Buddy
Overview
Buddy is a consumer-facing app that helps people who ride the subway alone. It creates a buddy system to help people who ride the subway alone to find a companion to commute with. It helps users to filter the most suitable companions according to their preferences. The app also has a navigation function and an alarm service for security. Overall, Buddy app can help people to improve the safety of riding the subway.
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UX Design
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2025 - Present
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Teamwork with UX designers and researchers
My Contributions
I was the primary UX&UI designer of Buddy app. The process revolved around defining, designing, iterating, and prototyping the key functions of the Buddy services. I delivered task flow, info architecture, lo-fi and hi-fi wireframes, and interactive prototypes.
Potential Impact
↑60%
Subway Safety
↓90%
Fear of commuting alone
$$$
Mobile Platform Yield
Background
According to statistics and survey data, more than ten murders have been committed in the NYC subway in 2025. During the same period last year, the number of murders was six. Robberies are also up by about 34%, Felony Assault is up by about 17%. More than 80% of people worry about their safety when riding the subway alone. The probability of encountering danger when traveling alone, especially at night, will increase by 30%.
Challenge
"How to improve subway safety for commuters in the most efficient way? "
Solution Highlights
New users onboarding
For first-time users, after login, they will be guided to
Created account → set up personal information →
set up buddy preferences → upload ID for verification
Before completing registration, users need to fill in their personal information and buddy preferences, including gender and personality. At the end, users need to provide ID to verify their real identity to ensure security.
Select trip & buddy
The first step to start a journey is to select the route the user wants to take, and then filter the best match for their route based on the buddy preference the user filled in the registration, and the user can adjust the preference in the filter at any time.
Match buddy & Get Navigation
After matching the buddy, the navigation will tell the user where to meet at the subway station and the real time location of the user's buddy. After the buddy meets, the subway trip begins with real-time location tracking. When the user arrives at the destination, a floating box will appear to add the buddy as a friend so that the user can continue to commute together as a buddy in the future.
Who are we designing for?
The target users are the many types of people who commute in New York, such as students and commuters, who take the subway as their primary transportation almost every day.
User Flow
The key feature of this app is to let user find a buddy selected depending on user's preference. I created task flow for steps a user typically goes through in oder to complete the trip with buddy.
