Meaningful Advocacy Online

Project Description:
A semester-long, group, class project for “UX Design & Development:” identifying a problem with multiple stakeholders and creating a digital solution for it.

Approach:
My team (Ashten Bartz & Amrit Daswaney) and I chose to tackle a persistent community problem: bring closer together private citizens, government officials and influencers to support and encourage good and informed activism. Through an iterative process with user feedback on multiple stages, we designed a mobile app that (i) supported networking, (ii) offered educational opportunities, (iii) created a space for respectful discussion, and (iv) incorporated gamification features such as an accountability/rewards system for goal tracking.

Main insights:
–   Usability & style: Through the multiple iterations and continuous user feedback we managed to design an app that potential users said was meaningful to them and easy to navigate. However, because we tried to design too many features to serve multiple stakeholders in too little time and with inadequate user feedback, we struggled to balance having a modern design with the usability of the interface. Even in our last design iteration it was still clear how functionality, aesthetics and needs always compete for space in the development of an app.
–   Team collaboration: Having a team of collaborators from diverse backgrounds (designer, engineer & researcher) created some challenges, but eventually a very strong and fulfilling product development experience. Our diverse experiences and perspectives allowed us to tackle the problem from many angles and as well as have a richer understanding of the very different needs of our users. This respectful and collaborative teamwork showcased how diverse teams can learn from one another, overcome challenges, and in the process improve a product and a user’s experience.

Note:
–   Course instructor: Laith Ulaby, User Research director at Udemy