Problem

People who want to join local activities—especially sports meetups—struggle to find events happening nearby. Existing platforms feel cluttered, outdated, or overly generalized. Users needed a simple, clean, and location-aware app where they could easily:

• Discover activities happening around them

• Register for local events

• Join sports meetups

• Connect with people who share similar interests

Milano’s goal:
Create a local meetup app designed around simplicity, proximity, and seamless event discovery.

Users

Primary Users

• Young adults & working professionals looking for sports or hobby-based activities

• Fitness & sports enthusiasts searching for local games, meetups, and group activities

• People new to a city want ways to meet others nearby

• Event organizers or sports groups who want to post activities

User Needs

• A clean place to browse events

• Trustworthy, real information

• Ability to register quickly

• Location-based discovery

• Minimal noise or distractions

Goal of the Product

• Build a location-aware meetup app focused on real, close-by activities

• Keep the UI clean, modern, and easy to use

• Allow users to easily find, join, and register for events

• Make browsing sports activities simple and intuitive

• Support organizers in creating events effortlessly

• Provide a smooth mobile UX that feels premium and trustworthy

Mood Board

Discovery & Research

• Goal: Understand user needs, competitors, and common pain points around local events and social meetups.

• Activities:

  • Competitive analysis of Meetup, Bumble BFF, Eventbrite, and Facebook Events

  • Light user interviews to explore social meetup habits

  • Identified common frustrations: cluttered UI, too many steps to join events, and poor location relevance

User Flow & Information Architecture

• Goal: Map out key interactions and ensure smooth navigation

• Activities:

  • Defined core tasks: Discover → RSVP → Connect

  • Created user flows for:

    • Browsing events

    • Filtering by interest/location

    • Viewing event details

    • Joining or messaging a host

  • Built a simplified navigation: Home, Explore, Notifications, Profile

Branding / Logo / Design System

What I Did

1. Defined the core user flows

• Browsing nearby events

• Viewing activity details

• Registering for an event

• Creating an activity

• Viewing saved events

2. Designed wireframes

Low-fidelity screens to explore navigation patterns, layout spacing, card hierarchy, and how events should be visually grouped.

3. Created high-fidelity UI

A minimal, modern aesthetic with:

• Clean typography

• Soft visual hierarchy

• Easy-to-scan activity cards

• Clear CTAs

• Strong UX patterns for browsing + signing up

4. Collaborated with developers

• Ensured feasibility

• Provided component specs

• Iterated based on technical constraints

• Delivered assets and motion guidance

Wireframes

Final Designs

User Testing & Feedback

• Goal: Validate design with real users before development

• Activities:

  • Conducted lightweight usability testing with 4 local users

  • Key feedback:

    • Map view was helpful but needed to be the default view

    • Users wanted quicker RSVP confirmation

    • Suggested clearer call-to-actions and labels

Iteration & Final Design

• Goal: Improve usability based on testing insights

• Activities:

  • Simplified RSVP flow to one tap

  • Made map view the default in Explore tab

  • Adjusted button sizes and added clearer action icons

On-boarding Screens