This app was created to bring expats from all over the world who are looking for friends in their new home country together. It's easy, like your favorite nature routes, swipe and chat with the pals who liked the same route as you and plan to walk together so you and your pal can explore the area. The app is available for the whole Netherlands, and there is even an option to propose a group walk!

My group and I started this project with researching the user group expats. By doing this we discovered that a lot of expats have a hard time integrating into the new country they just moved to. While being constantly busy with work and not seeing or having a lot of contact with friends and family in their native county, expats can feel isolated or alone. So our user group became: The isolated expat.

Navigation through the interface:

While mapping the collection we looked at thing we liked and found useful but also missed on the Staatsbosbeheer website. We figured out that our main focusses for the interface were going to be: Relaxing, taking a break from work, getting to know the dutch culture and bring the user group in contact with others.

My concept turned out to be a prototype for an app that will bring expats who are feeling 'alone' together. With the goal to make them feel less isolated, meet new people with similar interests and languages and let them explore the dutch nature and culture.

The high fidelity prototype was made in Adobe XD. I tried to keep the design nice and clean with everything in black/white and green. When I tested the prototype on three different expats they told me that the design was easy to use and go through. Besides that they gave me some tips and feedback that I took into consideration, from here I made some alterations to make the final version of my interface.

During this project I learned how to go into depth into a certain user group. At the start I wasn't really familiar with the term 'expat'. It was a group of people that I do not interact with on the daily so it was a bit of a challenge to design for this group.

After the research my main focusses for the group and collection were really clear so it was not too hard to come up with an idea for my concept. I never made an app before, neither do I have a lot of experience with digital design or commercial projects. Using XD was easier than I thought, and the many possibilities of the interface surprised me. I'm satisfied with the end result and I'm happy that I learned a new set of skills through the project.