Project Overview:

TechHop is a mobile application that allows users the control to donate new and used tech to children in need easily and conveniently. This helps to lessen the digital divide and provides an opportunity to give back to our youth.

Objective

The goal was to design a product that could help users donate tech to children with ease. It was equally important to ensure that users remained in control of their donation processes to experience a more personal transaction. I endeavored to achieve this outcome through data-centric insights to develop a product with a strong foundation that remains true to its core values and places users first.

Challenges

To design and develop a donation app that was simple to use. It was also a challenge to ensure the app was inviting and encouraged engagement. Other challenges were presented by the complexities of the app. The information architecture was a primary concern as the flow of the app must meet its objective — simple and easy to use.

Solution

White Paper Research

I began with white paper research. I started this process by diving deep into articles surrounding donations, the convenience of mobile apps, and satisfaction from personalized donation experiences. During this research, I discovered a statistic by the U.S. Trust that stated:

54% of donors stated “ believing in the mission of the organization” was an essential motivation for donating.

39% stated “experiencing personal satisfaction, enjoyment and fulfillment” as their contributing factor to donating.

Read the statistical research paper here.

Competitive Analysis

Remaining aware of the previously gathered data, I researched four organizations that focused on general donations and tech donations specifically for children. This data helped me gain a solid understanding of what our competitors are doing in the market. I discovered that none of these options focused on donating tech to children conveniently.

What i learned was,

Kids in Tech only focuses on donating laptops and computers to children. They also do not keep the donator in the process after the donation has been given and provides no clear information on how donations are distributed.

In comparison, GoFundMe is a convenient option, but it primarily focuses on crowdfunding and monetary donations. Additionally, the campaign pool is saturated with broad options that can be overwhelming for the user.

Affinity Diagramming

I then conducted user interviews to better understand different user experiences with donating and identify trends among users. This research assisted greatly in better defining our users, their needs, and how I might proceed to a solution.

80% of the interviewed participants felt online donation experiences were a hassle.

However, 80% of the participants continued to use online platforms for donation.

Among the participants, 60% felt donating tech can be overwhelming and thus put off the process.

User Persona

With this information and other research gathered, I further defined a solution through ideation. Creating a persona would assist me in this goal

How Might We?

The question of “how might we solve these problems for Jamie then comes into play. To better solve Jamie’s problems I explored designing an application, as they are most convenient for users. This app would allow Jamie different options to donate. The app would only focus on tech donations to not overwhelm the user. Jamie would also be aware of the donation process from start to finish.

User Flow

Once the problem was defined, I developed a simple user flow to understand how our users may experience this product.

Low Fidelity Wireframes

Low fidelity wireframes then began development as I strived to create an easy layout for the user to navigate and understand without feeling overwhelmed.

I explored a few different home screen iterations

Usability Testing

After testing the low fidelity prototype with users, I was able to identify the simple, task-oriented layout as the experience that users preferred.

High Fidelity Wireframes

Here are some images of screens, prototype flows, and the style guide.

Prototype

Check out the prototype here.

Final Design

Things I’d do differently

When I began my user interviews, I noticed an opportunity to incorporate more questions to gain more data from users. Going forward, I will factor in more time to research and develop questions that can lead to success. Additionally, I would spend more time perfecting the task flow before moving on to low fidelity wireframing. There were a few screens that I had to reiterate such as screen placement in the IA and its connectivity to other screens.

How This Project Helped My Learning Process

This project has improved my design thinking approach and has allowed me to ideate more broadly in ways I hadn’t before. Additionally, I have learned more efficient and result-driven methods for research and identifying user needs.

Thank You for Reading!

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