Hello, I am Veri Lejeune
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I love to solve complex problems and think beyond aesthetics. Design & Planning are my passions and I believe the role of design is to turn a complex problem into a simple and great solution that works for the user.
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Overview
Team
Individual
Role
UX Researcher
UI Designer
Tools
Figma
Miro
Canvas
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Timeline
May 2022 - July 2022
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With Peoples, residents can connect with each other and with PSHH staff. The idea is that staff and residents can either download the dedicated app or use the portal (responsive web page).
The project approached a progressive enhancement approach due to the fact that most residents do not have a desktop computer at home and most likely will use the app to access Peoples.
Problem
PSSH's communities need a tool to increase engagement among residents and with the organization, so that way they can amplify their voices and incorporate their knowledge, preferences, and values into decision-making in activities, programs, and events.
Context
People Self-Help Housing is a nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing for low-income families with on-site services and programs.
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80% of residents are Spanish Speakers
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70% have a mobile phone
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40 years old is the average age
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75% work during the day
Solution
An app and web portal directed towards enhancing PSHH's community engagement to help increase the number of participants in events, services, and programs offered to educate residents.
Engagement
Users can engage with their neighbors through the Community Mural or Picture Mural. Additionally, users can start a direct conversation with PSHH's staff.
Events
Users can see all events for the month and year, check on more information for future events, and provide their input on past events.
Easy to contact PSHH Communities
For Peoples Self-Help Housing Staff it is easier to contact their communities as well as be on top of communication.
Research Foundation
80%
of low-income American own mobile devices
Studies have shown that low-income families have gotten more access to mobile devices.
There is a potential to serve and engage with low-income communities through mobile apps.
"During our hour works, residents are usually working or doing other chores, thus the engagement is difficult to happen."
Staff from PSHH
''First, let me show you who I am, and then we will help you with your events''
a resident from Casa de Los Carneros Community
I feel intimate with topics that I am not familiar with. The problem is that many of us work hard during the day, so if I can grab my phone at night to check on the panel or chat with my friends... that is better than not knowing to whom I have to speak when I have an idea or want to engage with my community.
Insights from PSHH staff:
The language barrier will be a challenge in an app.
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Features that would help PSHH Staff:
data analyses, events, inspection
notice, local news, and
communication channels.
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Residents need to feel comfortable with the technology. It needs to be very easy to use.
This remark from a resident of the Casa de Los Carneros Community resonated with me deeply as it reflects a genuine effort to foster empathy within their community. Conducting user interviews remotely was quite challenging, but with the assistance of PSHH staff, I managed to survey four residents and have a phone conversation with one long-term resident.
Finding from Direct Research
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Many users struggle to generate ideas and show leadership due to feeling excluded from community event decision-making.
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Limited time and ineffective communication with both the community and Community Coordinator worsen this challenge.
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Users are motivated to support and engage with their community but feel uncertain about how to start connecting with neighbors.
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Socialization is seen as a valuable tool for building a stronger community.
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Meet the users
Lourdes Vianna
Age: 40 years-old
Profession: Social Servicer
Family: married - 3 teenagers
Languages: English & Spanish
PSHH staff user
Maria Peron
Resident user
Age: 35 years-old
Profession: House cleaner
Family: married - 2 children
Languages: Spanish
Lourdes has worked in the non-profit field for over 15 years. She dislikes assumptions made by policymakers about the low-income families of the areas she attends.
Goal: wish to have a better way to engage with the community she attends.
Frustrations: Not being able to input data in a faster way. She works extra to put all the data together.
Maria has worked as a house cleaner for 10 years and enjoys her free time with friends from her home country. She dislikes when she is undermined by other people because she does not hold a high education.
Goal: wish to open a Zumba moms club in her community as entrainment.
Frustrations: Difficulty to conquer new ideas due to lack of resources.
How do I turn user pain points into possible solutions?
Ideation
Combining PSHH's staff insights with the user's pain points, I create opportunities that could bring solutions to the problems they are facing. The app should attend to these pain points.
Testing
With a low-fidelity prototype in hand, I ran an online moderate usability test with 3 residents and 1 staff from PSHH. I identified common themes and patterns among participants and turned them into insights.
1
Mural x Messages
Users want to see a clear way to post a message on the Community mural to avoid confusion between post messages versus messages with PSHH staff.
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Events
Users want to be able to see all events for that month/ year.
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UI of Message Page
Users get confused about recognizing unread msgs, and to whom they are replying when selecting the message icon.
Iterate
After reviewing the user's experience and insights, I redesigned the experience to be easier and more intuitive to find events, post a message on Community Mural and Pictures Mural, and more visible to identify correspondences with Peoples Self Help Housing staff. Additionally, I redesigned the app colors to match Peoples Self Help Housing Brand.
Final Product
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Community Mural & Picture Mural
Foster communication and engagement among residents throughout the Community Mural and Pictures Mural Feature. Click here to open the user flow.
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Messages with Peoples Self Help Housing staff
Channel the communication of residents with Peoples Self Help Housing Staff in one place.
Click here to open the user flow
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3
Events View
Events Calendar available at any time. Additionally, PSHH can get input from the community about events they attended. Click here to open the user flow
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Responsive Web Page.
Peoples can also be accessed through the Peoples Portal on PSHH's webpage. Below is an interface for the Desktop and Ipad version.
What I learned
I got so excited to work on this project because as a former urban planner, it delights me how technology can help improve marginalized communities.
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The big lessons taken from this project are:
Understand your audience
User research was key for this project because the audience was people who lack computer literacy and technology and have language barriers ( I am providing 2 versions of the interface - & English and Spanish - I am still working on the Spanish.If I had more time, I would spend even more time immersing myself in the end user's perspective by being on-site to work on the whiteboards and brainstorm with the community.
Progressive enhancement approach
I have also learned how to design for the progressive enhancement approach, which can have its challenges.
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Next steps:
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Further develop the desktop version
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Ran more usability tests, especially with people who need to use an accessibility tool.
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