Ingroup

Join a vibrant network where opportunity meets action

Client

Ingroup

Tools

Figma

Services

UX Design & Research, Prototyping, Logo, Branding

Project Overview

As a UI/UX designer, I embarked on the design journey for Ingroup, a professional networking platform designed to help people connect, grow, and collaborate within meaningful communities — much like LinkedIn, but with a sharper focus on cohorts, peer-to-peer mentoring, and group-driven interactions.

Ingroup was born from a simple insight: while many platforms connect people professionally, they often lack genuine peer group dynamics, guided knowledge exchange, and trust-based cohorts. My role was to design a platform that would bridge this gap — intuitive, engaging, and tailored to help people not just grow careers, but grow together.

Goal

The primary goal was to design a responsive web app that facilitates:

Professional networking and discovery
Cohort-based learning and collaboration.
Mentorship programs, events, and content sharing.
A human-first, clean, and minimal UI to encourage real engagement.

Empathize

Conducted user interviews with professionals, freelancers, and students.
Ensuring Secure Document Verification
Understood the need for safe, cohort-based groups for learning and sharing.

Define

Created user personas
Mapped core needs like: trusted connections, exposure, peer feedback, and relevant opportunities.
Defined the product structure around cohorts, profiles, feeds, and networking utilities.

Ideate

Held design studio sessions with stakeholders and users.
Sketched user flows for onboarding, profile building, feed engagement, cohort formation, and direct messaging.
Prioritized features based on user impact vs. effort (MoSCoW method).

Design

Built a design system with scalable components: cards, tabs, modals, avatars, and buttons — ensuring consistency across the app.
Created high-fidelity Figma prototypes
Used a neutral, friendly color palette to promote inclusivity and reduce visual fatigue

Test

Ran multiple usability tests with users in different industries.
Identified areas for improvement: cohort discovery was unclear, event creation needed better labeling.
Iterated the flows, simplified content hierarchy, and introduced progressive onboarding.

Key Features

Cohort-Based Communities:

Private and public groups where users collaborate and grow together.

Content Creation Tools:

Share posts, documents, or external links easily.

Smart Discovery:

AI-based recommendations for cohorts, jobs, and people.

Interactive Feed:

Tailored content stream per cohort and global feed.

In-App Messaging:

DM individuals or group chats with cohorts.

Event Hub:

Host or join events, webinars, and mentorship sessions.

Growth Tracker:

Visual indicators of participation, endorsements, and impact.

Designs - Click through Prototype (Figma)

Challenge

Designing Cohorts Intuitively: Balancing privacy, relevance, and ease of discovery without creating cognitive overload.
Avoiding LinkedIn Clones: Keeping the interface unique yet familiar — we focused on minimalism, warmth, and clarity.
Keeping Users Engaged: Unlike large networks, small cohorts risk drop-off — so we baked in reminders, micro-rewards, and onboarding flows that encourage participation.

Outcome

The final prototype was tested with a diverse set of users — from students to senior professionals — and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive:

92% found the UI clear and inviting.
86% said they’d use it weekly for meaningful conversations.
Key cohorts like “Women in UX”, “Remote Developers” and “Startup Founders” became active test groups with over 80% engagement in the first 14 days.

Takeaways

Design for Depth, Not Just Scale: Smaller, more relevant interactions often beat mass networking.
Guided Onboarding Matters: A smooth first-time experience sets the tone for engagement.
Cohorts Are the Future: People want to grow with others who understand their context.
Keep UI Warm & Human: Especially for professional tools, emotional design builds trust and adoption.