United Way v1

The Client

The Greater Twin Cities United Way (GTCUW)

The User

A resident of the Twin Cities with a busy schedule. They want to volunteer but don't know where to begin.

The Problem

United Way predicts there could be up to 1 million potential volunteers in the Twin Cities area who are not volunteering because they haven't taken the first step in getting looped in. Our research showed us people are morally inclined to volunteer, however they believe they do not have time. This confronted us with the challenge of creating a tool that would match users to opportunities that not only align with their values, but fit into their busy schedules.

"How do I find volunteer opportunities which interest me?"

The Solution

With a team of three other designers we created two solutions for two different spaces. The first one is a physical set of cards to be used at events to match people with volunteer opportunities at the event. The second is a responsive web-app that matches volunteers with opportunities based upon their play style.

Tools Used

Optimal Workshop - survey, card sort
Sketch App - wireframes
Invision - interactive prototype
Photoshop - high fidelity mockups
Scrum board - to keep the team on track

RESEARCH

Stakeholder Interviews

To better understand the problem space, we interviewed the stakeholders to gather information on the current system for volunteer matching. We spoke with the following people.

Zeb Carlson, Creative Content Manager, GTCUW
Stacy Emond, Digital Engagement Manager, GTCUW
John Dusek, Information Architect, Straight Line Theory
Mary Smith, Senior Volunteer United Manager, GTCUW
Julie Dyste, Volunteer United Program Coordinator, GTCUW

What we learned was that there were two methods for volunteers to be matched with opportunities:

Calling one of the two coordinators.
Online at Volunteer United.

Usability Testing and Journey Map

To understand what it's like to sign up by phone we called Mary at the United Way and had a wonderful experience. She got to know us and made personalized recommendations. The experience was great, however this is not a scalable solution.

To better understand the digital experience we conducted usability testing on the current online tool, Volunteer United. We asked 5 participants who identify as being included to volunteer to use the website to sign up for an opportunity that interested them.

First-time users found the number of choices to toggle through overwhelming, often got results they didn't intend, and found the process impersonal. However, for users who knew exactly what they wanted or had used the site before it worked really well.

Key Insights - Because first-time users are our target, our solution needs:

fewer choices, easier onboarding
error protection
more personalized experience
the final steps need to be more clear

Journey map in progress.

Journey map of a new user on Volunteer United's website.

Survey

What are the reasons people give when they volunteer and what are their excuses when they don't? Using Optimal Workshop we asked 111 Twin Cities residents the following questions:

1. What is your age?
2. What is your gender?
3. What is your employment status?
4. Where do you live?
5a. Do you volunteer?
5b. Why or why not?
6. How often do you/ would you be willing to volunteer?
7. (If applicable) Where have you/ do you volunteer?
8. How did you find these opportunities?
9. What causes do you care about?

Key Insights:

Most people volunteer because they are morally inclined
They volunteer for a huge variety of causes
Most people don't volunteer because they don't have time

Card Sort

User testing of the Volunteer United website showed that new users found the number of causes and skills to choose from daunting.

To lower the cognitive load a card sort was performed using Optimal Workshop surveying 9 potential volunteers. They were asked to categorize the causes and skills. They were also asked to name these new groupings.

This reduced the cause categories from 29 to 8 and the skills from 28 to 5.

The new cause categories
Animals, Religion, Human Rights,
Community, Education, International, Safety, and Civics.

The new skill categories
Business, Technology, Recreational, Language Arts, and Development.

Card Sort: Volunteer Causes

Card Sort: Volunteer Skills

Competitive Analysis

After conducting a competitive audit of other volunteer matching websites and apps it was clear that no one has built one with an easy onboarding process and that gave a personalized feel. So we started looking around for other apps that connect two groups of people, specifically dating apps.

✔ Tinder: The UI is easy and fun.

✔ HiDine: Matches you based on restaurants you like.

⃠ Match.com: Requires too many (50) questions upfront.

⃠ eHarmony: The sophisticated algorithms are outside our scope.

Key Insights:

Use Tinder's UI as the skeleton for our app.
Design a recommender system similar to HiDine by matching two parties with a third thing.

Building a Recommender System

The first dataset are the users. The second dataset are the opportunities. A third dataset would be something with characteristics the first two sets hold in common. For example the HiDine App from above, their first and second datasets are people looking to date, their third dataset are desired restaurants.

Motivation

The reason people are motivated to volunteer is often because it gives them purpose. Purpose is when you believe in the outcome of the work. You may not like doing it, but you believe in the greater mission of the work. The only motivator stronger than that is play. Play is when your reason for doing the activity is the activity itself. You do it because you enjoy it. However, play means different things to different people.

In Stuart Brown's book Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul he breaks down play into 8 different play types.

Key Insight:

In addition to their causes and skills, what if we also match volunteers with opportunities based on their play personality type?

The Sources of Motivation by Vega Factor

Play by Stuart Brown

Recommender System Logic

Play type is the most motivating so it should have the most points when there is a match, followed by a cause match, then a skills match. I tested this out several times and am happy with Five points for a play match, two for a cause match, and one point for a skills match. This is because since volunteer opportunities can list many skills and causes. This point value seems to balance that out, but this needs to be tested.

WIREFRAMES

PROTOTYPE

Digital Solution

Kind Finder

In nine questions the Kind Finder app figures out your play type, the causes you care about and your skills. Then you're matched with corresponding at-home volunteer opportunities.

Personalized results
Uses multiple choice to reduce confusion and prevent errors.
At-home opportunities fit into busy schedules

View the Invision Prototype

Event Space Solution

Kind Card Kit

At live events the GTCUW wants ways to connect volunteers with agencies in attendance.

Our solution is the Kind Card Kit. This is a set of Cause and Skill cards that relate the various agencies to volunteer's passions and skills. This process was simple, quick, and gets people personally connected to a volunteer opportunity that matters to them.

In the video below you can see how an event facilitator starts the matchmaking process with the Kind Card Kit by laying out 6 cause cards and 6 skill cards and asking the participant to choose 3 of each. The facilitator then flips the selected cards to find the most common number on the back. This number represents the table number of the matching agency.