FAST TRACK RESPONSIVE WEB APP
The problem
There are currently over 500 people who are homeless in Tempe, Arizona. Due to the heat, many of these people are dehydrated making it very difficult to function and get the help they need.
The goal
Design an app that will allow people who are homeless to reserve potentially wasted food from restaurants in the nearby area.
The product
Fast Track is a Tempe-based organization focused on feeding people who are homeless. This organization needs a community to stand behind it meaning that locals are welcomed and encouraged to help out in any way that they can. Fast Track's primary customers include the Tempe community, including all ages and walks of life, who are concerned with helping give or find food for those in need.
Role
UX Designer leading the app and responsive website from conception to delivery
Responsibilities
Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, iterating on designs, determining information architecture, and creating responsive designs
Project duration
March 2022 - May 2022
BACKROUND
Understanding the user
I used data provided by "The Homeless Solutions, Tempe"website to construct my interview questions. Many participants reported they would like to help people who are homeless, but didn't know how. The feedback received from users made it clear they would be open and willing to volunteer to help feed people who are homeless if there was an easy-to-use tool to help guide them.
Persona
Persona: Megan is a 59 year old gardener. Due to climate change, gardening has become more difficult because of the lack of rain in Arizona. This causes Megan to struggle providing food to customers which puts her at risk for becoming homeless. She is constantly working on her garden and hopes that she can produce food for herself and others in the near future.
Age: 59
Education: Bachelors degree
Hometown: San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Family: Single, no children
Occupation: Gardener
Goals:
-Wishes there was somewhere she could go to eat when she is hungry
-Wants to spend more time doing things she enjoys
Frustrations:
-"I haven't made a sufficient income for myself from gardening which makes it difficult to provide for myself and others"
-"I've been living alone in Arizona for a while now. I don't really have anyone that can help me out financially"
Competitive audit
I analyzed a few key competitor's products to provide direction on gaps and opportunities to address with the Fast Track app and responsive website.
Ideation
User pain points
DESIGN PHASE 1
Starting the design
Digital wireframes
After ideating and drafting some wireframes, I created the initial designs of the app while keeping the users as my top priority while designing.
The most prevalent buttons are placed in a location that is very easy to see
Most apps lack a food ingredients section for users. This ensures users with food allergies are accounted for when using the Fast Track app.
Usability study findings
To prepare for testing I created low-fidelity prototype. I used this prototype to conduct an unmoderated usability study with 5 participants. Here are the main findings uncovered by the usability study:
1. Lack of Readability
Users felt that font on the food reservation page was too small to read. A few participants had to ask me for clarification on what the text said.
2. Food tracking
Users would like to see their food status indicated somewhere on the app once an order has been placed.
3. Easy usability
I received a lot of positive comments about the usability of this app. Therefore, only a few changes will be made to the final prototype.
DESIGN PHASE 2
Refining the design
Mock ups
To make the font more legible I decided to completely redesign the food reservation page. Showing one restaurant at a time not only increases legibility, but also helps to reduce information overload to the users.
Before usability study
After usability study
Before the usability study, the order confirmation only displayed a button that allowed users to return to the home page. Users wanted to be able to check the status of their order, so I added a "track" and "share" button to allow for the user pain point.
Before usability study
After usability study
High fidelity prototype
The high-fidelity prototype included the design changes made after the usability study.
View the Fast Track high fidelity prototype
DESIGN PHASE 3
Responsive designs
Sitemap
With the app designs completed I started to work on designing the responsive website. I used the Fast Track sitemap to help create a cohesive and consistent design across all devices.
Responsive Devices
The design for screen size variations includes desktop, tablet, and mobile.
Desktop
Tablet
iPhone
LOOKING BACK
Take aways
Impact
Users stated that this app makes them feel as if they can truly do something to help those in need by volunteering, donating, or finding other ways to get involved.
One quote from Participant C:
“The Fast Track app provides an easy experience that would be very beneficial to those who may be in need for food."
What I learned
I learned that trying to solve a complex problem takes a lot of planning and ideating, which is ultimately what helped me get through this project. I also learned that big issues, such as world hunger, can be helped with the right tools and the right people.
GOING FORWARD
Next steps
1. Add details
Adding more details to this project on how people can get involved and use this app would be beneficial to complete because of the true possibility of this service translating into a real world scenario.
2. Add incentives
Add a page that provides incentives to those who volunteer and/ or those who successfully use the app and are interested in bettering their lives.
Thanks for visiting!
If you like what you see and would like to work together, lets connect!
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