Heartline — Making Real Friends Without the Awkwardness

Heartline is a low-pressure social interface prototype designed to help Northeastern students bridge online discovery into real-life meetups, reducing awkwardness and emotional risk through trust, clarity, and interest-based connection.

Needfinding Task Analysis Lo-Fi → Hi-Fi User Testing Iteration Privacy

Jump to Hi-Fi Prototype↓ Open in Figma↗

POV: Northeastern students who feel socially isolated need a low-pressure way to move from online interaction to real-world, in-person connection, because fear of awkwardness and social missteps prevents them from taking the first step.

1) Problem & Why it Matters

Students are physically surrounded by peers yet still experience loneliness and social anxiety. Many platforms encourage performance and passive connection rather than genuine in-person friendship.

Design goal: reduce social “activation energy” to start a friendship
Principle: psychological safety + low cognitive load
Bridge: discover → invite → meetup (low-stakes)

2) Approach

We focused on reducing hesitation and uncertainty before a user takes social action. That means clear next steps, trust signals, and low-pressure group entry rather than forcing one-on-one cold approaches.

Trust: identity verification + mutual acceptance before chat
Discovery: nearby users and interest-based groups
Coordination: map-based meetup context

3) Needfinding & Task Analysis

Task analysis revealed much of the “work” happens before anyone speaks: scanning, risk evaluation, and fear of embarrassment. We designed the interface to intervene early by lowering emotional barriers and decision fatigue.

Requirement: reduce perceived emotional risk when initiating interaction
Requirement: enable zero-prep participation (fast to first action)
Metric idea: Time-to-First-Interaction (TTFI) + follow-through rate

4) System Concept

Heartline explores a simple structure: verified identity for trust, map-based discovery to make nearby connections actionable, and groups to reduce the pressure of one-on-one initiation.

Verification: student ID/documents
Map: nearby users + meetup context
Groups: topic + capacity + location
Communication: chat + voice

5) Low-Fidelity Prototyping

We translated early ideas into paper screens to quickly test the interaction flow. These sketches focused on the highest-impact actions: discovering nearby people, joining groups, verifying identity, deciding on location sharing, contacting another user, and managing an account.

Discovery: map-based browsing of nearby users and shared interests
Connection: low-pressure actions (Join, Chat, Voice)
Trust: student verification and location-sharing decisions
Coordination: route/map concepts for meetups
Control: settings and contact list for longer-term use

Why Lo-Fi mattered

Lo-fi helped us spot hesitation points before investing in hi-fi visuals. It also helped validate whether the product still felt “low pressure” while supporting real-life meetups.

Clarity: do users know what to press next?
Trust: do users understand verification/location implications?
Discoverability: can users find map, groups, and actions quickly?

6) Low-Fidelity Prototype Gallery

Paper screens used to explore the core flow and test clarity, trust, navigation, and low-pressure interaction.

Low-fidelity group list screen with New+ and Joined options — **Group discovery**
Early group list with “Join” and a concept for separating discovery (New+) from participation (Joined).

Low-fidelity location sharing dialog — **Location sharing prompt**
Early prompt for location sharing; connects directly to privacy concerns and the idea of “drop-a-pin.”

Low-fidelity identity verification upload screen — **Verification upload**
Student ID/documents upload as a trust mechanism; later iterations needed clearer expectations and progress feedback.

Low-fidelity contact screen for Alex with chat and voice options — **Contact action**
Simple, low-pressure next step after viewing a user: choose Chat or Voice.

Low-fidelity route map between two points — **Meetup route view**
Explores spatial coordination for in-person meetups; later informed map clarity and interaction cues.

Low-fidelity map showing nearby users and interests — **Nearby users map**
Shows nearby people and interests to help find shared-context connection opportunities.

Settings / profile control
Edit profile and delete account concepts; supports transparency and user control.

Low-fidelity contact list screen with chat and voice controls — **Contact list**
Quick access to established contacts with chat and voice actions—reduces friction over time.

7) Hi-Fidelity Prototype (Figma)

Embedded Figma prototype. If it doesn’t load, make sure Figma sharing is set to “Anyone with the link can view”.

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8) Testing Findings

Low-fi and hi-fi testing surfaced consistent friction points: unclear feedback after actions, map/navigation ambiguity, verification expectation gaps, and missing discoverability cues.

No feedback after actions: users unsure invite sent / group joined → confirmation states (✓)
Navigation & map confusion: users tapped wrong tabs or didn’t realize map was interactive → onboarding cues
Verification expectation gap: requirements felt sudden → clearer ID explanation + progress indicator
Discoverability: missing/weak search and key actions → add search + clearer CTAs
Engagement: group creation needed a clear CTA

9) Iterations

Clarity & discoverability: stronger CTAs, improved profile hierarchy
Trust & transparency: step-by-step verification flow + progress feedback
Interaction & navigation: map cues (markers/hints) and improved tab structure
Engagement: add search bar, “Create Group”, and separate New vs Joined groups

Key takeaway: Designing for friendship means designing for trust, clarity, and emotional safety—not just adding more social features.

10) What’s Next

Privacy-first location: switch to “drop-a-pin” visibility instead of always-on live tracking
Onboarding: guided walkthrough/tooltips for map, invitations, and group actions
Adoption strategy: pilot with freshmen/transfers during onboarding programs and campus events