Italawa
A personal case study project, Italawa, exploring how an AI-powered app can help people discover affordable events, plan with friends, and enjoy the social moments that matter.
Italawa began as a response to a simple but familiar frustration. Many people complain about not having enough friends who invite them out, not knowing where to go, or feeling that enjoying a good time is too expensive. I wanted to explore how design and technology could address these barriers and create a smoother, more social way to discover experiences. The result was Italawa, a personal case study project envisioning an AI-powered mobile app for event discovery and planning.
The name itself carries meaning. Italawa comes from Yoruba, where it translates to “We are outside,” a phrase that has become popular among young people to express being out with friends, enjoying the moment, and living socially. The name captures the spirit of the app — a tool designed not just to find events but to enable the joy of being outside, connected, and part of something. The concept was built around giving users choice and control. With Italawa, events and places to go could be searched and filtered by location, budget, category, interest, event type, or even group size. Beyond discovery, I wanted the app to be a true companion for social planning. Users could add events directly to their calendars and create group chats with friends to plan, discuss, and build excitement together. To make participation seamless, tickets could either be purchased within the app or through affiliate links to organizers’ platforms.
Designing Italawa was about more than functionality; it was about addressing the emotional side of social life. I imagined flows that encouraged exploration without overwhelming users, with interactions that made the process of planning just as enjoyable as attending the events themselves. The experience aimed to reduce the friction of going out while making it easier to connect with others, turning what often feels like a lonely or expensive challenge into something collaborative and fun. Although Italawa has not been built, creating this case study was a valuable exploration of how design can respond to real human needs. It was an opportunity to reimagine social interaction in a way that blends AI-driven recommendations with community and friendship, showing how technology can bridge the gap between wanting to go out and actually making it happen.