MY ROLE

UX Design, Product Design, Prototyping, UX Research

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TOOLKIT

Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator

TIMELINE

3 weeks

TEAM

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Cat Marsh - Strategist

Chandler Webb - Experience Designer

Dani Loleng - Experience Designer

Dan Ivey (me) - Experience Designer

THE PROBLEM

THE OPPORTUNITY

THE SOLUTION

It is hard to refute the obvious fact of climate change. But when each climate disaster event is over, man just goes back to the routines of daily life. 

What if climate change was added to our daily dose of important stats (weather report, bank balance, calories, etc.) delivered to the end user in order to drive engagement with the issue?

Cal02: an add-on feature for the Health and Activity app in Apple Watch + iPhone which allows users to discover the eco-impact of their eating/diet habits in a more digestible way, set goals, and track their progress. Cal02 acts not only as a calorie counter and tracker, but provides a focus on reducing personal carbon footprint and climate impact.

UNIFY = TALENT + EVENTS + RESOURCES + LOCALITY

KEY INSIGHT

Throughout our research process, as our team became more familiar with the many variables at play within the startup ecosystem in RVA, we observed a unique opportunity in the marketplace. The diagram below depicts how our solution addresses this opportunity and also its relation to three well-established social networks.

SOCIAL NETWORK OPPORTUNITY MAP

KEY FEATURES WALKTHROUGH VIDEO

WORKING ASSUMPTIONS

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The entrepreneurial community in RVA is strong and supportive

Richmond is on the rise

WHAT WE DISCOVERED

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The RVA startup scene is fragmented

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The ecosystem seems hard to break into & infiltrate

SHAREHOLDER INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

“The start up community needs a place where you feel accepted no matter how much of a business background you have. Starting alone can be discouraging but finding inspiration from others can be encouraging.”

"The people that helped me the most during the process of establishing my business are from right around the corner. I see them the most and we help each other a lot."

"The start-up ecosystem lacks coordination, but the energy is here. There are lots of fun things and events happening."

ASSUMPTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING

1. Most of the connections on LinkedIn are not meaningful and do not provide significant value.

2. People engage the most with professionals in their close vicinity.

3. People would prefer a location-based platform for professional networking.

(These assumptions were supported with our survey of 49 participants, results of which can be seen below)

GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY

The visual below details our activation strategy, which would coincide with a Beta roll-out as well as a 2-day crash course known as Unify Academy, designed to equip entrepreneurial talent with the business skills they need in order to succeed in the bustling startup ecosystem.

TAKEAWAYS

Tackling this project was overwhelming from the onset, as we felt that we had the problem of an entire city to solve in a matter of weeks. With that being said, it was truly rewarding to gain experience in narrowing down the focus of a large-scale issue into one solution. The irony that became revealed through working to unite the ecosystem of startups in the area is that it felt like we were crafting our very own startup in doing so. I learned that any undertaking can become greater than the sum of its parts, and the possibilities are endless through research, networking and implementation of feedback.