Inspired from
The OutReach app was inspired by Cognizant’s volunteering program called Outreach.
Employees love participating, and they get involved in every event that happens.
I wanted to design this app to make volunteering easier, more organized, and enjoyable for everyone.
The Problem
Employees got event updates through company email only
They would often miss registration deadlines or forget the event details
There was no way to save or track events easily
People couldn’t communicate with other volunteers to coordinate or share ideas
Sample event invite via email notification
OutReach is a mobile app designed to make volunteering easier for Cognizant employees. It helps users find events, register, and stay informed via notifications, all while building a community among volunteers
OutReach - An App for Volunteers
The Goal
Make it easy for employees to find and register for volunteering events
Send reminders and updates so they don’t miss anything
Help volunteers connect with others to share information and work together
Design Process
Empathise
User Interview
Interviewed potential users(employees within the firm who actively participate) to gather insights about their volunteering experiences, expectations, and barriers they face while finding opportunities.
They volunteer to give back to the community, feel fulfilled by helping, and make a difference
They want to find events that can fit their schedules or timely updates is a challenge
They need calendars, easy sign-ons, and event notification features
They prefer email and push notifications for updates
They prefer activities like cleanups, food banks, and education programs
Analyzed existing volunteering platform volunteer.gov.sg to identify best practices and gaps, helping to shape the design of OutReach.
Strength:
- Offers a wide variety of volunteering opportunities across different sectors.
- Users can select categories based on their preferences like skills they have, causes, and dates they could avail.
- Provides recommendations based on user interests and past participation.
Weaknesses:
- Does not have an inbuilt messaging feature for volunteers to interact or coordinate.
- The interface seems to lack a visual hierarchy and might not be sure where to focus
User Bio
Sherin Tan
Age: 34 years old
Location: Singapore
Occupation: Assistant Project Manager
Bio
Sherin is an Assistant project manager working in Cognizant Technologies based in Singapore. She participates in her company’s outreach volunteering program during the weekends every month depending on her availability. She loves helping people in need and giving back to the community.
Goal
Sherin wants to volunteer for people in need. She wants to take part in the events on the weekend when she has free time. She wants to find the right venue and the co-participants for the event
Frustrations
Sherin is frustrated that she doesn’t know when the event registration closes or is reminded about the event. She finds it difficult to reach the venue correctly. Not knowing a co-participant and having a chance to communicate with them is one of the reasons.
Competitor Analysis
Empathy Map
User Pain Points
Time: Users are often too busy and forget to check emails.
Registration: Users miss registration deadlines due to their busy schedules.
Communication: Users are unaware of who else is participating in the event.
Event Tracking: Users don’t know when events are happening.
Event Details: Users lack information about past, ongoing, or upcoming events.
Venue Finding: Users struggle to locate the venue or find someone to ask for directions.
Notification: Users aren’t informed about event cancellations unless they check their emails.
Reminder: Users don’t get reminders before events unless they set them manually on their devices.
Defining user needs
User Persona
What was Sherin’s frustrations?
Sherin usually registers for community events using the link provided in the email. She has to check for email updates if she misses them too.
Frustrated when she misses registering before the due date or when she’s not aware when the event she registered for is canceled.
Frustrated that she always has to sign in to her company account to look into the emails.
Frustrated when she is not able to track the happening events & not sure who else is their co-participants.
User Journey
What Sherin need?
Wants to register for the events depending on her availability by checking on the upcoming events.
Wants to save events, set reminders, and get notified when the event is near.
Wants to connect and communicate with participants who are attending the event.
Ideate
User Story
Created user stories based on what the users need
As a volunteer, I want to be notified about the registration closing date so that I can register without fail.
As a volunteer, I want to keep track of all happening events so that I can know the upcoming events and pre register for it.
As a volunteer, I want to communicate with people who are attending the event so that I can go with them and form a network and work together.
Created user flow diagrams to determine the steps the user follows while using the app
User flow
Created user flow diagrams to determine the steps the user follows while using the app
Sketching
Explored and sketched out all potential screens to brainstorm and ideate during the initial design phase.
Design
Lo-fi Wireframes
Hi-fi Wireframes
I also used minimal and consistent colors to create the UIs as this is app is to be used by people for social purpose. The main reason is that to not make the people to focus on the UI designs but to focus mainly on using the app.
Prototyping
I also used minimal and consistent colors to create the UIs as this is app is to be used by people for social purpose. The main reason is that to not make the people to focus on the UI designs but to focus mainly on using the app.
User testing
Conducted a usability testing session with participants who attend the outreach program regularly. I then took the responses to find common themes amongst the participants.
Major changes done based on the users’ feedback
The details of mandatory events were not clearly visible to most users, prompting feedback to make them more noticeable.Users also requested the availability of a sharing option.
Before:
The event details were displayed using a regular font style.
There was no sharing icon available for events.
After:
The font was bolded to enhance visibility and prominence.
A sharing icon has been added to make the feature accessible.
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Users wanted to easily spot new notifications.
Before: New and old notifications looked the same.
After: New and unread notifications are now highlighted to stand out.
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Result