2026

Mobile UX & Development, HCI Research

Bridging Qualitative Research & Mobile Development

TownHappening was created to eliminate local event discovery fragmentation by transforming raw user insights into a responsive, privacy-conscious mobile application.

Phase 1: Human-Centered Research & Interaction Design

  • Qualitative Discovery: Conducted semi-structured interviews with 5 to 10 participants across a diverse demographic (ages 29–63) to uncover barriers in finding community events.

  • Key Findings: Revealed widespread frustration with unreliable social media algorithms, missing logistical details (cost, parking), and strong resistance to unnecessary personal data collection.

  • Iterative Design: Translated user requirements into low-fidelity wireframes, conducted usability evaluations to reduce navigation friction, and designed a high-fidelity prototype focused on accessibility and upfront transparency.

Phase 2: Solo Mobile Application Engineering

  • Cross-Platform Build: Engineered the complete application from scratch using Flutter and Dart in under 5 weeks.

  • State Management & Persistence: Implemented global state management using Provider paired with SharedPreferences for persistent local data storage under tight build deadlines.

  • UI & Native Features: Built responsive UI components featuring custom collapsible headers, swipeable color-coded category chips, real-time filtering, dynamic location switching, tap-to-map navigation links, and native event sharing via share_plus.


    Live Demo: https://iu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/t/1_ywnc5dlu

Mission

Mission

To reconnect local communities by transforming qualitative user research into an intuitive, privacy-first mobile app that makes finding and sharing events effortless without relying on invasive tracking algorithms.

To reconnect local communities by transforming qualitative user research into an intuitive, privacy-first mobile app that makes finding and sharing events effortless without relying on invasive tracking algorithms.

Challenge

Challenge

Community announcements are heavily fragmented across algorithm-driven social media platforms, making it difficult for residents to find complete, reliable event details. Users expressed strong resistance to creating forced accounts or sharing personal data just to view local happenings. Furthermore, designing and engineering a fully functional cross-platform app to address these issues required navigating a tight 5-week build deadline as a solo developer.

Community announcements are heavily fragmented across algorithm-driven social media platforms, making it difficult for residents to find complete, reliable event details. Users expressed strong resistance to creating forced accounts or sharing personal data just to view local happenings. Furthermore, designing and engineering a fully functional cross-platform app to address these issues required navigating a tight 5-week build deadline as a solo developer.

Solution

Solution

Combining qualitative UX research with Flutter mobile engineering, TownHappening delivers an upfront, zero-friction discovery experience. The app features swipeable category chips, instant keyword searching, local data persistence, and native Android sharing—giving users direct access to event costs, locations, and details without data collection barriers.

Combining qualitative UX research with Flutter mobile engineering, TownHappening delivers an upfront, zero-friction discovery experience. The app features swipeable category chips, instant keyword searching, local data persistence, and native Android sharing—giving users direct access to event costs, locations, and details without data collection barriers.

Result

Result

Developed as a solo project during an intensive sprint at Indiana University Indianapolis, TownHappening bridges qualitative user research and mobile engineering. Grounded in primary research with 5 to 10 participants (ages 29–63), the platform addresses core pain points around algorithmic event fatigue and data privacy. The resulting high-fidelity prototype was built into a responsive mobile application using Flutter, Dart, Provider state management, and native Android sharing capabilities.

Developed as a solo project during an intensive sprint at Indiana University Indianapolis, TownHappening bridges qualitative user research and mobile engineering. Grounded in primary research with 5 to 10 participants (ages 29–63), the platform addresses core pain points around algorithmic event fatigue and data privacy. The resulting high-fidelity prototype was built into a responsive mobile application using Flutter, Dart, Provider state management, and native Android sharing capabilities.