HeyWeather –
The weather, made human.
UI/UX Design
Description
HeyWeather lets users express how the weather feels — not just by temperature or stats, but with photos, emojis, and personality. Users can drop their mood forecasts onto a live map, react to others, and connect through themed weather groups. It's where the sky meets social.
My Role
User Research
User Testing
Brand Strategy
UI Design
Team
Solo Project
Duration
3 Months
Current weather apps rely heavily on numbers—temperature, humidity, precipitation—which makes it difficult for users to quickly grasp how the weather feels or decide what to wear. Despite the fact that weather impacts people’s moods, routines, and conversations, most apps still offer a one-way, data-driven experience, leaving out the emotional and social aspects of weather.
Problem Discovery
The Challenge
How might we help people share how the weather feels
and connect with others in real time—beyond just numbers on a screen?
Solution
HeyWeather is a social weather app that lets you share how the weather feels — not just the numbers, but with photos, emojis, and personality. Drop your mood on a live map, react to others, and connect through weather-themed groups.
1. Map as the Home Feed
The map is the heart of the app. Each user's forecast is pinned with a colored halo—showing how warm or cool it feels—along with an emoji or photo that captures their real-time experience. You can see multiple real-time weather experiences at a glance.
2. Expressive
Uploading Process
Users select the weather condition and add a selfie or emoji accessory. Based on their input, the app creates a colored halo that shows how warm or cool it feels. In just a few taps, they’ve shared a personal weather update that others can instantly see and relate to on the live map.
3. Community &
Weather Groups
From “Rainbow Hunters” to “Rain Walkers,” users can join or create groups that celebrate their local skies and turn the weather into something shared and fun.
4. Reward System
with Badges
Earn badges like Moodcaster or Quick Forecaster for fun milestones—like being the first to report a thunderstorm or posting 10 photo moods. Your personal badge collection adds a playful sense of progress and keeps users coming back.
5. Live weather check-ins
Send users real-time weather notifications and let them respond with live feedback to capture how the weather actually feels in the moment.
6. Warning and Wonders
Besides regular weather posts, users can also share warnings—like a flooded subway at 42nd Street—or little wonders, like spotting a rainbow.
Understanding Users’ Daily Weather Experience
I spoke with potential users to learn how they interact with weather throughout the day—and what feels missing or frustrating in the apps they currently use.
Understanding the Problem Space
Based on user interviews and secondary research, I identified a key gap: most weather apps don’t reflect how the weather actually feels in real life.
Key Findings
Through user interviews and research, I discovered that people want weather information that helps them make practical, emotional, and social decisions.
1. Weather is personal — and social.
Weather affects how we feel, what we wear, and how we go about our day. Because it’s such a shared and relatable experience, people naturally talk about it—venting, admiring, or giving others a heads-up.
2. “Feels like”
matters more than
actual temperature.
Users care less about the number on the screen and more about how the weather actually feels—things like humidity, wind, and sun glare often shape their decisions more than the forecast itself.
3. People want to participate in
the forecast.
Users aren’t just passive readers —
they want to share their own experiences, moods, and visuals
to make the weather feel more alive
and personal.
User Persona
I created user personas to synthesize key patterns from interviews and research, helping clarify user motivations, needs, and frustrations around weather experiences.
Competitive Analysis
I analyzed leading weather apps and found that while they present accurate data, they lack features that express or reflect real-time user sentiment.
User Journey & Information Architecture
I mapped the user journey to identify key friction points between weather forecasts and how users actually experience the weather throughout their day." From there, I built the information architecture to define the necessary screens and components for a more intuitive experience.
Design Challenge: Home Screen
I needed to choose a home screen that made it easy for people to see weather updates at a glance. I explored four directions: a dynamic map view, a scrollable dashboard with graphs, and feed-style post streams. The dashboard felt too data-heavy, and the feed didn’t give enough context. The map made the most sense—it let users instantly see how others were feeling the weather around them, making it the best fit for a real-time, expressive experience.
Design System
