"QuickTalk" text on a blue and purple gradient background.

Social Networks

2023

A nostalgic, game-driven social app for iOS and Android that connects friends through memory-based gameplay. QuickTalk combines interactive fun with branding inspired by family moments and childhood adventures.

Fostering real friendships

Cartoon illustration of a white fluffy dog with a happy expression on a blue and purple gradient background.

THE PROBLEM

Designing solutions for player engagement, onboarding, and branding. The alpha lacked an early hook and a clear, cohesive tone.

Developer
Mustafa Azak

Client
First Draft Ventures

Lead Designer
Sky Monaco

Product Owner
Joshua Nguyen

THE PROCESS

QuickTalk wanted to reconnect friends with a daily question game that tested how well they knew each other.

Graph showing daily time spent by Americans with age breakdown: alone, with partner, with friends. Source: Morning Consult.

We reshaped the app by studying
the loneliness epidemic.

  • We analyzed societal trends on loneliness and declining friendships, referencing sources like The New York Times and Prof. Galloway. This research informed user goals: fostering meaningful connections, sparking conversations, and creating shared experiences.

  • Informed by our research, the core game loop is crafted for close friend groups like partners, college friends, and exes, aiming to foster deeper connections through meaningful shared experiences.

  • We turned our findings into design strategies by analyzing competitors, gathering user feedback, and emphasizing light emotional connections. This shaped features like conversation starters, simple gameplay, and user-tested interaction design.

  • We finalized a refreshed UI kit, ensuring consistency across all app elements. Inspired by retro, warm aesthetics, the branding established a cohesive identity. We delivered polished mockups, improved onboarding flows, and integrated retention features like streaks and push notifications, ready for development.

Collage showcasing HQ Trivia and Duolingo apps. The top half displays the HQ Trivia app's screens, including a countdown timer, quiz question, and host. The bottom half features Duolingo alerts about streak and league status, with animated green owl graphics.
Three smartphone screens displaying BeReal app features: left shows a notification "Time to BeReal"; center shows a countdown timer with a photo of people near bicycles; right shows a grid of friends' posts.

Tapped into HQ, Duolingo, and BeReal to craft engaging player loops for friends.

Collage featuring various pop culture images, including scenes from "The Chronicles of Narnia," robots from "Transformers," animation from "Adventure Time," and characters resembling "Power Rangers."
Vertical stripes in navy, aqua, teal, green, yellow, coral, and pink.

Chose a nostalgic childhood theme to evoke core memories and drive engagement.

Mobile app interface displaying a user's profile named Sky with statistics and friend icons. Middle screen asks a question: “What is your favorite movie to watch during the holidays?” The right screen, titled "Today's Question," asks about kitchen recommendations with a response about a Delonghi Nespresso. Date shown is July 16.

PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS

  • Simplified onboarding by introducing gameplay first, delaying account setup.

  • Redesigned navigation with bottom tabs and clearer section names for intuitive use.

  • Created nostalgic visuals and ensured a consistent, engaging tone across the app.

  • Simplified friend invitations and added instant incentives to boost engagement.

THE SOLUTION

We turned insights into solutions, refining onboarding, enhancing gameplay, and crafting a distinct visual identity. Our redesign and engaging game loop fostered deeper connections and seamless interactions between friends.

Three smartphone screens displaying the "QuickTalk" app interface. The first screen shows a question "What do you currently watch that's a guilty pleasure to binge?" with "Friends" typed as the answer. The second screen displays "QuickTalk" on a gradient background. The third screen shows responses to the same question, including "Blue Eye Samurai" and "The Office," with a section for identifying who said the response.

Gamified onboarding and enhanced UX to make answering and guessing more engaging.

A screenshot of a mobile app featuring three screens. The first screen prompts users with a 'Start' button for a game to guess how friends responded to a question. The second screen shows results of a question about guilty pleasure shows, with responses from Josh, Christen, and Merve. The third screen is a friend invitation interface, showing a search bar and options to invite friends to the app with buttons next to each name.

Added a daily CTA for friends to answer questions and deepen connections.

  • Onboarding Optimzied

    Simplified onboarding by prioritizing gameplay and reducing form fields.

    Three smartphone app screens showing user interface elements. The first screen prompts to add a profile picture with a photo labeled "Josh." The second screen displays a question prompt about guilty pleasure shows, with space for a response. The third screen is for adding friends, featuring a search bar and a list of people with invite options. Background is a gradient blue color.

  • Navigation Fixes

    Improved navigation with bottom tabs and descriptive section names.

    UI navigation menu with icons labeled Friends, Play, and Profile highlighting different options in each section on a gradient background.

  • Brand Design

    Crafted a nostalgic design with playful colors and consistent UI styles.

    Graphic design layout featuring a cartoon dog with pink ears on a teal background, a color palette with names and hex codes, and the text 'QuickTalk' with 'Play with your friends.' Also shows font names Bricolage Grotesque and Poppins with various icons.

  • Core Gameplay

    Chatbot UX let players match answers to friends, with results revealed after each round.

    Three mobile app screens displaying a social quiz game. The first screen prompts users to answer the day's question, showing a countdown timer and avatars of friends. The second screen features a multiple-choice question about guilty pleasure TV shows, with options and a selection button. The third screen thanks the user and invites them to return tomorrow for another question, displaying a countdown timer and results button.

THE IMPACT

We improved player retention and engagement with foundational UX improvements. QuickTalk resonated with players, bolstering its value as a platform for connections and shared experiences.

Promotional graphic for an app called QuickTalk, featuring a question about kitchen recommendations. The highlighted text asks, "Do your friends know your resto recs?" Below is a conversation mockup with a response recommending a Delonghi Nespresso machine. A download link for an app store is partially visible.
App Store preview page for "QuickTalk. Real friends share" app showing app details, a cartoon dog icon, star rating, and screenshots of the app's interface which encourages users to interact with friends daily, answer questions, and compare answers.

QuickTalk launched on the App Store, delighting close-knit groups with gameplay.

Comparison of two mobile app interfaces labeled 'Before' and 'After'. The 'Before' interface shows a question about fashion style, a game start screen with a stick figure, and two user icons. The 'After' interface displays a multiple-choice question about TV shows, a user input screen for nickname entry, and a toggle for age confirmation.

Rebranded with a new hook, we onboarded players with gameplay to learn about friends.

Illustrated animal icon on colorful background

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

  • Enhance notification copy tone to boost retention and re-engagement.

  • Add personalized features like memory timelines for deeper connections.

  • Conduct further user testing to refine branding and gameplay.

  • The project scope excluded long-term data reporting for future updates.

Abstract blue and purple gradient background

Building friendships through play, we foster connections and lasting engagement in a fun, gamified way.

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