Connecting Volunteers with Food Banks

Empowering college students to easily find and commit to volunteer opportunities at local food banks.

Overview

Comida For Familias, Inc., a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation, is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, 509(a)(2) publicly supported scientific organization as defined by 26 CFR §1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(5)), primarily organized and operated in the public interest to conduct fundamental research and scientific research aiding in the scientific education of college or university students.

Project Snapshot

Outcome: Designed and developed a mobile application that enables college students to discover and commit to volunteer opportunities at local food banks, aligning with their available time slots. The app aimed to increase volunteer engagement by addressing the scheduling challenges faced by students.

The Challenge

  • College students struggled to find volunteer opportunities that fit into their unpredictable schedules.
  • Existing platforms lacked features to match volunteer availability with open shifts at food banks.
  • There was a need for a user-friendly interface that simplified the process of finding and committing to volunteer shifts.

The Approach

  1. User Research
    • Conducted interviews with college students to understand their challenges in finding volunteer opportunities.
    • Developed a user persona, "Valerie," representing the typical target volunteer.
  2. Journey Mapping
    • Mapped Valerie's journey to identify pain points and opportunities for improvement in the volunteer process.
  3. Design Iteration
    • Created initial wireframes and prototypes of the Feedr app.
    • Conducted usability tests to gather feedback and refine the design.
    • Iterated on the design based on user feedback to enhance usability and functionality.

Meet Valerie!

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Valerie desperately wants to help her community...

  • But she realized she didn't have the time to search for vacant volunteer positions
  • She found it very difficult to find volunteer times in the awkward bits of free time she had
  • She is really hoping there is a way to find open positions and fit it in her busy schedule!

Valerie's Journey Map

  • Valerie needed a system that would match her free hours with food pantries that have open shifts
  • Valerie also found it frustrating that she could not create automatic notifications for certain tasks

The First Iteration

  • The first pass of the Feedr app left users like Valerie confused and overwhelmed.
  • Users felt confused about the use of the map feature.
  • Users also wished there was a way to add hours and see local food pantries in their areas.

Feedr Competitive Analysis

  • The Feedr app left some users like Valerie with questions about how to customize their hours for availability
  • Feedr additionally left users in a state of confusion over how else to get the confirmation notification

The Solution

  • Mobile app showing volunteer opportunities based on student availability.
  • Map feature to locate nearby food banks and view open shifts.
  • Notification system to remind students of upcoming shifts and confirm attendance.

5
Interviews

5
Usability Tests

8
Interations

Final Design

  • Valerie and users like her would have benefited with a more clearer scope and resources devoted to this project.
  • This project is currently being retested with more users and gaining valuable feedback for version 2.0.