INDUSTRY:
TRAVEL, LIVING ABROAD
CLIENT:
BELONG APP FOR IRONHACK
YEAR:
2026
ROLE & WORK
Researcher, content designer, UX/UI designer.
Context
Living abroad has its ups and downs. But there are some protective activities that keep our minds and mental health in order. This is a UX/UI case study about immigration and moving abroad.
Only Europe has around 87 million international migrants, and there is a rise of multi-expats that move more than once.
We had to design a native responsive app for a passion project for Ironhack.
Method: Lean UX Canvas, stakeholder interviews, questionnaires and data analysis, business and competitive analysis, user interviews, affinity diagrams, user journey maps, user personas, problem statements, concept and usability testing, ideation crazy 8’s, sitemaps, feature prioritization, task flows, user flows, concept and user/usability testing, moodboards, style tiles, low-fi, mid-fi, and hi-fi design and prototyping.
Challenge
In the research, the focus was on peer matching by vital moment, shared experiences, and low-pressure activities. We learned that showing people first creates an automatic dating association, even if the product goal is different.
Large profile photos, vertical scrolling of faces, and CTAs like “Go to profile” trigger a Tinder-like behavior by default, so we had to iterate to make it all about joining communities, groups, and experiences.
Result
We focused our product in:
Peer matching by vital moment (with a personalized quiz)
Shared experiences in a feed with voice or video, because our research has indicated that they trust real experiences better than official information.
Low-pressure activities with others.
Belonging and migration timeline so you can see in what part of the process of cultural adjustment you are in.
Migrant-to-migrant matching with locals
Mentors: so you can match with people who have lived abroad for a long time.
Easygoing emotional check-in, because they normalize their anxiety and don’t seek help, so they need a safe and easygoing space to build up resilience.
