DISCOVER PROJECT
3 min read
Shway – Social Discovery App
Tinder for plans. Scaled to 7000+ users and 1000+ events
MY ROLE
Product Designer, Product, Dev
DURATION
4 months
TEAM
3
TL;DR
Shway is a plan-first social app that helps users discover, host, and join real-world activities — from tennis games to food walks. Instead of swiping on people, users swipe on plans.. It's like "Tinder for plans"
I co-founded the startup and with the team of 8 built and launched a working MAP. It was a success attracting 7000+ users hosting 1000+ events with just a mere ₹3.5 Cost Per Install
The Initial Challenge
Ever wanted to play tennis, but your friends were busy or just weren’t interested — leaving you to cancel plans and sit lonely at home?
People want to go out.
They don’t want to go alone.
Their friends are often busy, uninterested, or just hard to coordinate with.
Discovery: Listening to Users
We set out to understand what prevents people from acting on their intent to socialize. Our approach:
Quantitative Survey: 100+ responses from students, working professionals, hobbyists
Qualitative Interviews: 20+ semi-structured user calls to understand users in-depth
Insights:
60% people face plan cancellation issues
>50% people are interested to make plans with new people
57% people believe that new experiences will positively impact them. Discover interesting plans happening near them
Based on these insights, here’s what people really needed:
Reliability of plans
“I want to make plans that don’t get cancelled last minute.”Awareness of what’s happening nearby
“I often miss events or activities because I don’t know they exist.”Reducing awkwardness in meeting strangers
“I don’t want to start with random bios or forced small talk"Flexibility in creating or joining
“Sometimes I want to host, sometimes I just want to quickly join”
DEFINING
We reframed the social app experience:
❌ People-first → ✔️ Plan-first
Instead of matching on profiles, users swipe through curated plans. If they join and get accepted, they get invited into the group chat.
We designed two key user journeys to understand different touchpoints while using an app like this to understand the potential frustration & happiness points.
The Host: Wants to create an event and attract relevant people
The Attendee: Browses plans, swipes to join
We then created an IA outlining all touch points of the app.
DESIGN
Frictionless Onboarding:
Users drop right into Explore after selecting a few interests. No forced profile setup upfront. We only ask for a profile when users swipe right on a plan.Swiping on Plans, not People:
Each card shows the event name, date, host, and vibe. Users swipe right to request to join.
Matching UX:
Once a host accepts, users get a "You matched!" screen with direct access to the event group chat.Event Chat UI:
A shared group chat opens for every matched event — nudging participants to coordinate, vibe-check, and meet.
ANALYTICS
We used tools like Firebase, Sentry & Metabase to capture errors, click events and get data on various metrics and parameters
Me in Dev role 🫢
Given my background in tech (HTML, CSS, JS, Python), I stepped into development once the designs were stable. With the help of GPT-powered solutions and my prior experience, I was able to implement"
Implement basic APIs (Django + React Native)
Fix layout and styling issues
Collaborate faster with devs to ship reliably
ITERATE. ITERATE. ITERATE. 🫢
After every rollout, we conducted user interviews, reviewed app session recordings, tracked behavioral analytics, and gathered in-app feedback to rapidly test and iterate. Through this continuous loop of learning, two major wins surfaced.
*1
Improving Trust & Retention for Women Users
Problem: High churn from women within 48 hours.
Response: Focus group of 8 women helped us understand trust issues with profile quality.
Fixes:
Made profile pic mandatory
Allowed multiple photos
Optional fields: location, work, profession, Instagram handle
Outcome: Female retention improved 2.3x
*2
Boosting Event Chat Activity
Problem: High match rate, low message volume.
Insight: Users were unaware they had new chats — poor visibility and no nudges.
Fixes:
Opened chat immediately on match screen
Added chat redirection on event click
Introduced unread message badges in bottom nav
Outcome: 🟢 Messages per event increased 200%
Metrics
As of now, we had a great success in running the app
