Fika / Connect Over Coffee
Fika / Connect Over Coffee
Fika / Connect Over Coffee
Fika
Connecting creatives over coffee
Fika
Connecting creatives over coffee
Fika
Connecting creatives over coffee
Meet Alan at Dimes for a flat white.
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introduce yourself,
Max 140 chars
E.g. writing dialogue (for a short story I'm working on) and would love to get your opinion on it.
Send Invite
Alan will have 24 hours to respond.
Overview
The pandemic reshaped how we connect with one another. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has even called loneliness the world's number one epidemic. Following the pandemic, Will, Jamie and I worked in various remote design jobs and felt this problem acutely ourselves. Sitting at home all day behind a screen felt strange. In the past, making time to meet with a mentor, client, or designer we admire has opened doors to new collaborations, taught us skills, and provided inspiration countless times. Often, the people we first met in-person over a simple cup of coffee have blossomed into our most fruitful professional relationships. We wouldn’t be the designers we are without those interactions.Fika aims to solve our increasing isolation by connecting local creatives for in-person coffee chats. We’ve often wished there was an easy way to find an inspiring musician, painter, or filmmaker nearby and invite them to coffee. So, we created one.
Role
Product Strategy UX Design
Team
Growth Co-design
Timeline
6 months
Impact
2,034 creatives Partnership with Industrious Coworking
Overview
The pandemic reshaped how we connect with one another. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has even called loneliness the world's number one epidemic. Following the pandemic, Will, Jamie and I worked in various remote design jobs and felt this problem acutely ourselves. Sitting at home all day behind a screen felt strange. In the past, making time to meet with a mentor, client, or designer we admire has opened doors to new collaborations, taught us skills, and provided inspiration countless times. Often, the people we first met in-person over a simple cup of coffee have blossomed into our most fruitful professional relationships. We wouldn’t be the designers we are without those interactions.Fika aims to solve our increasing isolation by connecting local creatives for in-person coffee chats. We’ve often wished there was an easy way to find an inspiring musician, painter, or filmmaker nearby and invite them to coffee. So, we created one.
Role
Product Strategy UX Design
Team
Growth Co-design
Timeline
6 months
Impact
2,034 creatives Partnership with Industrious Coworking
Overview
The pandemic reshaped how we connect with one another. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has even called loneliness the world's number one epidemic. Following the pandemic, Will, Jamie and I worked in various remote design jobs and felt this problem acutely ourselves. Sitting at home all day behind a screen felt strange. In the past, making time to meet with a mentor, client, or designer we admire has opened doors to new collaborations, taught us skills, and provided inspiration countless times. Often, the people we first met in-person over a simple cup of coffee have blossomed into our most fruitful professional relationships. We wouldn’t be the designers we are without those interactions.Fika aims to solve our increasing isolation by connecting local creatives for in-person coffee chats. We’ve often wished there was an easy way to find an inspiring musician, painter, or filmmaker nearby and invite them to coffee. So, we created one.
Role
Product Strategy UX Design
Team
Growth Co-design
Timeline
6 months
Impact
2,034 creatives Partnership with Industrious Coworking
Problem
Creative professionals work in isolation, yet ideas thrive on collaboration and inspiration.
Creatives searched for community through apps like Soho House, Bumble Bizz, Parlor Social, or working from cafes, although behaviorally users didn't take initiative to meet in person. We conducted 50 interviews with creatives, ranging from freelancers to in-house designers, to understand their needs. Our research revealed a strong desire for in-person creative communities, with individuals echoing sentiments like:
Problem
Creative professionals work in isolation, yet ideas thrive on collaboration and inspiration.
Creatives searched for community through apps like Soho House, Bumble Bizz, Parlor Social, or working from cafes, although behaviorally users didn't take initiative to meet in person. We conducted 50 interviews with creatives, ranging from freelancers to in-house designers, to understand their needs. Our research revealed a strong desire for in-person creative communities, with individuals echoing sentiments like:
Problem
Creative professionals work in isolation, yet ideas thrive on collaboration and inspiration.
Creatives searched for community through apps like Soho House, Bumble Bizz, Parlor Social, or working from cafes, although behaviorally users didn't take initiative to meet in person. We conducted 50 interviews with creatives, ranging from freelancers to in-house designers, to understand their needs. Our research revealed a strong desire for in-person creative communities, with individuals echoing sentiments like:
We met on Fika and now attend all sorts of creative events throughout the city.
Graphic Designer and Art Director
After meeting on Fika, we collaborated on a shoe commercial.
Creative Director and Videographer
I am a motion graphics designer looking to help folks with anything from social media content to title designs for films to visuals for DJ's.
Motion Designer
Connecting likeminded people for possible collaborations.
Art/Creative Director
Grow my art business and hearing peoples own journey in their respective creative field.
Typography
Host monthly dinner clubs in a small intimate setting to share ideas and meet new people!
Brand Strategist
I've got the props, a small space and the ideas, you have the camera and video skills. Let's find some steady clients and students together
Brand Strategist
Meeting others designers and sharing experiences as creative professionals
Photography
Testing our Hypothesis
How can we best understand the specific needs of creatives?
By intentionally designing a members-only creative community, we curated the quality of work within the platform, making collaborations more intentional. We gained insight into creatives’ styles, the work they showcased, and what they were looking to gain from Fika. Additionally, crafting a location-based experience across all five NYC boroughs helped us identify where creative talent was most concentrated.
Testing our Hypothesis
How can we best understand the specific needs of creatives?
By intentionally designing a members-only creative community, we curated the quality of work within the platform, making collaborations more intentional. We gained insight into creatives’ styles, the work they showcased, and what they were looking to gain from Fika. Additionally, crafting a location-based experience across all five NYC boroughs helped us identify where creative talent was most concentrated.
Testing our Hypothesis
How can we best understand the specific needs of creatives?
By intentionally designing a members-only creative community, we curated the quality of work within the platform, making collaborations more intentional. We gained insight into creatives’ styles, the work they showcased, and what they were looking to gain from Fika. Additionally, crafting a location-based experience across all five NYC boroughs helped us identify where creative talent was most concentrated.
Opportunity
What are creatives looking for in community?
*creatives referring to fashion designers, graphic designers, artists, muralists, product designers
Opportunity
What are creatives looking for in community?
*creatives referring to fashion designers, graphic designers, artists, muralists, product designers
Opportunity
What are creatives looking for in community?
*creatives referring to fashion designers, graphic designers, artists, muralists, product designers
Brainstorming
How can we facilitate creatives to make and maintain relationships?
After exploring various hypotheses, we landed on a simple but powerful hypothesis: What if you could invite a creative whose work inspires you—out for coffee? Traditional networking platforms often result in shallow connections or unanswered messages online. At the same time, creatives are constantly seeking fresh work to learn from—whether it’s a beautifully crafted chair or an experimental graphic. We all know the most rewarding connections occur in person and makes networking a more meaningful experience. Fika showcases inspiring work made by the community itself and turns admiration into action. We intentionally designed the experience so coffee invitations expire after 24 hours—encouraging timely, meaningful connections. Coffee is just the spark. What follows could be a mentorship, a gig, a collaboration, or even a new friend. By starting with a broad concept and observing how users engaged, we were able to narrow the product experience to better serve the diverse, evolving needs of creatives.
Brainstorming
How can we facilitate creatives to make and maintain relationships?
After exploring various hypotheses, we landed on a simple but powerful hypothesis: What if you could invite a creative whose work inspires you—out for coffee? Traditional networking platforms often result in shallow connections or unanswered messages online. At the same time, creatives are constantly seeking fresh work to learn from—whether it’s a beautifully crafted chair or an experimental graphic. We all know the most rewarding connections occur in person and makes networking a more meaningful experience. Fika showcases inspiring work made by the community itself and turns admiration into action. We intentionally designed the experience so coffee invitations expire after 24 hours—encouraging timely, meaningful connections. Coffee is just the spark. What follows could be a mentorship, a gig, a collaboration, or even a new friend. By starting with a broad concept and observing how users engaged, we were able to narrow the product experience to better serve the diverse, evolving needs of creatives.
Brainstorming
How can we facilitate creatives to make and maintain relationships?
After exploring various hypotheses, we landed on a simple but powerful hypothesis: What if you could invite a creative whose work inspires you—out for coffee? Traditional networking platforms often result in shallow connections or unanswered messages online. At the same time, creatives are constantly seeking fresh work to learn from—whether it’s a beautifully crafted chair or an experimental graphic. We all know the most rewarding connections occur in person and makes networking a more meaningful experience. Fika showcases inspiring work made by the community itself and turns admiration into action. We intentionally designed the experience so coffee invitations expire after 24 hours—encouraging timely, meaningful connections. Coffee is just the spark. What follows could be a mentorship, a gig, a collaboration, or even a new friend. By starting with a broad concept and observing how users engaged, we were able to narrow the product experience to better serve the diverse, evolving needs of creatives.
Key Quality
The Fika Profile
The Fika Profile displays all attributes of a creative, including their favorite genre, music taste, intent with Fika, and preview into their creative work. In differentiating Fika from traditional networking applications, we wanted to outline creatives’ personality, including representative projects, inspiration, and niche elements like a members' favorite drink at a cafe.
Key Quality
The Fika Profile
The Fika Profile displays all attributes of a creative, including their favorite genre, music taste, intent with Fika, and preview into their creative work. In differentiating Fika from traditional networking applications, we wanted to outline creatives’ personality, including representative projects, inspiration, and niche elements like a members' favorite drink at a cafe.
Key Quality
The Fika Profile
The Fika Profile displays all attributes of a creative, including their favorite genre, music taste, intent with Fika, and preview into their creative work. In differentiating Fika from traditional networking applications, we wanted to outline creatives’ personality, including representative projects, inspiration, and niche elements like a members' favorite drink at a cafe.
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Key Quality
Fika Explore
When we began designing Fika, our goal was to strike the right balance between open exploration and tailored experiences, especially given creatives are always seeking creative inspiration from a variety of mediums. We wanted creatives to freely discover and connect with others, knowing that a more personalized experience could emerge once we reached a meaningful network of users. To get there, we explored multiple user flows to find the most intuitive ways to support creative exploration.
Key Quality
Fika Explore
When we began designing Fika, our goal was to strike the right balance between open exploration and tailored experiences, especially given creatives are always seeking creative inspiration from a variety of mediums. We wanted creatives to freely discover and connect with others, knowing that a more personalized experience could emerge once we reached a meaningful network of users. To get there, we explored multiple user flows to find the most intuitive ways to support creative exploration.
Key Quality
Fika Explore
When we began designing Fika, our goal was to strike the right balance between open exploration and tailored experiences, especially given creatives are always seeking creative inspiration from a variety of mediums. We wanted creatives to freely discover and connect with others, knowing that a more personalized experience could emerge once we reached a meaningful network of users. To get there, we explored multiple user flows to find the most intuitive ways to support creative exploration.
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Key Quality
Invite to Coffee, Settings, My Coffees
The tablestakes functionality allowed us to test the simple idea of inviting another creative to coffee - would members send and attend a coffee off of someone on the platform, simply from looking at their work and their creative profile?
Key Quality
Invite to Coffee, Settings, My Coffees
The tablestakes functionality allowed us to test the simple idea of inviting another creative to coffee - would members send and attend a coffee off of someone on the platform, simply from looking at their work and their creative profile?
Key Quality
Invite to Coffee, Settings, My Coffees
The tablestakes functionality allowed us to test the simple idea of inviting another creative to coffee - would members send and attend a coffee off of someone on the platform, simply from looking at their work and their creative profile?
Fika Invite to Coffee
Once a creative finds someone they'd like to connect with, they can easily send a coffee invitation directly from that person’s Fika profile. This user experience flips the traditional scheduling dynamic—putting the timing entirely in the recipient’s hands. By anchoring the invite around the recipient's availability, Fika makes it easier to say yes and lowers the friction of meeting up. Starting with this approach led us to rethink how rescheduling and location changes work—especially to accommodate last-minute scheduling on the day of the coffee.
My Coffees
My Coffees offers a clear and intuitive way for members to track both upcoming and past coffee invites. Each chat includes a visible expiration timer, so members know exactly how long they have to respond or connect. By organizing invites chronologically based on their event status, we made it easy to quickly scan and manage all coffee chats in one place.
Settings
As with any networking platform, "Settings" allowed creatives to continuously update any aspect of their Fika profile, whether their primary work, updates in their personality prompts, or update their availability on when to intentionally set aside time to meet for coffee.
Fika Invite to Coffee
Once a creative finds someone they'd like to connect with, they can easily send a coffee invitation directly from that person’s Fika profile. This user experience flips the traditional scheduling dynamic—putting the timing entirely in the recipient’s hands. By anchoring the invite around the recipient's availability, Fika makes it easier to say yes and lowers the friction of meeting up. Starting with this approach led us to rethink how rescheduling and location changes work—especially to accommodate last-minute scheduling on the day of the coffee.
My Coffees
My Coffees offers a clear and intuitive way for members to track both upcoming and past coffee invites. Each chat includes a visible expiration timer, so members know exactly how long they have to respond or connect. By organizing invites chronologically based on their event status, we made it easy to quickly scan and manage all coffee chats in one place.
Settings
As with any networking platform, "Settings" allowed creatives to continuously update any aspect of their Fika profile, whether their primary work, updates in their personality prompts, or update their availability on when to intentionally set aside time to meet for coffee.
User Journey
Identifying Dropoffs
After launching MVP, we noticed significant dropoffs at each step of the Fika product funnel. In future iterations, we focused on how we can improve onboarding, conversion, and retention rates for continuously meeting creatives and design more tailored experiences. Our super users were new creatives in town, freelancers, and drained day job professionals looking to expand their creative outlet and community to bring side projects to life. Creatives retention on Fika varied based on their intention for meeting new creatives in town.
User Journey
Identifying Dropoffs
After launching MVP, we noticed significant dropoffs at each step of the Fika product funnel. In future iterations, we focused on how we can improve onboarding, conversion, and retention rates for continuously meeting creatives and design more tailored experiences. Our super users were new creatives in town, freelancers, and drained day job professionals looking to expand their creative outlet and community to bring side projects to life. Creatives retention on Fika varied based on their intention for meeting new creatives in town.
User Journey
Identifying Dropoffs
After launching MVP, we noticed significant dropoffs at each step of the Fika product funnel. In future iterations, we focused on how we can improve onboarding, conversion, and retention rates for continuously meeting creatives and design more tailored experiences. Our super users were new creatives in town, freelancers, and drained day job professionals looking to expand their creative outlet and community to bring side projects to life. Creatives retention on Fika varied based on their intention for meeting new creatives in town.
Future State
Designing an intent-based experience
As we scaled the platform to over 2,000 creatives, we realized one-size-fits-all networking doesn't serve everyone. While some members sought casual idea exchanges, others were looking for collaborators on specific projects, or small groups to meet in person for deeper connection. Early on, we facilitated manual matches, by triggering weekly texts "We think you should meet…". We also launched Fika Events, a curated set of creative events, from museum hangs, to gallery events to allow creatives to connect. Eventually, we found a clear opportunity to design an intent-based networking experience, one that adapts to each creative’s goals, interests, and preferred ways of connecting based on what creatives input in their onboarding experiences.
Future State
Designing an intent-based experience
As we scaled the platform to over 2,000 creatives, we realized one-size-fits-all networking doesn't serve everyone. While some members sought casual idea exchanges, others were looking for collaborators on specific projects, or small groups to meet in person for deeper connection. Early on, we facilitated manual matches, by triggering weekly texts "We think you should meet…". We also launched Fika Events, a curated set of creative events, from museum hangs, to gallery events to allow creatives to connect. Eventually, we found a clear opportunity to design an intent-based networking experience, one that adapts to each creative’s goals, interests, and preferred ways of connecting based on what creatives input in their onboarding experiences.
Future State
Designing an intent-based experience
As we scaled the platform to over 2,000 creatives, we realized one-size-fits-all networking doesn't serve everyone. While some members sought casual idea exchanges, others were looking for collaborators on specific projects, or small groups to meet in person for deeper connection. Early on, we facilitated manual matches, by triggering weekly texts "We think you should meet…". We also launched Fika Events, a curated set of creative events, from museum hangs, to gallery events to allow creatives to connect. Eventually, we found a clear opportunity to design an intent-based networking experience, one that adapts to each creative’s goals, interests, and preferred ways of connecting based on what creatives input in their onboarding experiences.
Works in Progress
A hypothesis solution called Works In Progress for facilitating project-based coordination
Curated Email Matches
We match made creatives based on creative type and neighborhood, leading to a 49% increase in Fikas sent.
Fika Intentions to facilitate matchmaking
We launched intentions as a way to better understand what creatives wanted from the community.
Works in Progress
A hypothesis solution called Works In Progress for facilitating project-based coordination
Curated Email Matches
We match made creatives based on creative type and neighborhood, leading to a 49% increase in Fikas sent.
Fika Intentions to facilitate matchmaking
We launched intentions as a way to better understand what creatives wanted from the community.
Works in Progress
A hypothesis solution called Works In Progress for facilitating project-based coordination
Curated Email Matches
We match made creatives based on creative type and neighborhood, leading to a 49% increase in Fikas sent.
Fika Intentions to facilitate matchmaking
We launched intentions as a way to better understand what creatives wanted from the community.
Works in Progress
A hypothesis solution called Works In Progress for facilitating project-based coordination
Curated Email Matches
We match made creatives based on creative type and neighborhood, leading to a 49% increase in Fikas sent.
Fika Intentions to facilitate matchmaking
We launched intentions as a way to better understand what creatives wanted from the community.