Curious about a person nearby? Ever wished you said hello, but didn't? You are not alone. Most of us find it extremely difficult to approach random strangers. Not any more.
On September 7, 2023, atop the famed Stockholm Under Stjärnorna rooftop bar, 110 young adults were introduced to Hiyou. Amidst a backdrop of city lights, they connected, experimented, and experienced the app's potential.
COMMUNICATION REINVENTED
Society has never been so bad at talking face-to-face. Put us online and we intuitively like, share and comment. We don’t think twice about interacting with strangers. But in real life? We actively avoid interaction with people we don’t know. It’s too awkward. Too scary. Fear of rejection holds us back. Rather than do it wrong, we do nothing. This lost confidence in basic communication is unravelling social ties. Our phones – the very devices connecting us to everything and everywhere – are disconnecting us from the people right in front of us. Chance meetings have no chance when we favour screen-to-screen over face-to-face. The result? An epidemic of loneliness. A death of social spontaneity. A disconnect with the people and potential happening right under our noses. Who hasn’t regretted not saying a simple ‘Hello’ – and then imagining all the ‘what if’s?’ that could have emerged?
HIYOU APP
CHANCE PUTS YOU IN THE SAME LOCATION. HIYOU GETS YOU TALKING.
2019 – ONGOING
ROLE
Founder
Design Strategist
UX- and UI Designer
WORK
RESEARCH
Competitive Analysis • Trend Scans • Focus Groups & In-Depth Interviews • Download Sessions
ANALYSIS
Design Synthesis • Data Insights • Identification of Opportunity Areas • Co-Analysis • Design Strategy
DELIVERY
Innovation Workshops to Explore, Ideate and Iterate • Concept Briefs • Co-Creation • UX and UI Design • Prototyping • User Testing • Implementation & Support • Quality Assurance
RECREATING ONLINE BEHAVIOURS IN REAL LIFE
Our mission is to make it as natural to interact in real life as it is online. By using the same tech that has disconnected society we bring people together, with tools and strategies to support rewarding conversation that leads to real connections. This is Hiyou.
THE HIYOU VALUE PROPOSITION
Hiyou is a unique communication platform. Digitally connecting people within visible range, Hiyou first initiates, then inspires, interactions between strangers. With in-app social matching tools, chat starters, games and AI guidance, Hiyou helps start, sustain and shape conversations.
LESS OF AN APP, MORE A SOCIAL SHIFT
Lack of face-to-face communication skills is a spiraling social problem. Hiyou solves it. Today we hide behind tech. Hiyou utilizes that tech to create tickets-to-talk that re-spark curiosity for the real-life happening right around us, right now. It’s Fate meets AI. Hiyou acts as the social middleman, managing your conversation for interactions that lead to real connections and greater social confidence. With Hiyou anyone can go out and have satisfying conversations.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Stranger fear is a global phenomenon, meaning there are as many potential Hiyou users as there are phones. Hiyou creates a hyper-locally relevant new near market with a publicly co-created platform for which applications are endless. • Hiyou takes the FOMO that addicts us to social media and transfers it to our ephemeral surroundings of right here, right now. Who’s here that I must not miss meeting? Hiyou is irresistibly simple and, like real-life conversations, is anonymous; there’s no need to provide personal information • Hiyou fundamentally transforms how we communicate, re-igniting the potential of being out amidst new people