Salvation Army App
While in a UX design course at UCCS, my group was tasked with designing an app for the Colorado Springs branch of the Salvation Army. I primarily focused on designing the resources and handbook sections of the app, and contributed to multiple aspects of the design throughout the project.
Team Members:
Ashleigh Wright, Dylan Morrison, Autumn Gilliam, and Skye Maldonado
User and Client Research
By conducting research using the Hero Care Red Cross app, we were able to gain valuable insights about the usability of the "competitor" example. We also looked at the Salvation Army's website and analyzed it for content and usability.
Additionally, by interviewing our clients at the Salvation Army, we were able to define the most important features for our users and begin creating a persona that defined the rest of our design. I, along with my team, wanted to keep the Salvation Army's goals as a focus in our app's design.
Our User Persona
We created our user persona, Jason Smith, based on the information we were provided by the Salvation Army about its typical demographic that it serves. We took into account the typical age, situation, comfort with technology, and more to ensure our app was designed with this user demographic at the heart of our design process.
Througout our entire app, we designed with simplicity in mind to ensure our users don't become overwhelmed by information or complex tasks.
Sketching and Ideation
We began by sketching out ideas and ideating as a group, each member exploring how the processes should function within the app.
Lo-Fi Prototype
After receiving feedback, we began working on our Lo-Fi prototype, creating the prototype to show more refined layouts and a structure for the application.
Hi-Fi Prototype
A prototype was created using Figma to show the functionality of a finished app, demonstrate colors and graphics, and the final layout.
Welcome Screen
The opening screen introduces users to the app with a rotating carousel of information, as well as the option to log in if they already have an account, or enter the app without needing to log in. We wanted to ensure everyone downloading the app could access resources, regardless of being in the program or not.
Homepage
The homepage allows users to access important information and functions, and gives access to a profile menu and a notification menu for additional functions.
Application Process
The application screens allow users to apply for the Salvation Army's housing program within the app, providing a circle for progress throughout the application, clickable, fillable forms, and options to save the application for later completion.
Goals
The goals screens allow users to complete goals within the Salvation Army's program, sorted by different lengths of time required to complete them, and are redeemable for rewards.
Resources Listing
The resources listings screens provide an easy to understand, clutter-free layout that provides essential information to users, and does not visually overwhelm them. Information is sorted by category, and additionally, addresses and contact information are clickable for user convenience.
Resources Map
The resources map provides a unique way for those using the Salvation Army's community resources to locate said resources by location. The rotating carousel of buttons at the top filters resources by type, and the red pins are clickable on the map, showing the user information about a resource useful for their support.
Handbook View
The handbook view breaks down larger information into sections, providing the user control over how much information they see. It also causes them to interact with the handbook, giving them a sense of control and engagement, rather than just showing them the long document upon opening the page. Text in the handbook especially would scale with the device's text settings, ensuring that those requiring larger text sizes can see the content clearly.
Conclusion
This project was a very insightful and fruitful first case study and collaborative UX project, as it taught me about remote team UX workflows, designing, prototyping, and presenting work for clients. It also taught me about branding guides, and designing to satisfy the needs of specific user groups.