Finding Events Shouldn't Feel Like Work
Local events in Colombo were scattered across Facebook groups, WhatsApp broadcasts, and Instagram stories. Discovering something happening nearby this weekend meant checking four apps — and organizers had no single place to reach the people who actually wanted to show up.
The goal: one app where attendees discover what's near them and organizers create, promote, and manage events — without the noise of a general-purpose social network.
Two Audiences, One App
Interviews with 14 regular event-goers and 6 community organizers surfaced three findings that shaped the product:
Proximity beats popularity. People chose events by "how close is it and when" far more than by follower counts — distance and time had to be first-class on every card.
Organizers and attendees are the same people. Most organizers attend other communities' events, so forcing separate accounts or apps would fail — the app needed a switchable Organizer Mode.
Categories are how people think. "Tech", "Food", "Photography" — users browse by interest first, then filter by date. Category chips became the top-level navigation for discovery.
One Home, Two Modes
The attendee home leads with search, category chips, and two shelves — Upcoming events you've joined and Nearby events with live distance badges over a map. Every event card answers the three questions research surfaced: what, when, how far.
Flipping to Organizer Mode reshapes the same home around creation: a persistent "Create your next event" card up top and your events with attendance below it. One account, one gesture, two jobs done.
Concept Testing & Beta
Key Screens
A walkthrough of the core flows. Swipe through the highlights below.
Interaction Walkthrough
A short recording of event discovery and the mode-switch interaction.
The Complete Picture
Click the image to open it full size — scroll to explore the key screens together.