaker, I strive to integrate this cultural essence into the app I'm developing. It's designed to honor the varied experiences of ethnic brides and address the challenges they often face when seeking vendors.

I began crafting the wordmark by sketching numerous versions of the brand name, and exploring various text orientations, weights, sizes, and styles. Consistency in the overall look and feel was paramount, mirroring my approach to typography. I opted for the Optima typeface for the initial letter, leveraging its romantic allure to complement the desired aesthetic. For the remaining letters (Roosa), I selected an italicized font family to evoke further romanticism. The fluid curves and elegant proportions of this font elevate the overall romantic appeal of the wordmark. To see the complete process of crafting the wordmark, click here.

High Fidelity:

From Monochromatic Prototypes To Vibrant Ones. Combining All Elements

After creating the finalized UI design, I designed and prototyped my final high-fidelity. To view the entire high-fidelity, click here.

Marketing Website:

Time to Promote Aroosa

After finalizing the Aroosa app, the subsequent phase involved its promotion, achieved through the creation of a responsive marketing website. I developed a website that is responsive and optimized for both desktop and mobile devices.

UI Inspiration Board:

The first step I took was to craft a UI Inspiration board to guide the creation of the look and feel, ensuring intentional designs that resonate with the essence of the Aroosa brand. To view the entire UI Inspiration board for desktop and mobile devices, click here.

Expanded Moodboard:

Alongside the initial mood board, I aimed to incorporate additional elements and inspiration from Aroosa, highlighting its romantic, elegant, and timeless essence. To view the entire expanded moodboard for the marketing website, click here.

Sketches:

Then, I advanced to exploratory and solution sketches for both desktop and mobile interfaces. I experimented with different arrangements to showcase product features, testimonials, hero sections, navigation bars, and footers across various layouts. Click here to view the sketches in details.

After numerous sketches, I refined my designs to two layouts each for desktop and mobile interfaces. To view the sketches, click here.

Peer-Reviewed Feedback

I then created a mid-fi wireframe for version 1 and version 2. Click here to access version 1 and version 2. The mid-fi wireframes were then presented to my fellow peers in which feedback was provided. The feedback aimed to address my concerns, which were:

1. Does the design effectively encourage visitors to download the Aroosa app?

2. Has my value proposition been clearly communicated, and does it resonate with the audience?

To view detailed feedback, critiques, and solutions for version 1 and version 2, click here.

Design Prioritization Matrix:

• 100% of my peers voted for version 1.

• I utilized the critique provided and designed a design prioritization matrix to guide how I can improve the site from a user and marketing standpoint. I created a design prioritization matrix to evaluate and prioritize my design decisions based on user needs, project goals, and resource constraints.Click here to view the design prioritization matrix.

Changes Applied:

To view the changes applied, click here.

Final Prototype:

Click here to view the final prototype for version 1 for desktop and mobile devices.

Design Impact & Future Thinking

Reflection and planning ahead are vital for growth.

Tarot Cards of Tech:

To further assess the impact of Aroosa, I utilized the Tarot Cards of Tech, which can be found here. Tarot Cards of Tech helped me gain insights into the app’s influence and potential outcomes. This approach provides a unique and creative framework for evaluating the app's effectiveness, and identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and potential challenges.

The following assessment focused on the card “The BFF’s”.

App Development

What lies ahead for Aroosa?