Many people who want to volunteer struggle to find opportunities that speak to their interests or fit into their schedule. A lot of volunteer opportunities require large commitments of physical, mental, and/or emotional labor.
Create a mobile application that makes it easy for users to find volunteer opportunities that work for them.
This was not my first, not my second, but my third idea. So I did a few of these steps multiple times. When it became obvious the users didn't have the problem I hypothesized they had, I knew I had to expand my view to locate an actual problem.
Most of the users' issues surrounding selecting and signing up for volunteer opportunities revolve around the filtering process. I.e. regular vs. one-time opportunities, no options to volunteer as a group, time commitments, interests or causes, not knowing what to expect, activity level, and lack of kid- or senior-friendly opportunities.
Other issues included not being part of a group but wanting to volunteer with a friend, having to go to the nonprofit's site to learn more, and having to fill out applications for regular opportunities more than once.
For a nonprofit receiving application, there are certain questions that help identify good candidates, but interviewing each applicant takes time.
To address these pain points, I incorporated the following features:
Devised a progressive, personalized onboarding flow.
Presents one category at a time—location → availability → interests → skills → socializing level → physical activity level, while providing clear progress indicators, and “skip” or “save & continue” options to minimize cognitive load, boost engagement, and reinforce value at every step
Constructed an optional, shareable profile survey.
Users can select volunteering mode (individual vs. group) via clear buttons, answer concise open-ended questions about motivations, skills, and availability (using optional fields per survey best practices), and automatically generate a polished summary nonprofits can view to assess candidate fit.
Provided a “heart” (save for later) feature paired with a sharing tool.
Included a clear, single-tap heart icon to let users bookmark opportunities they’re interested in but not ready to apply for, and a share button that triggers native OS share dialogs or social options so users can easily invite friends or groups to join them.
Home
Opportunity Details
Nonprofit Details
Choose Your Interests
Open-Ended Question
One of the big lessons I learned on this project is how and when to pivot. When approaching a problem, sometimes the answer is broadening scope. Using the design double diamond method to alternate between expanding and narrowing, the research I gathered allowed me find the right problem to solve.
Another lesson I found valuable that I learned on previous projects and continued to practice here was continually seeking feedback, both from my users and from my peers. I'm designing for others; I need input from others. I don't necessarily adopt every idea that's given, but to be an effective designer it's important to always consider other perspectives.
