Technology for good.
In life, there are years of struggle and years of plenty. Your community is here through both.
The problem:
Some residents in our communities are having trouble affording food for their families and themselves.
The goal:
Design a mobile app and accompanying responsive site that will allow residents to get, or donate, surplus food.
-Mable, 75
“My husband had to move into an assisted living home last year, and without both of pensions, I’m having trouble paying for rent, bills and food. I need help, but I don’t know where to turn.”
Our Users
When we spoke to the community, we heard Mabel’s story and many like it. With cost of living increasing, and wages stagnating, it’s harder than ever to afford even the basics of food and shelter. But as we talked to our communities, we found that those that weren’t struggling, heard the stories of residents that were and wanted to help. The problem was that they didn’t know how. Without food banks or soup kitchens in the area, how could they donate to those in need safely and reliably?
From quick sketches to low fidelity prototypes, there were plenty of changes along the way.
The biggest challenge for designing this app was that we wanted users of all years, and technological savvy to feel comfortable using it - which left us with quite a broad range.
Usability study: findings
I conducted two rounds of usability studies. The first study helped guide the design from wireframes to mockups. The second, using a high-fidelity prototype, revealed what aspects of the mockups needed tweaks.
User Flow
This lead to a much better flow, in which there are two options: donate or request. You can switch between them at any point using the toggle button. You can check out the hi-fidelity prototype here.
Desktop Flow
We kept the same idea for our desktop site. This way, users who are not familiar with technology have a simple way to start, and continue through our main user flow without getting lost. You can try out the hi-fidelity prototype here.
UX designer and researcher for Community Kitchen: Leah Brander