UrBenefit

An accessible platform/social application for crowdsourcing volunteers for humanitarian and art-based community efforts.

My Responsibilities as UX Researcher & Designer

• Conduct user research and interviews to understand the problem space.
• Brainstorm and ideate solutions to the problem.
• Create wireframes and prototypes to test with users.

Background

You just moved into a new city, maybe for an internship, college, job, or simply just for a fresh start, the reason doesn’t matter, but you want to know what is going around you. You’re the type of person who always want to help others. You want to get to know like-minded people or just want to know where you can help out. That’s where UrBenefit, a centralized hub for community events comes into play.

Problem Statement

Although there are people who want to become involved in humanitarian efforts, many find it difficult, citing that it's difficult to do so without a club or organization who sets everything up. Outside of these organizations, there aren't any advertisements or flyers to go out and help out somewhere.

Solution

Our goal with Urbenefit ("your-benefit") was to create an accessible platform/social application oriented around crowdsourcing possible volunteers of humanitarian and art-based community efforts (ie. park clean-ups, large scale murals, trash compost groups, etc.). UrBenefit strives to provide a platform in which there is an easily accessible, centralized hub for those with a desire to participate in humanitarian efforts and better the community around them.

Design Process

We began by identifying the problem space and conducting research to understand the problem and the users.

We used a technique called piggyback prototyping to test our ideas with users.

We iterated on our ideas based on the feedback we received from users.

Final Product

After 2 rounds of user testing with over 80 participants, we were able to create high fidelity mockups of the final product where we strived to keep a clean, modern, and organic aesthetic.

Reflection

Conceptualizing and developing a novel social network to conducting piggyback prototyping sessions, the experience proved to be both inspiring and enlightening, offering valuable lessons for our future endeavors.

In retrospect, we believe that more comprehensive market research should be a greater area of focus. Understanding the market landscape and conducting competitive analysis would have significantly contributed to the success of our idea. Gathering relevant information is essential for creating a well-informed and successful product.

Given more time with the project, we would have pursued further user testing on both the low-fi and hi-fi mockups, incorporating valuable feedback from the market and stakeholders. As designers, one of the most challenging aspects is designing for the user’s conceptual model, rather than relying solely on our own understanding. Ensuring that the product is intuitive and user-friendly for a wider audience is a critical consideration for success.