Private Peer Appreciation
Design a consent-based reflection tool for exchanging specific appreciation within a friend group without rankings or appearance judgments.
The brief
Understand the problem
Background
Anonymous social ratings can invite cruelty, fixation on appearance, and harassment. The useful core idea can be reframed as private appreciation about actions and support, with recipient control over participation.
User context
A university mentoring group wants a lightweight way to recognize helpful contributions after a semester project. Members should be able to opt out and should never be scored against one another.
Product problem
The product must encourage concrete, kind feedback while preventing anonymous attacks, comparative rankings, and unwanted public exposure.
Objective
Create invitation, consent, guided appreciation, moderation, and personal reflection for a closed peer group.
What to design
Define the experience
Required experience
- Group invitation and consent
- Guided appreciation writing
- Recipient review and control
- Report or hide feedback
Screens and states
- Participation setup
- Appreciation composer
- Personal inbox
- Feedback controls
Core user flow
Follow the critical path
- 01
A member joins the private group
- 02
They choose whether to receive notes
- 03
They write a specific appreciation tied to a shared project
- 04
The recipient reads it privately and decides whether to save it
Product rules
Requirements and constraints
Requirements
- Exclude numeric ratings and appearance categories
- Require a clear relationship context
- Provide writing prompts focused on observable actions
- Let recipients hide, report, or stop receiving notes
- Prevent public leaderboards
Constraints
- Anonymity is not offered to senders
- Only invited group members can participate
- Moderators need minimal but sufficient review information
Reality check
States worth considering
Ready-to-use content
Mock data
Use this content to test hierarchy and realistic data states. You can expand it when the concept needs more depth.
Writing prompts
- What did this person do that helped the group?
- Describe one moment you appreciated
- What would you like them to keep doing?
Finish line
What to deliver
- Four mobile screens
- A set of safe composer prompts and moderation states
If you want more
Optional extensions
Optional direction
Visual resources
Use these as a starting constraint if you want one. They are not part of the required solution.