Asking a friend beats reading a review

people trust their friends more than reviews.

the people i spoke to put little faith in review platforms. they'd rather ask friends and family, but had no easy way to find out who'd been where. reviews felt fake or sponsored and were often out of date. leaving one felt pointless.

i interviewed four people.

julia, 26, marketing analyst.

she likes finding new places with friends and wants to hear from people she trusts. too many options make it hard to choose, and she doesn't think her own reviews add much.

ask your friends, right in the app.

socially gives friends a place to ask and answer questions about restaurants in any area, share a recommendation in a few taps, and keep a wishlist of places on a map.

i designed five flows.

i tested it with four people.

i showed people the prototype and asked them to complete a task for each main feature. they liked the look and found the discussion and map tabs easy to move between. the tab icons needed several taps to work, and some people struggled to get back from an expanded card.

mostly navigation fixes.