Case Study:
Sapling App
Project Overview
The Sapling App is a mobile and desktop based app that focuses on meshing the visual look of social media to be more in tune with what young people are used to and help them navigate to find volunteer opportunities in the way they are accustomed.
The Product:
Project Duration
August 2022 - October 2022
Young people seem to be less involved in their community due to lack of networking from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Problem:
In the age of social media and technology, I want to create an app and website that feels more at home with Generation Z when searching for opportunities without the tedious google searching and word of mouth.
The Goal:
My Role:
UX Designer leading the app and responsive website from concept to delivery.
Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, iterating on designs, determining information architecture, and responsive design.
My Responsibilities:
Understanding the User:
I interviewed a couple of former high school students and looked at my experience volunteering to come up with interview questions. From the answers I received is that many participants said either they barely had time to participate in community service or that the process seemed too slow to apply for these opportunities. Simplicity and efficiency with a hint of considering social anxiety determined how I would design this app.
Summary:
Personas:
An audit of a few competitor’s products provided direction on gaps and opportunities to address with the sapling app.
Competitive Audit:
I did a quick ideation exercise to come up with ideas for how to address gaps I found within my Competitive Audit. My focus was iterating a more social media friendly space between volunteers and organizations.
Ideation:
Starting the Design:
After ideating and drafting some paper wireframes, I created the initial designs for the sapling app. These designs focused on making the application process of opportunities very simple and accessible for younger generations.
Digital Wireframes:
To prepare for usability testing, I created a low fidelity prototype that connected the user flow for how a user will find an opportunity and level up.
Low Fidelity Prototype:
I conducted a moderated usability study to figure out how to improve on the mobile web design and cover any blind spots I may have missed.
Usability Study: Findings
Accessibility
Users feels that the app could be more accessible with languages
Filtering
Users asked for organizations with no religious affiliation.
Design
A sense of barebone-ness from using the app.
Refining the Design:
Mockups:
Based on insights from the usability studies, I applied design changes like a more unified design approach.
More Mockups:
My hifi prototype follows the same user flow as my lofi prototype but with implementation of my second usability study.
High-Fidelity Prototype:
Font size was an issue in the usability study so I increase the font size to be more readable.
Accessibility Considerations:
Focused on making the color palette really contrast for easy viewing.
Responsive Design
Sitemap:
My goal for the responsive design is to be able to keep the simplicity of the app to the website for people who don’t prefer the app version.
The design for screen variations include a mobile version of the app and a desktop version. I optimized the designs to fit the user’s needs.
Responsive Designs:
Going Forward:
Users shared that simplifying the search for volunteer opportunities made them more incline to apply without the twists and turns when researching through google. Keeps all their research on one app/site.
Impact:
What I learned is that volunteer work is needed much more than it has ever been now that we are in a post-pandemic world and removing unneeded barriers that pushes younger generations out from helping. Simplifying the application process was my main goal throughout this project.
What I learned:
Conduct research on how this app helps organization gather more volunteers.
Next Steps:
Possibly focus more on advertising space for organizations who really need the exposure through our app.
Possibly add resources on how to use your volunteer experience to benefit you in the future.