College students struggle to build meaningful real-world connections despite the abundance of digital networks. While existing platforms facilitate online interactions, they fail to bridge the gap to offline friendships, leaving 65% of students feeling lonely (Active Minds, May 2024).
Friendly is born to help college students turn online connections into real-life friendships. The app uses algorithm-based friend matching and activity recommendations to nudge users from online chats to real-world interactions. By integrating school and local event information into one platform, Friendly simplifies event discovery and fosters deeper connections.
End-to-end Solo designer
Founder/PM + 5 developers
Continuous work since 2024.10 (MVP in development, aiming to launch this year)
While apps on the market excel at initiating digital connections, our research reveals why they fail to create real-world friendships —— what we call "The Last Mile Problem."
"We chat daily but never meet in person."
"We followed each other over hiking, but never actually went."
"What would we even talk about offline?"
"I want to hang out... but who's interested? I don't want to awkwardly guess who to invite."
The gap between digital connection and real friendship isn’t just technological—it’s psychological.
The feature turns online connections into real-world friendships through shared interests—without the anxiety.
User discovers an interesting event or local spot through Friendly. They want to invite someone they've connected with online but hesitate: "Is it too forward to ask? I hope I don’t seem weird…”
The one-click Meetup button eliminates friction with always-visible placement. Normalizing and simplifying invitations reduces anxiety while increasing meetup acceptance.
A user finds a new restaurant and wants a companion so that they can try out more food. They wonder, "Who among my connections would actually want to join?"
The Meetup button surfaces: Friends who recently saved/liked this place; Connections with "Foodie" tags in their profiles; Users who marked themselves as "Looking for dining buddies".
After bonding over the same interest in chats, two users never actually meet up. The connection fades despite their obvious compatibility.
The app surfaces personalized event recommendations for each connection, highlighting mutual interests and showing recommended activities.
Friendly is redefining how students form real-world connections through its campus-verified platform. By seamlessly integrating event discovery with one-tap meetup planning, the app directly addresses college loneliness at its source - the gap between online chats and real-world interactions. The integration with NYU’s official systems provides trusted verification, while partnerships with campus clubs ensure a steady pipeline of events. As Friendly prepares for its Fall 2025 launch, it demonstrates how intentional design can transform digital connections into thriving campus communities.
True connection design addresses psychological barriers (like fear of rejection) as much as technical ones—proven by our anxiety-reducing features like pre-written invites.
Asking 'why' behind design requests uncovered deeper user needs, saving iterations while delivering better solutions.
Embracing flexibility in fast-paced environments allowed me to adapt designs quickly while staying aligned to evolving user and business needs.
Building a design system mid-project cut iteration time by 40% while ensuring consistency across evolving features.
I’m a product-focused UX/UI Designer with 3+ years of experience leading end-to-end design processes for web and mobile applications. Proven ability to translate user research and business goals into intuitive, data-driven interfaces that increase engagement, conversion, and operational efficiency.
2023.09 - Present / Founding UX/UI Designer
Kibra Athleisure Brand
2025.04 - 2025.08 / Shopify E-commerce Website UX/UI Designer
SimplyFriendly Inc.
2024.10 - 2025.06 / Mobile App Founding Designer
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
2024.06 - 2025.02 / UXUI Designer, Researcher
Rutgers University, Human-Computer Interaction Lab
2024.01 - 2024.05 / UXUI Researcher
Data Storytelling, LLC
2023.09 - 2023.12 / Volunteer Website Designer
2023.06 - 2023.08 / Extern UXUI Designer via Rutgers MBS Externship Exchange
Sleep No More, Shanghai
2022.06 – 2023.01 / Local Company Manager
2020.11 – 2022.05 / Assistant Company Manager
2017.06 – 2017.08 / Production Intern
End-to-end Product Cycle, Hi-Fi Prototyping, User Research, User Interview, User Testing, Responsive Design, Agile Methodology, Cross-Functional Team Leadership, Shopify Development, Conversion Optimization
Figma (expert), Jitter, Miro, Shopify, Webflow, Spline
Master of Business & Science
UX Design
Rutgers University / May, 2024
Bachelor of Arts
Theater (Set Design & StageManagement), Minor in Art
Rutgers University / January, 2019
Creating and crafting brings me the state of flow.
Here's a glimpse of my theatre designs, photography, doodles, and rubberstamp creations.
