Personalized Exploration App for NYC’s Hidden Gems

Premise

Discovering new places in a city as vast as New York can quickly turn from exciting to exhausting. With countless options on mainstream platforms, users often experience decision fatigue—feeling overwhelmed by too many choices and unsure of where to go. Popular destinations get overcrowded, while smaller, hidden gems are often buried in the noise. This leaves many frustrated, resorting to familiar spots instead of venturing into new experiences.

A new, fun way to discover locations

Role: Product Designer

Type: Launched iOS App

Duration: 2 months

Tools: Figma, Midjourney

OMTOU is an early-stage conceptual startup aiming to revolutionize how users explore NYC by offering personalized and intuitive recommendations. As their first and only designer, I took OMTOU’s vision of being a platform for adventure-seekers and produced designs for their MVP and handed off for development, resulting in 4.8/5 star rating on the App Store.

What the hell is OMTOU?

Can’t make up your mind on where to eat and go out after?

Research

Oversaturation of locations and decision fatigue.

We sent out a survey to over 130 New Yorkers to know what it’s like having a new restaurant pop up around the corner every weekend. We asked how they discover new places around the city and their attitude towards using existing review apps to pick and choose.

35% of respondents mentioned feeling overwhelmed with choices on platforms such as Google Maps and Yelp, leading to decision fatigue. At the same time, 31% of users noted that popular spots tend to get overcrowded quickly, while smaller, hidden gems are often overlooked.

Design Process

The survey also revealed what parameters users truly cared about when picking a location. Asking about their preferred spending range informed that we will need an intuitive way to choose their budget. Most people preferred a location 10-20 min away so we knew proximity was important too. Lastly, atmosphere of the space was amongst the top considerations for a restaurant/bar.

Budget, Proximity and Atmosphere

Filter Wheel Parameters

  • Budget

  • Proximity

  • Atmosphere

OMTOU guides users through a simple, engaging journey. First-time users start with onboarding screens to set the tone. From the main menu, they filter destinations by budget, distance, or merchant type, or opt for the mystery box for a surprise. Navigation offers in-app guidance or third-party options, leading to an AI-generated postcard upon arrival. The flow keeps discovery intuitive, personal, and fun.

Linear UX flow

Final Design

1. Setting the tone with a playful welcome

The onboarding experience builds trust and rapport by introducing a playful mascot to welcome users. This silly cartoon character delivers a warm message, paired with heartbeat-like haptics, creating a fun and approachable first impression that sets the tone for exploration.

2. Simplifying Choices for a Better Experience

Decision fatigue is real, especially in a city with endless options like NYC. By offering two simple toggles for distance and budget, we balanced user preferences with the spontaneity of discovery. To further enhance the experience, we designed six unique categories, catering to a variety of moods and cravings, ensuring there’s something for everyone.

3. Navigating with Mystery and Flexibility

We initially used Apple Maps for navigation but later prototyped an in-app screen with real-time location data and estimated arrival times, giving users the option to switch to third-party apps if preferred. Staying true to OMTOU’s mysterious appeal, the navigation screen hides the destination name and gradually reveals information in layers, keeping the sense of surprise alive throughout the journey.

OMTOU helps users capture their experiences with a personalized digital postcard upon arrival at their destination. Featuring details like the date, merchant name, mystery box, and an AI-generated category-specific background, these snapshots create visually enticing mementos. Designed for sharing on social media or personal keepsakes, the postcards encourage users to celebrate their journeys and build a vibrant community around the excitement of discovery.

4. Capture and share your adventure

User Testing

Real world insights

I conducted user testing with an early MVP of OMTOU to gather feedback on its core features, including the filter wheel, mystery box, and navigation flow. Users praised the intuitive filter design but highlighted areas for improvement, such as adding more clarity to mood categories and refining the pacing of the mystery box reveal. They also suggested enhancing the in-app navigation experience with visual progress indicators. These insights provided a clear roadmap for the next iteration, focusing on making the app more intuitive and engaging while maintaining its element of surprise.

Takeaways & Next Steps

  • OMTOU is still quite a ways away from what it sets out to be. Crucial business considerations such as how to monetize the product and proper marketing campaigns are amongst the most urgent issues that will unfortunately outlive my time on the team. Just like a company’s business model, its product will undoubtedly undergo numerous changes and iterations throughout its lifecycle and it’s important for design to adapt to these new factors and adjust accordingly.

  • At times, it’s about pushing out quick prototypes to test if a solution is viable while sometimes it’s about really finessing the details of a particular screen. Regardless of the situation, the dev team will almost always push for design and it is up to the designers to provide the right complexity level of instruction with the right degree of fidelity at the right time.

  • But the way in which those instructions are conveyed also plays an often overlooked role in how your design is received. In order to deliver a successful product, the engineers and designers need to be on the same wavelength and speaking the same language. At the end of the day, engineers are humans and some may even end up becoming your friends, as in my case. And people always receive criticism better and give better feedback when they know their voices are being heard.

  1. Add visual cues to mood categories for a more intuitive filter experience.

  2. Adjust mystery box pacing to heighten anticipation.

  3. Introduce progress indicators to enhance in-app navigation.

  4. Expand destination database with user reviews and AI-driven suggestions.

  5. Implement in-app prompts to gather ongoing user feedback.

Next Steps