Context: This is an app concept project created to showcase my UX and UI skills.
Apps used: Sketch, UXPin, Invision &Marvel
My Role: UX & UI design, usability testing, prototype, wireframing, research.
Help a cause
Is an app that helps you find volunteer opportunities in your area. You can confirm, on the spot, which opportunities you would like to participate in. Keep track of current and past volunteer work and share with family and friends your love of helping the community.
The problem
Finding local volunteer opportunities and keeping track of said opportunities can be difficult. Especially when you don't know many non-profit organizations in your area. You can start a google search and get some leads from different sites but you'll quickly realize that keeping track of them becomes a chore. At this point you just wish for something to make this process easier. You want to keep focus on your main goal, helping out your community.
App goals
Find - Volunteer opportunities in your community.
Track - Your volunteer history & never miss a thing.
Share - Volunteer opportunities with your friends.
who volunteers?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, released in 2016, there were 62.6 million volunteers in 2015. Most were involved with 1 or 2 organizations. The organization for which the volunteer worked the most hours, was most frequently, religious, followed by educational or youth service related and social/community service organizations. Most volunteers looked for their main volunteer organization themselves (without referral.)
Volunteering Among Demographic Groups:
Men's volunteer rate was 21.8%
Women's rate was 27.8% Across all age groups, educational levels, and other major demographic characteristics, women continued to volunteer at a higher rate than men.
Married people were most likely to volunteer
Correlation between education level and volunteering (see graph below)
People age 35-54 are more likely to volunteer than people in their 20s (see graph below)
by age
By education Level
PERSONAS
After analyzing the research, I came up with 2 personas for this app.
Melissa is the main persona.
She's in her early-to-late 40s, has a stable job and enjoys volunteering. Values efficiency and would like to have a way to keep track of her volunteer work.
emma is the secondary persona.
She's a high school student in her mid-to-late teens. Is very social, enjoys helping people and likes to volunteer with friends. Emma plans to go to college and is taking up more volunteer work to add to applications. She would like a way to keep track of her volunteer work and find flexible opportunities in her area.
User flow & wireframes
After analyzing the research and user flow chart, I created low-fidelity and mid-fidelity paper and SketchApp wireframes to iterate through design options quickly. I used the wireframes as a visual guide to refine the app’s user experience & user interface designs.
User Flow - Volunteer confirmation (for work opportunity)
Low-fidelity wireframes
Usability testing
I conducted usability tests with 2 people in order to understand the user’s perspective and see if the app was able to communicate its purpose. Users were asked to do the following:
Find volunteer opportunities in the area
Find their volunteering history
Share volunteer opportunities
Usability testing outcomes
There were a couple of things that were brought up during testing:
There was some confusion about where to go after confirming attendance to volunteer.
The sharing aspect of the app wasn't as obvious after confirming attendance.
Some wording from the menu were somewhat confusing to users.
On a positive note:
No one had issues with the onboarding process.
No one had issue finding volunteer opportunities.
Everyone found volunteer history without major issues.
