sipn is a social media platform designed for drink enthusiasts, fostering a vibrant community where users can discover, rate, and engage with beverage establishments. Unlike Yelp, sipn is tailored exclusively for drink lovers, offering specific rating criteria such as shop aesthetics, seating availability, and drink quality. The platform will first target the coffee and matcha industry in Southern California before expanding into broader beverage categories. sipn aims to create a niche, data-driven ecosystem that benefits both consumers and businesses.
My Role & Process
My role in this project was to design and conduct research on the existing Yelp and Google apps to analyze the services they provide to consumers. As part of this process, I worked on UX strategies, created personas, competitive analysis, and flowcharts. I also conducted user testing based on wireframes and ultimately designed a mobile app as the final deliverable for the project.
Project Detail
CSULB Sunstone Innovation Challenge (Click here for link)
February - April 22, 2025
Team
Jieun Ok
Khang Ho
Kent Stark
Bailey Delker
Aaron Chen
Role
UX Designer
Founder
Co-founder/Developer
CTO/Developer
Finance
Duration
Nearly 3 months
Project Overview
Business Description
Vision
To become the go-to platform for drink enthusiasts worldwide, providing a tailored and engaging experience that enhances the discovery and appreciation of beverage establishments.
Mission
To build a community-driven social media app where users can share their experiences, discover new drinks, and foster relationships based on their passion for beverages.
Objectives
Develop and launch the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) by March 27, 2025.
Establish partnerships with local coffee shops and matcha establishments.
Achieve a user base of 10,000 active users within the first six months.
Integrate third-party APIs for location tracking and crowd estimation.
Onboard businesses with structured partnership programs.
Problem, solution & Value Proposition
Problem Definition
Consumers seeking high-quality drink experiences often rely on generic review platforms like Yelp or Google, which lack drink-specific insights such as flavor profiles, preparation methods, and shop ambiance. This results in an inefficient discovery process and diluted recommendations that do not cater to beverage enthusiasts.
Solution
sipn provides a specialized platform where drink lovers can access detailed reviews, personalized recommendations, and social interactions based on shared interests. AI-driven suggestions and real-time crowd-tracking enhance the user experience, while businesses benefit from direct customer engagement and visibility.
Value Proposition
Product-Market Fit
Technology & Development
Competitive Analysis
Beli and Yelp are both platforms that assist users in discovering and reviewing restaurants, with Beli emphasizing personalized suggestions and curated user lists, while Yelp provides a wider array of features and has a larger, more diverse community of users.
Currently, both restaurant platform apps primarily focus on broader businesses with sharing, rankings, and reviews. Users are frustrated by unclear business information and multiple searches/categories, which makes it difficult to track real-time business status and leads to lower engagement with the app.
Survey & Results
Our team conducted a Google Form survey with 62 participants to gather responses and gain deeper insights into the problem. We aimed to ask key questions that would help us define the essential features of our app and identify ways we could differentiate ourselves from existing platforms like Yelp and Beli in the market.
UX insights
Through surveys, interviews, and reviews of the current apps, it is clear that the platform does not fully satisfy users in terms of personalized recommendations or real-time crowd tracking for local businesses. Based on the research and collected data from the survey, I have identified three main UX insights to address the problems that users are experiencing.
01. Social interactions based on shared interests
By interacting with users who share common interests, users can discover new coffee shop places that they may not have found on their own.
UI Roadmap
Final Design (Mobile)
Takeaways
02. Personalized recommendations
Personalized suggestions based on preferences and behavior encourage users to engage with the app while searching for the places they want to visit.
I have created two types of user personas based on different age groups, painpoints and individual needs/goals.
By mapping out key UI goals and features, teams can track progress and identify if adjustments are needed. It enables continuous iteration to improve the interface based on user feedback or technical challenges.
03. Real-time seat availability
Help prevent overcrowding by informing customers when the coffee shop is at capacity, encouraging them to visit at a different time or use takeout services.
Personas
By understanding the users' perspectives throughout the process, our team was able to design an app that is solely focused on the user experience, ultimately building a mobile app that meets their needs.
Information Architecture
User (Beta) Test
Based on feedback from a user test with 20 participants, the focus is on the points that users found most important or identified as lacking in terms of app usage. Below are the 3 major improvements from the UT feedback.
Style Guide
I created an IA to organize information, making it intuitive and easy to navigate, with a focus on content and user interaction.
User Experience and Social Platform Project
Designed for Drink Enthusiasts