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The Challenge

​​The Twin Cities United Way improves the community by helping individuals and groups with specific interests find ways to contribute their time and talents. How might we increase the United Way's volunteer conversion online and at live events?​

The Solution

Build a recommender system based on the psychology of play, connecting volunteers with opportunities. And at live events, the Kind Card Kit will easily connect volunteers with agencies.

Tour the Invision Prototype

Download the Kind Card Kit

The Design Process

Usability Testing Uncovers Confused Users

The United Way currently uses Volunteer Match to connect volunteers with opportunities. During usability testing we found first-time users were:
  • Overwhelmed by the number of choices.
  • Receiving unintended search results.
  • ​Turned off by the impersonal experience.
Homepage - Participants can't figure out to start by clicking the "keywords" box. Then they had trouble knowing what to search for, "I guess I like Nature and being outdoors, but I also like technology."
Search Results Page - One participant, an avid runner, described this page as overwhelming, "I typed in 'running' and none of the results apply. Okay bowling is a sport, but thrift shop sorter?"
Journey Map Shows Users Expect:
  • Easier on-boarding
  • The option to browse opportunities
  • Fewer choices
  • Error protection
  • A more personalized experience

Survey Says 'Purpose' is their Strongest Motivation 

We surveyed over 100 Twin Cities residents and found that:
  • 73% feel morally inclined to volunteer.
  • 83% don't know where to start.

Volunteering for a cause you care about gives you a sense of 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.

Science Says 'Play' is the Strongest Motivation

Volunteering because you enjoy the actual task is because of play. Play is when the reason for doing the activity is the activity itself. However, play is very subjective. Dr. Stuart Brown asserts most of us fall into 8 play type categories: Joker, Collector, Storyteller, Kinesthete, Explorer, Director, Competitor, Artist.

Designing the App Around 'Purpose' and 'Play'

The current recommender system matches users based on the causes they care about, their skills, and a keyword search. What if instead we matched users based on what gives them a feeling of purpose and their "play personality type"?

For use in the app, I created illustrations to capture the spirit of the play types.
Wireframes Inspired By a Dating App
After conducting a competitive audit of other volunteer matching websites and apps it was clear that no one has built one with an easy on-boarding process and that gave a personalized feel. So I started looking around for other apps that connect two groups of people, specifically Tinder.
Mockups Created In Sketch
On-boarding Screens:
Ten questions determines the users:
  • Causes they care about
  • Their play type
  • Their skills

Key Features:
  • Positive reinforcement after every 3 questions
  • Personalized experience
  • Multiple choice questions instead of open-ended search box to reduce frustration
Recommendation Screens​:
Key Features:
  • Browsable
  • Savable
Profile Screens:
Key Features:
  • Opportunity of the day
  • Editing causes/skills
  • Retaking the quiz
Moving Forward
The app is currently in development and the Kind Card Kit has been a hit at live events.

Additional Case Studies