Expressoh!
Connect over coffee: meet professionals, build relationships, grow your network.
NYC connection paradox, connected yet isolated
You’d think in a city like New York, meeting new people would be easy. But for many grad students, young professionals, and career-changers, it’s actually the opposite. Everyone’s busy, routines are packed, and starting a conversation can feel awkward. From our early interviews, it was clear—people want to connect, they just don’t know how or when.
What if meeting someone in your field felt as easy as grabbing a coffee with a friend?
Connecting young professionals across the city over shared values, goals, with a cup of coffee
Where Coffee Meets Connection
Swipe to Explore Cafés
Discover local cafés that fit your vibe.
Smart Matching
AI assisted chat
Rewards
The users loved…
What worked, what didnot
Insight to Iteration
Insight 1
Users needed a clearer, more focused rewards screen—leading to a simplified design with integrated progress tracking.
Updates
Simplified Language
Reduced visual clutter
Progress feature moved to this screen from a separate screen
Insight 2
Users found the anonymity disconnecting and wanted to see faces earlier to feel more comfortable and engaged.
"I would like to see their faces. Seeing the real person's face humanizes them."
Initial Hypothesis
Updates
People view updated from showing avatar to real faces
Daily Matches in Chat tab, moved to "Match" tab that just includes people matched previously heart tab that included both people and cafes
Insight 3
The Home page was redesigned to prioritize upcoming meetups and café discovery, shifting the focus from user avatars to shared spaces for more intentional and intuitive connections.
Updates
Upcoming Meetup Section Added
Join the Table Redesigned, Now highlights cafés instead of people; users see who’s joined after selecting a location.
Café Content Centralized in home
Find Your People,
One Café at a Time
You’ve swiped through cafés, connected with your daily match, and scheduled a meetup—now the Home screen brings it all together.
Revisit your liked cafés, see your upcoming meetup, and explore spontaneous tables you can join in real time.
Whether you’re planning ahead or showing up in the moment, Espressoh! turns every café visit into a chance to connect.
Connection needs context
Users were more open to networking when they could see real faces and shared café preferences
Small UX changes—like simplifying navigation and labels—helped users feel more confident exploring the app.
User testing challenged our assumptions and pushed the design to be more human, intentional, and adaptable.