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, with the UX of a dating app which connects volunteers with available opportunities. And at live events, the Kind Card Kit will easily match volunteers with agencies.
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:
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.
HomepageParticipants 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."
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Search Results PageOne 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?"
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Journey Map Shows the User's Desire:
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Survey Says 'Purpose' is their Strongest Motivation
We surveyed over 100 Twin Cities residents and found that:
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.
- 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
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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.
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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"?
Wireframes Inspired by the Tinder 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.
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Illustrations of the Different Personality Types
The Play Type Characters: (top row) Joker, Collector, and Storyteller; (middle row) Kinesthete, Explorer, and Director; (bottom row) Competitor, and Artist.
Mockups Created In Sketch
On-boarding Screens:
Ten questions determines the users:
Key Features:
- 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.
