Case Study – Personal Project
Make a Difference
Discover volunteer opportunities tailored to skills and interests
Project overview
About the app
The Make a Difference app was designed to serve the community by encouraging people to participate in volunteer opportunities in their community.
The problem
More volunteers are needed to support communities and endeavors
The goal
Create a mobile app to help recruit volunteers
My role
Research, UX Design, UI Design
Responsibilities
Conducting interviews, paper & digital wireframing, low & high-fidelity prototyping, usability studies, accessibility, iteration, information architecture.
Understanding the User
Research
User Group: Young adults, aged 25–34, were chosen as the focus because they are the least likely to volunteer.
Things that encourage volunteering include:
Opportunities based on skills & interests
Having an enjoyable experience
Meeting people
Top reasons people choose not to volunteer include:
Lack of time
Not knowing about volunteer opportunities
Research resources: – National Council for Voluntary Organisations – Pathways through participation
“I wish there were volunteer opportunities where I could use my skills and experience.”
persona
Jonathan
25 | BA student
Problem statement:
Jonathan is a working student who needs to find volunteer opportunities where he can use his skills and experience because that is what motivates him to volunteer.
Goals
- Find volunteer opportunities where I can use my skills and experience.
- Volunteer with friends and family.
Frustrations
- “It’s hard to stay motivated to volunteer when the time spent feels wasted.”
- “Being acknowledged and hearing that my contribution is valued is important to me.”
“I’ve never volunteered because no one asked me, but I would volunteer in fun opportunities or activities related to my hobbies.”
persona
Abeer
29 | Accounting | Salesman
Problem statement:
Abeer is a full-time employee who needs to find enjoyable volunteer opportunities where he can also make new relationships because he wants to have fun in his spare time.
Goals
- Find out what volunteer needs exist in my community.
- Have a fun time volunteering.
- Meet new people.
Frustrations
- “I don’t know what are the volunteering needs in my area.”
- “I find it difficult to commit to activities that are not enjoyable.”
- “Working long hours and being single makes me feel lonely sometimes.”
Competitive audit
A review of competitor products was conducted to identify what’s currently available to users and what is lacking.
Key gaps identified include:
- Outdated and unintuitive user interfaces
- Lack of personalization features
- Failure to address users’ motivations for volunteering
Click to zoom
Starting the design
Sitemap
A sitemap was developed to structure the app’s content and ensure clear, cohesive navigation throughout the user experience.
Click to zoom
Ideation - Crazy 8's
I kept the research in mind and focused on the factors people said would motivate them to volunteer, including :
- Having fun
- Meeting friends
- Finding opportunities aligned with skills and interests
Low-fidelity prototype
To prepare for usability testing, I created a low-fidelity prototype that connected the user flow of signing up for a volunteer opportunity.
Digital wireframes - Homepage
Usability Study
Usability study parameters
Study type:
Moderated usability study
Location:
US, remote
Participants:
5 participants
Length:
About 30 minutes per participant
Usability study findings
Additional Information
People expected to see more options such as adding their name and location in the begging, and adding skills based on keywords.
Videos
People were not sure what types of videos they would see.
Redundant content
People felt that content was unnecessarily redundant on the home page and navigation bar.
Registration flow
People were confused about the About page and wanted more details about the schedule.
Refining the design
Mockup: registration
Based on the insights from the usability study, I made changes to improve the user experience.
One of the changes I made was reorganizing the registration flow and adding a screen for choosing the schedule.
Before
After
Mockup: videos
The usability study also revealed that people did not want to sync contacts before trying the app. So, I removed the sync screen from the intro flow and added the option for users to sync friends from the home page and friends page.
Before
After
Mockups
High-fidelity prototype
The high-fidelity prototype followed the same user flow as the low-fidelity prototype and include the design changes made after the usability study.
Accessibility considerations
Users can set preferences and filter results to view accessible and remote opportunities.
Headings & labels were used to organize the content and support assistive technologies.
Color combinations with enough contrast were used so the content is easy to read.
Going forward
Takeaways
Impact:
Users shared that the app made them more motivated to seek volunteer opportunities in their communities after seeing that the app could be tailored to their needs, interests, and skills.
What I learned:
This was my first project using external secondary research. I experienced firsthand how time efficient it is while still providing quality data. This was also an opportunity to practice empathizing with users despite not having direct interaction with them prior to usability studies.
June 2022 - July 2022