Connectplus

Communities are the one great thing which have happened to humanity. People join communities to find relevant Connections, Content and Collaboration opportunities. ConnectPlus makes it easier for the members and the managers of the community in achieving the above goals easily.

The advantage of it being a startup was that much branding and design had not been set in stone, so I had a blank slate to put my ideas down. I had an opportunity to shape the product design on a high level. The big question we tried to answer:

For the visual elements, we chose circles to represent community, it’s a nice, elemental shape. Soft, round and friendly. I extended this soft, roundedness to all visual elements within the brand, including font, which is Montserrat. It’s a nice, friendly yet professional typeface, and captures the brand well.

When talking about the UI style it all goes back to the visual styling choices made earlier, the idea of circles, and round edges, and soft shadows.

Since the product had already gone to market, I had access to a great deal of customer feedback a clear understanding D user needs and goals. Knowing who the users are was crucial to designing the UX of the app.

Messages have been reimagined as posts, and displayed in the lounge. For emphasis and uniformity, posts are displayed in fixed card sizes, which have common features such as header and footer, and a content space that can be customized by the designer. The other important features are the members directory, chat inbox and notices - prioritized posts by admins.

As my time with the project drew to a close, I bore the responsibility to hand over the reins to a new designer. Being a quick learner, Shinu Shaju quickly caught up to speed and understood the ins and outs of ConnectPlus’s design. To cement the design style and keep it future proof, I documented a comprehensive, flexible design system. This documentation clearly defined the existing micro apps and the framework for designing new ones.