The Opportunity Project

2017

www.findmyspot.org

A mobile-responsive website that uses geo-location to identify housing services & wifi access for homeless youth in the DMV area.

UX Designer

 

The Plan

Team

UX Lead: Hareem Mannan | UX Design: Lindsay Boylan | Visual Design: Sam Soleimanifar & Katy Kinsey | PM: Jeff Suppes | BA: Chris Lyon

Goal

Present federal data on resources for the homeless in a useful way for homeless youth.

Methods

User interviews, user flows, wireframing, high fidelity mock ups, usability testing, developer asset handoff.

Tools

Sketch, InVision, Google Hangouts, & whiteboards

MMP

Users will be able to locate a shelter in their area or a public wifi hotspot (to include all public libraries).

MVP

Users will be able to search for shelters in their area and see contact information, location, description, and required documents

The Story

When I joined The Opportunity Project, the team had already done significant work on user research: identifying needs and wants of homeless youth, understanding the stigma behind needing a place to stay, and how they access online resources. Chris had already come up with a basic list of requirements and the design team already had basic wireframes that would serve as the starting point for our high fidelity mock ups. 

The Work

First wireframes

First Iteration of High-Fidelity Mock-ups

Second Iteration of High Fidelity Mock-Ups for Testing

User Interviews and Usability Testing

Thanks to The Opportunity Project, we were able to connect with homeless youth who are currently in a shelter and agreed to work with us.

User Interview Findings

  • Homeless youth have surprising access to smart phones and internet access.

  • They are just as technologically literate as our team, if not more so.

  • Their first stop is Google - to find the website or phone number of a shelter.

  • They are aware that there are strict requirements for entry, and prefer to know those before calling.

  • There is a stigma around shelters and they would prefer not to advertise to their friends that they need one.

  • There are many LGBTQ youth in these programs.

  • There are not many online resources or databases with information on shelters & their requirements available. 

Usability Testing Results

What worked well

  • Overall, the flows made sense

  • Users liked the design and were largely able to complete the tasks

  • Overwhelmingly useful - users decided they would use it and recommend it to others

What didn’t work well

  • Still was a little bit of confusion about what exactly the application is for, although the tagline helped.

What changes to make to the prototype

  • Add name of shelter to search (basic, exact match search)

  • Add more housing iconography

Engagement insights

  • Social media, Facebook especially, is how most homeless youth communicate and expect to find this information.

  • Additionally, they expect to see it at the places that offer related services: doctors’ offices, counseling locations, etc.

Future Enhancements

  • Ability to filter by long and short term housing

  • Add the name of the shelter to search functionality (advanced search)

  • Age requirements for each shelter