Find dining companions aligned on taste, intent, and availability
No more unwanted solo dining or canceled plans
ROLE
Product Designer
SKILLS
UX Design · User Research
DURATION
AUG 2025 - NOV 2025 (4 months)
INTRODUCTION
Throughout college, I lived in 3 different cities and one thing was always the same.
New York
New York City
Illinois
Chicago
South Korea
Seoul
and that was always having an extensive list of restaurants saved
For foodies, discovering new places is easy.
However, finding someone to go with each time isn’t.
Whether moving to a new city after graduation, juggling different schedules with friends, or having different food preferences, many people struggle to find someone to share food experiences with.
Existing platforms focus on discovery, reservations, or reviews
assuming you already have someone to go with.
🔍
Discover
Find places based on cuisine, trends, and recommendations
Optimized for choice, not coordination
Yelp, Beli
👥
Company
Find someone compatible to share the experience with
No dedicated solution exists
Dating or event-based meetup apps
📆
Reservation
Secure a table at the right place and time
Assumes the group is already decided
Resy, OpenTable
⭐
Review
Track, rate, and revisit past dining experiences
Focused on reflection, not connection
Yelp, Beli
The Result?
Cancelled reservations, unwanted solo dining, and a missing sense of foodie community
The Goal
Create an experience that helps makes it easier to find someone who shares your taste
INSIGHTS
Insights synthesized from interviews and competitive analysis
04
Coordination friction kills follow-through
Planning happens across cross-platforms
03
Event platforms feel too heavy
Structured events and group formats don’t support casual, one-on-one or small-group dining
02
People want alignment, not randomness
Shared taste, intent, and expectations matter as much as availability
01
Finding dining company requires effort and visibility
People either default to staying in, or rely on posting and signaling across platforms, which is high-pressure
Prioritize intent over profiles, anchor around specific places, and reduce the steps to making plans happen
01
Onboarding
Quick account creation with optional dining preferences setting to tailor experience
Splash Screen
Sign Up
Onboarding
02
Create an invite
Choose your restaurant, time, and vibe to find your aligned dining companions
3 entry points from home screen
03
Discover and join
Browse a personalized feed or search for plans to join, finding dining experiences that match your tastes
04
Manage plans
Stay on top of your invites with a central hub that tracks plans, participants, and in-app chat
Guest
Wait for confirmation
Host
Approve requests / manage group
05
Customization
Update your profile and refine dining preferences to enhance your social dining experience
Discover your foodie persona!
RESEARCH
To understand how young adults in new cities meet people and discover dining experiences, I conducted market research, competitive analysis, and user interviews.
These insights shaped Fibey’s product strategy and value proposition
Understanding market landscape
Understanding the users
I observed 3 distinct patterns on how plans are created and executed from conducting 5-6 user interviews
The Social Optimizer
18–20 · Busy · Social lifestyle
"If no one’s free, I just get takeout"
Core Tension
Wants spontaneous plans, but coordination friction kills momentum
Behavior
• Proposes plans with multiple time options
• Defaults to solo when coordination fails
• Avoids appearance-driven platforms
Design Implication
Prioritize intent > profiles
Fast plan creation
The Selective Participant
22–26 · Professional · Hobbyist
"I don't text in the group chat, I just wait for events"
Core Tension
More people ≠ better connections
Behavior
• Lurks in group chats
• Only engages with structured events
• Drops off when social alignment feels off
Design Implication
Prioritize events > chat
Reduce noise, increase signal
Enable quick filtering
The Newcomer
20-23 · Abroad · Community
"… can get very lonely in a new city"
Core Tension
Making friends feel high effort with uncertainty
Behavior
• Hesitates to initiate repeatedly
• Avoids apps that feel transactional
• Prefers shared-interest environments
Design Implication
Shift from “meeting people” → joining plans
What happens
A user secures a reservation and shares a specific plan
(time, place, cost, intent)Waits for responses in comments
Moves to DMs for coordination + vibe check
What breaks
Different expectations —> “as long as we can eat in silence..”
Not time sensitive —> “my fyp was too slow”
High coordination effort —> “this was my dilemma ever since i saw their post! it took me so long to get a reservation and find a time and person to go with that worked.”
People are already creating “plan-first” dining experiences, but existing platforms don’t support executing them.
Source: @viviyam
SHAPING PRODUCT EXPERIENCE
Early iterations explored social and matching-based interactions, but testing revealed friction in execution.
I refined the product to prioritize plans over profiles, and action over browsing.
VISUAL BRANDING & DESIGN SYSTEM
Brand Keywords
Warm · Playful · Simple · Bold
Moodboards exploring visual directions that balance warmth and clarity
Typography
Clean, readable hierarchy to support quick scanning
Primary font: Manrope
Color
Warm neutrals with bold accents to highlight key actions
#E75525
#EEFBB2
Character: Fiby
Double stars formed into one character
REFLECTION
Initially sttarted as a class project which then expanded into a passion project case study that I pitched to YC as a startup due to my passion and interest in this problem space
What I Learned
App purpose matters
App purpose matters
Less is more
App purpose matters
Next Steps
Test with more users to validate plan creation and joining behaviors
Explore lightweight trust signals to make meeting strangers feel safer
Refine matching logic based on availability and intent
Other selected work
BURSTS
Productivity tool built using Cursor
Poetry Learning Platform
Fun way to learn poetry
Let's get in touch!
I love yapping about personal projects and learning about people's side quests :)
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