Recess
Mobile App · Product Designer · 2024
Recess is an online community where young professionals can discover and connect with interest groups on their companies’ time and dime. Tasked with the challenge of building a “better New Yorker” by professor and career designer Harry West in his Human-Centered Design course, we took to the streets to uncover pain points experienced by young transplants, or “New New Yorkers.”
We found that a widening gap had emerged between their expectations and day-to-day reality. While they envisioned a thriving life outside of work—filled with cultural activities and new friendships—they instead faced burnout and lacked the energy to take the necessary steps to build meaningful connections beyond the workplace.
Recess users can discover and join local interests groups, get connected with other young professionals with shared interests, and buy tickets to related events or activities using company-issued credits. The platform bridges the gap between NYC-based corporations and their environments, reliving companies of the added stress of providing useful and mental-health concious benefits to their employees and making it easy for young New Yorkers to easily engage with niche communities that make New York so appealing in the first place.
When designing the user experience and interface for Recess, I wanted to create a experience that allowed for interest group and activity discovery but ultimately focused on creating connections between community members. In our research, we found that New New Yorkers placed emphasis on points of similarity as a catalyst for joining interest groups and actually attending events.
® 2025 SAM COHN