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A Mobile Survey Tool with a Global Impact

Digital World Map

OVERVIEW

I was part of a two-person UX team that worked closely with stakeholders and developers to design a mobile survey administration app. The survey app is the MVP of a four piece application suite that will offer administrative, fundraising, project management, and data solutions to charitable organizations. 

PROBLEM

The client designed a useful data collection system for their own organization, but wants to package that solution for other organizations and lacks knowledge about their current solutions, needs, and painpoints.

MY ROLE

  • Competitive Research

  • Script Writing

  • User interviews

  • Wireframing

  • Prototyping

TOOLS

Sketch

Invision

Person Checking Data _edited.jpg

PROCESS

RESEARCH

Through stakeholder interviews, we identified the key business goals for the application, as well as an understanding of the target audience. A competitive analysis helped us understand the strengths and weakness of existing solutions. I was able to identify some key features that are common to competitors, as well as some opportunities to differentiate from competitors with niche features.

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Seven interviews were conducted remotely with users across the world. I spoke with experienced surveyors, charitable organization founders (specifically housing and community related organizations), and administrative staff and volunteers. We were specifically seeking information on their current usage of surveys and forms within their organizations as well as the general needs and painpoints of their respective organizations.

INSIGHTS

Lack of time 

  • Organizations often lack administrative support (volunteers don't want to do office work)

  • Travel time to sites can be lengthy and reduces time in the office for administrative work

  • Would rather spend their time working with families than doing administrative tasks

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Need to streamline operations

  • A great deal of data in these orgs exists solely on paper with no central storage location

  • Internal communications can be difficult

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Want to be able to use the data they collect

  • Organizations want to be able to use the data they collect to improve the way they work

  • Would like to be able to better understand the needs of the families or communities they are helping using the data they collect

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Need to be able to share data easily

  • Organizations have a variety of stakeholders they need to provide data to

  • Creating reports is difficult and time-consuming.

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Need better data

  • Crafting a good survey is difficult and time-consuming

  • Surveyors sometimes return inaccurate data

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Data is often collected in areas without cellular or wifi signals

  • The areas in which these organizations collect data can be remote, and even dangerous

  • Even in the larger cities, it can be difficult to send large transfers of data from a mobile device

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Collecting a variety of data, not just survey questions

  • Need to be able to collect images, video, audio

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
 

  • Ability assign, track, and administer surveys from mobile phone

  • Download a survey task list before heading out to the communities

  • Administer the surveys on a mobile phone offline

  • Create a new survey offline

  • Extremely robust syncing interface

DESIGN
 

After mapping out some user flows for the proposed solutions, we created the information architecture for the survey application. We designed the wireframes in small sprints, starting with group whiteboarding sessions, then transforming the outcome of those sessions into digital wireframes using Sketch.  We had weekly design review sessions with the stakeholders and developers to get feedback on designs.

TESTING
 

Using Invision, we created a prototype for usability testing. The client performed internal usability testing with the prototype and used it to get feedback from their target audience. The client took extensive notes during these sessions that they passed along for us to iterate on.

Person Checking Data _edited.jpg

CONCLUSION

MVP LAUNCH
 

The client's engineering team developed the survey application internally and it has since launched as the first piece of their future suite of products. 

NEXT STEPS
 

The client was very happy with the final survey tool product and extended their contract with us for the additional phases of their application. A further three pieces of this application have been researched and are in various stages of design, however, as a charity organization that relied on in-person events for a great deal of their fundraising, the client put the project on hold in Spring 2020 due the Coronavirus pandemic.

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