REACT
A product proposal and study on how to ignite contribution among young demographics to bring positive social impact to local + global communities.
MY ROLE
Sole creator and UX/Visual Designer. I crafted problem statements, conducted user interviews and product testing, generated low-high fidelity prototypes and iterated on visual design.
THE CHALLENGE
PUTTING WORDS INTO ACTION
In our current cultural climate, young people are increasingly more engaged in political and social conversation. On January 21, 2017, 3.3 million people participated in the Women's March in more than 500 US cities. In comparison to one of larges marches in US history, from January 11-25 more than 11 million tweets were sent with the hashtag #WomensMarch.
We are currently living in an age of "Hashtivism." However, a hashtag is a call to action, it is not the action.
Young demographics are more connected than ever, accessing news on multiple channels every day. Keeping up with the news is somewhat important to 85% of this group, and 69% consume news every day, 40% from at least one paid news specific app or digital subscription.
While social media activism has increased, action has decreased and people are volunteering less, especially among young demographics. In 2016 volunteer rates were lowest among 20-24 year olds at 18.4%. In addition, only 24.9% of the US population volunteered at least once, down from 26.8% in 2011 and 28.8% in 2005.
How might we...
Help put words into action by creating a simple and accessible way to contribute to causes that bring positive social impact to local and global communities.
THE APPROACH
ENTER REACT!
REACT! Connects nonprofits and community organizations with people who want to contribute to causes they’re passionate about.
By linking news content to relevant volunteer programs, users will have seamless access to opportunities, reducing volunteer attrition. Organizations will have optimized volunteer on-boarding, data organization and increased exposure for their cause.
PRODUCT GOAL: Change the passive attitude toward volunteering among young people.
THE DISCOVERY
USER INTERVIEWS & INSIGHTS
Initially, I identified two main user groups and spent two weeks conducting interviews. Below are some of the characteristics and insights that defined the first iteration of the product:
- Ages 30-50
- Volunteer coordinators
- Less tech savvy
- Members of community organizations
- Ages 18-35
- Young professionals
- Tech savvy
- Members of urban communities
- Up-to-date on current events
- Most don’t know where to find volunteer opportunities
- Desire to contribute but lazy or busy
- Feel a sense of guilt due to lack of contribution
- Either reads news everyday or not at all
- Use multiple channels (6-8) for volunteer outreach
- Difficulty organizing and leveraging volunteer data
- Receive many repeat volunteers
After 10+ interviews and comprised of 15+ questions, we developed some key personas representing each user group:
THE COMPETITION
WHAT ELSE IS OUT THERE?
We conducted an in-depth analysis on competing products that provide similar opportunities for volunteers and nonprofit organizations. Below is a matrix comparing some key product features as well as a link to more findings:
THE VISION
WHY REACT?
Here is quick overview of how REACT! creates value for its users and how it differentiates from competitors:
VISION
- Change the passive attitude toward volunteering, especially among young people
- Increase the amount of contribution toward social and environmental causes
USERS
- Young professionals who access news content via technology
- Individuals who are passionate about contributing to causes but don’t know how
- Nonprofit organizations that depend on volunteer work to run programs
NEEDS
- Saving users time by simplifying volunteer on-boarding
- Increasing interest and action by targeting users while they read the news
- Personalizing the volunteer process with features like text messaging and an on-boarding guide
PRODUCT
- Lean web app for both volunteers and nonprofit organizations
- Integrates into social media content and various news applications
- Aggregates volunteer opportunities in local communities
- Stands out with increased access points, exposure and simple, personalized experience
GOALS
- Be the sole channel for volunteer recruitment and onboarding
- Increase the yearly percentage of volunteering among Millenials
- Get users to access the web application independent of contextual experience
KEY DIFFERENTIATORS
Connect volunteers with relevant issues
Focus on users’ passions not general volunteering
Target users within context of daily used applications
Streamline access and on-boarding process
Personalize volunteer experience
THE PRODUCT
INTRODUCING REACT!
Here are some key screens from the high fidelity prototype, accompanying interaction notes, and a link to an interactive prototype:
High-fidelity prototype:
https://projects.invisionapp.com/m/share/YHBLE9NZX#/232259245
THE FRAMEWORK
HOW I GOT THERE
One of the biggest challenges with this product was defining a customer journey that was lean enough that users could swiftly get through the volunteer on-boarding process, but that was rich enough with information and clearly defined steps for the user to trust the process.
Part of the challenge was limiting the amount of features required for the first iteration of the prototype.
While this product is not content rich and focuses on user interaction, we conducted card sorting exercises that helped establish hierarchy and order of the on-boarding process.
While this product involves a variety of user flows, we initially focused on the on-boarding process for volunteers. While we revised this flow after a couple rounds of user testing, here is an example of an early iteration of a user flow:
USABILITY TESTING
WHAT WAS THE R-E-A-C-TION? ;)
We conducted two rounds of usability tests with the first iteration of the prototype.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- More information about organization and opportunity
- Re-order on-boaring wizard questions
- How can we evolve chat experience?
- Make entry point as clear as possible
- Eliminate “Donate” functionality for now - focus on volunteering
- Zip code entry earlier in process
- Add content to organization profile page
- Add educational screens
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Confirmation/text message input needs to be clearer
- Add email capture
- Make confirmation screen messaging clearer
- Explore chat transition
- Explore how to integrate email as an alternative
IN SUMMARY
Usability testing was immensely helpful in understanding hurdles in the volunteer on-boarding process, how to order content, questions and insert educational material to make everything more clear. However, one main challenge that usability testing did not uncover is if users will actually follow through on their volunteering opportunity. While we can make the most usable product, the desired result ultimately relies largely on user initiative outside usability.
IN CONCLUSION
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
This was a huge learning experience and overall a thoroughly interesting study and product proposal. Along the way, I saw a lot of my personal assumptions both verified and disproved.
There are many technological, business and user constraints with this product but I believe with further exploration and research it can become a reality and help make a difference.