Loneliness remains a significant global challenge, particularly among migrants adjusting to life in a new country. To address this, my team and I at Sheridan College designed GatherIn—an online platform that facilitates social and cultural integration for migrants.
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Adobe Premiere Pro
PROBLEM
Migrants worldwide struggle with social isolation and a lack of meaningful connections, making it difficult to fully integrate into their new communities.
SOLUTION
GatherIn helps migrants connect with local communities, discover events, and build meaningful relationships to foster integration and a sense of belonging.
Personalized Recommendations
Easily discover and find your next meal by saying, “Hey Uber Eats,” and letting the voice assistant handle your search.
Discover Nearby Events & Communities
Effortlessly navigate the app hands-free, with the voice assistant verifying requests to ensure precise interactions and minimize errors.
Join Events & Hosting Communities
Explore menus, listen to dish descriptions, and add items to your virtual cart hands-free.
Discover.
USER RESEARCH
Understanding Users and Their Experiences.
The first stage of our project focused on researching migrants and their current migration experiences and challenges. To do this, we conducted three research methodologies which consisted of a publications research, internet discussion group research, and a competitor analysis.
User persona representing those with situational touch constraints.
What We Learned
Research Method
Key Insights
📚 Publications Research
Current integration strategies (multiculturalism & assimilation) fail to foster unity and diversity simultaneously.
Migrants are perceived through two contrasting lenses: Subtractive (threats, fear, hostility) vs. Additive (contributors to diversity & economy). These perceptions shape public opinion and societal treatment.
🗣️ Internet Discussion Groups
Ethnic enclaves create loneliness for those who don’t fit the dominant culture.
Reciprocal learning (e.g., sharing meals with neighbors) fosters cultural appreciation and helps reduce stereotypes, strengthening social bonds.
🔍 Competitor Analysis
Existing platforms lack community-driven engagement.
Finding the right social groups remains challenging for migrants, as existing platforms require significant effort to verify group compatibility and local relevance, making social integration less accessible.
How This Shaped Our Goals
Define.
HILL STATEMENT
Establishing a clear direction and outcome.
To establish a clear design direction, we structured our insights into a Hill Statement, ensuring our solution tackled the emotional and practical challenges of cultural transitions effectively as a team.
"Focus on migrants who want to form real connections so that they may experience a sense of belonging in times of cultural isolation and loneliness."
User persona representing those with situational touch constraints.
CRAZY EIGHTS
Rapid ideation of 8 ideas to generate diverse solutions.
We conducted a Crazy 8's session to generate a wide range of ideas quickly, encouraging diverse approaches to solving the problem. This sparked creative engagement models, such as an AI-assisted event scheduling tool and cultural exchange events.
User persona representing those with situational touch constraints.
PRIORITIZATION
Ranking solutions to select the top 4 ideas.
We conducted a Crazy 8's session to generate a wide range of ideas quickly, encouraging diverse approaches to solving the problem. This sparked creative engagement models, such as an AI-assisted event scheduling tool and cultural exchange events.
User persona representing those with situational touch constraints.
Develop.
INITIAL DESIGNS
Rapid ideation of 8 ideas to generate diverse solutions.
We conducted a Crazy 8's session to generate a wide range of ideas quickly, encouraging diverse approaches to solving the problem. This sparked creative engagement models, such as an AI-assisted event scheduling tool and cultural exchange events.
USER TESTING
Rapid ideation of 8 ideas to generate diverse solutions.
We conducted a Crazy 8's session to generate a wide range of ideas quickly, encouraging diverse approaches to solving the problem. This sparked creative engagement models, such as an AI-assisted event scheduling tool and cultural exchange events.
User persona representing those with situational touch constraints.
ITERATIONS
Rapid ideation of 8 ideas to generate diverse solutions.
We conducted a Crazy 8's session to generate a wide range of ideas quickly, encouraging diverse approaches to solving the problem. This sparked creative engagement models, such as an AI-assisted event scheduling tool and cultural exchange events.
User persona representing those with situational touch constraints.
Small changes, big impact
Through iterative user testing, I refined the voice assistant experience to enhance accessibility and ensure a seamless, intuitive interaction for users with touch disabilities. Key improvements include:
Reflect.
This case study reinforced the iterative nature of UX design and the time investment required to refine a product or feature for a mobile application. Initially, I assumed my low-fidelity wireframes were intuitive, but user testing quickly revealed usability gaps. Through continuous iteration and a deeper understanding of user needs, I recognized the importance of embracing change and refining designs based on real feedback rather than assumptions.
One of the biggest challenges was designing a hands-free voice assistant that balanced functionality with simplicity. The feature needed to support key tasks—such as reading menus, searching for restaurants, and confirming orders—while remaining intuitive and unobtrusive. I learned to prioritize feasibility, acknowledging that some features would require more time to develop beyond the initial scope. This experience taught me how to design while balancing ambition, technical constraints, and user needs.