Networking Social Media

Get Together is a new way for professionals to network by transforming online connections into real-life relationships. I am not affiliated with LinkedIn.

Imagining a New Way to Meet New People

As the competition for opportunities increases, who you know has become as important as what you know and professionals want to build relationships with more people. While LinkedIn has changed networking by helping users connect online with people they already know, there’s no way to meet new people.

In response to this gap in the market, Shapr and Bumble have launched competing products to help users expand their networks. With 546 million users, LinkedIn is currently the most popular professional social network but in order to stay relevant, they need to address this issue.

During the research phase, I interviewed young professionals and analyzed direct and indirect competitors. Using our findings, I designed Get Together.

Bridging the Gap Between Online and Real Life

Get Together comprises of two steps. First, users with mutual interests connect online. Next, they are encouraged to meet in person by attending an event together.

With social media, online connections are effortless to make but there isn’t a clear next step. To deter users from ending up with a lot of superficial relationships, I created an actionable activity after connecting online.

This flow also helps relieve any anxieties the user might have about attending “real-life networking” events alone by providing a companion to go with.

Using Get Together

Entry Point

Adhering to LinkedIn’s design system, I housed this feature inside the Dashboard. Making Get Together an opt-in feature means users who choose to use it will enter with the intention of meeting new people, which should discourage empty connections.

Preferences

When accessed for the first time, the user is asked to fill out their preferences. Designing the “Interests” section was particularly challenging because I needed to communicate to the user that it not only encompasses the traits they have but also the traits of the people they want to meet. I also ask for experience level and location to ensure the results are relevant to the user.

Mentor

If the user has two or more years of experience, the mentor option is enabled and turning it on adds a badge to their profile. This indicator allows young professionals to see who’s available and gives more experienced professionals the opportunity to show they’re willing to help.

Discover People

Discover People is the core of Get Together. This hub is where the user finds people and starts building a relationship. As mentioned earlier, interests, experience level, and location are used to surface relevant results and those most similar to the user appear first. I chose to display multiple people instead of using the “swipe, match, chat” flow employed by competitors to keep it professional.

The profile contains information specific to Get Together and it’s where I start promoting events as a way to meet in real life. I assist the user with making plans as much as possible by providing suggestions based on mutual interests and prioritizing any event where the other party indicated they were interested in attending.

Chat

Tapping “Start Conversation” opens a chat with a panel displaying the same suggested events as previous screens. This not only keeps them top-of-mind but also provides the user with a convenient way to view more information about the event or share it with the other party.

Discover Events

Discover Events is the complement of Discover People. The user finds an event first and then a companion to attend with if they are anxious about going alone. I guide the user towards receptive parties by displaying people who responded "Interested" and prioritizing those most similar to the user.

Final Thoughts

Working on Get Together has been an interesting exploration into how networking, an inherently social activity, has both changed and stayed the same in the face of technology. The most well-known example of such technology is LinkedIn, whose mission is to connect the world’s professionals. By most metrics, they’ve been successful but I believe helping users connect with people they’ve already met is only half the solution. The other half is helping users discover people worth meeting.