This project was awarded Best Overall Design at the UF GUD 2025 Design-A-Thon.
Playground was created for a 24-hour Design-A-Thon, hosted by the University of Florida's Gator User Design club. Based on the theme "Reimagining Community," my team designed an app to help adults discover and connect with communities through play. Objective
Finding community as adults can be challenging. Playground encourages adults of all ages to play and explore with their community, calling back to carefree play in childhood.
Using personality tests, chatrooms, and a live map, users navigate in-person events based on the 8 play personalities.
Audience
Adults looking for community: ex. post-grad, just moved, elderly, people who are bored, people who want new experiences
Deliverables
Audience
Adults looking for community: ex. post-grad, just moved, elderly, people who are bored, people who want new experiences
Deliverables
Figma prototype, promotional video
Team
Anabel Dent (motion and branding)
Caitlyn Wong (branding and wireframes)
Brelynn Jones (wireframes and promotional video)
Ashley Collins (wireframes and promotional video)
Researching Our Audience
Primarily seeks: belonging, connection, and community through shared interests and values
They want platforms that are: fun, accessible, inclusive, and well-moderated
Why: without community, adults feel lonely, stressed, and unsure of how to find like-minded people
Incorporating more play boosts creativity, happiness, and well-being.
How: Playground uses the framework of 8 play personality types to match users with communities that align with their natural ways of interacting and having fun.
The personalities include: The Collector, The Competitor, The Creator, The Director, The Explorer, The Joker, The Mover, and The Storyteller.
User Journey
- Upon onboarding, users take a playful personality quiz that matches them with one of 8 unique characters, each representing different social strengths and interests.
- Users have access to chatrooms and community boards sorted by personality types.
- Encouraging exploration by recommending city-wide events, pop-up activities, and hidden local gems tailored to each user’s personality type.
By blending digital connection with in-person engagement, Playground reimagines how adults find belonging in their communities, making social discovery feel approachable, personalized, and most importantly, fun.
Process
To navigate the 24 hours strategically, we divided roles in our research after determining a hierarchy of our most necessary deliverables. I defined the play personalities and associated activities that would be used in the app's language.
This helped me get to know the personalities more, aiding in developing mascots. I created their visual styles and added motion. I created icons in addition to the general development of branding.
