Challenge: Organizing Secret Santa can be tricky with issues like name drawing, anonymity, wish lists, and deadlines. Email threads and group chats often cause confusion. A simple, centralized platform is needed to manage everything while keeping the fun intact.

Task: To create SecretSanta, an intuitive app that simplifies the entire Secret Santa process by automating name drawing, sharing wish lists privately, and setting deadline allowing friends to focus on the joy of giving and receiving gifts.

In my research plan, my main research questions are:

• How do you organize a Secret Santa exchange with friends or colleagues? 

• What challenges do you encounter in keeping everything coordinated?

• What tools or methods have you used in the past to manage Secret Santa exchanges? How effective were they? 

1. Participants prefer apps with straightforward setups and minimal complexity. They expressed frustration with apps that were difficult to navigate or required too many steps to organize their gift exchange. 

2. They indicated that having a way to easily share gift preferences or product ideas with their Secret Santa partner was a major benefit. This feature helped alleviate the stress of guessing gift preferences.

3. They wanted a system where they could confidently trust that their matches would remain private and secure throughout the event.

My high-fidelity prototype provided a seamless mobile experience, beginning with a simple homepage that displays any notifications for any of their groups. It then guided users through the basic navigation of group creation and inviting members.

To improve this prototype further, I conducted three user testing sessions, which led me to these main revisions:

Conclusion: In designing the Secret Santa app, I focused on enhancing the user experience by adding features that allow users to view important notifications, event details, and their group activities. The app now provides a space for users to manage their wishlist items and customize their profiles, offering a more personalized and organized experience. These additions aim to create an intuitive platform where users can easily navigate their holiday plans, stay updated, and enjoy a seamless Secret Santa experience. 

Future Improvements: This project was completed during winter break, making it the perfect season to develop this prototype! If I had more time, I would have liked to:

• Develop a gift suggestion feature powered by user preferences or interests, streamlining the gift-selection process.

• Add more festive colors such as the iconic red and green for Christmas.

Reflection: 

• By incorporating user feedback, I focused on addressing issues such as visual clutter, outdated aesthetics, and usability concerns, resulting in a more intuitive and enjoyable experience.

• The use of bright red and complementary shades played a crucial role in creating a modern, visually engaging look while clearly defining key sections for better navigation. 

• Additionally, the incorporation of ample white space between elements enhanced the layout’s clarity and balance. By reducing visual clutter and allowing content to breathe, the design now feels more organized and user-friendly, enabling users to focus on what truly matters.