UrbanOne

Project Background

The client came to us with a vision to create a more engaging nonprofit-oriented, social media platform.

While she already had design ideas and focus group data, she believed a UX touch would make her vision a reality.

Client Consultation

We interviewed her further to understand what she already knew and define the scope of the project.

What we learned:

She frequently volunteered for nonprofits in the LA area and believed from her experience:

Nonprofits lacked a personal, social media-driven connection with their volunteers

Communities didn't hear enough about local volunteer and nonprofit efforts

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Competitive and Comparative Analysis (C&C)

In need of more context for the digital landscape of current nonprofit platforms, we conducted a C&C.

We compared them based on social media integration, location, projects they've facilitated, and their storytelling process.

User Research Goals

We also crafted surveys and interview questions to tap individuals inclined towards volunteering.

If UrbanOne's intent was to strengthen the relationship between volunteers and nonprofits, we had to understand:

Volunteering motivations and challenges

Inspiration for taking up a cause seen online

The need for a compelling story

Community Connection/Engagement

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What we found:

Personal connections inspired participation

People needed to feel passionate about their causes

More education needed about patronizing an organization

People valued like-minded peers

Compelling storytelling inspired active engagement

Funding models for nonprofits needed more transparency

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What emerged: The Unique Value Proposition

UrbanOne would:

Promote community building through personal and powerful storytelling, curated content, and a non-static, social media feel to encourage interaction between like-minded volunteers and the causes they support.

Personas

From our research and UVP, we identified 3 different personas for UrbanOne to address.

We selected Ophelia for the design phase to help select features for the UrbanOne mobile site.

We prioritized her potential user flow to maintain project scope and deadline.

Ophelia
(Serial Volunteer - more than twice a week)

Wants to connect with like-minded volunteers
Uses her personal network and smartphone to find opportunities
Believes online interaction is impersonal; nonprofit motives seem ambiguous

Eliljah
(Occasional/Rare Volunteer - a few times a month/year)

Wants to be more engaged in his community
Seeks encouragement from family & friends to be more active in his community
Not sure where to find opportunities, though he doesn't seek them proactively

Feed LA
(Nonprofit Organization)

Wants to engage the community to their cause
Wants to move interactions with volunteers to an online space
Has trouble raising funds and finding interested volunteers

(Feature Prioritization)

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The Design Studio

Over the course of two days, we sketched designs on paper before combining the best ideas.

We then whiteboarded and digitized them as low-fidelity wireframes.