Table
Stakeholder
interviews,
Wireframes,
Figma animations
Introduction
Table is a digital tool for volunteers and organizers to plan and complete mutual aid projects. This was a personal project I did during the pandemic with one other designer.
Challenges
Throughout 2020 we saw many mutual aid groups and fundraising links as everyone tried to help each other through the pandemic. At the same time, established mutual aid groups had to stop meeting in person.
How do people help each other when gathering together is impossible?
Why table: in mutual aid groups, "tableing" is when teams set up a folding table outside to tell people about what they do or bring more people into the team, and it symbolizes a gathering place.
We chose to work with members of Paoli United Methodist Church to learn more about their outreach and what it could look like.
The church was a good starting point to learn about mutual aid because of the variety of different projects. Some projects were yearly, some groups meet every week, and some projects were spontaneous if opportunities came up.
Opportunity
A tool for people who see needs around them and want to work with other people to help.
Process
My role was mainly the research side. I interviewed stakeholders and sifted through insights to find patterns.
Personas
Each persona is based on a person I worked with. They are all part of different projects and different roles within them. (Names have been changed)
They stored all of their project plans and notes in a binder.
Email chains and the occasional Sign-up Genius were the only online tools they used.
Insights
I learned everything I could about their current process. The members mainly used paper records and a few digital tools for mutual aid projects. Some members were looking forward to a more effective system, and some were concerned that it would be too complicated and already disliked the online tools they had used before.
Almost all of our projects repeat every year, but we also have to repeat the same work every time since nothing we do is digital
Card sorting interviews
I created sketches of my first concept for the structure based on my initial interviews and improved the next iterations by conducting a card sorting exercise with six key members
The problem with meeting in person anyway was if you miss one meeting you’re out of the loop.
View shared notes
- Organize information everyone can access
- Give permission for teammates to view and edit
Current prototype
My wireframe sketches informed the structure of this final prototype based on insights from the process.
We are always looking for ways to bring new people on board, so having something documented and active at the same time like this would be amazing for getting new people engaged and up to speed.
Create notes
- Add checklists
- Assign tasks in context
- Share information for a project without a meeting.
I find it’s difficult to pass the torch to new leaders because there is a steep learning curve to our specific process of events. it becomes ‘so and so always does that’ so that’s how it stays.
Tasks
- Keep track of your tasks and check them off
- Teammates can see which tasks still need to be done so they know what to help with
Having everything in one place would make it easier to delegate tasks with context
Competitive analysis
I had also compared the digital tools some teams had used in the past. Most of them are structured to only allow one administrator and are difficult to navigate for volunteers.
When Lynn sends me a Meal Train link I have to call her just to find the right buttons to click. I just want to sign up for a day to bring Carol dinner after her knee surgery.
Inclusive experience
How active users will be in digital platform is different for each person
Tasks
- Email tasks keep interactions quick and simple for people who don’t need an account.
Conclusion
Table was a great project for improving my skills in both UX research and visual design. Understanding the users and entire purpose of a design is always necessary for solving the root cause of problems. I also got to experiment with visual design trends like neumorphism, and refine my prototyping skills. It was good to have a design project with a purpose of helping people during a time in the pandemic when there was a lot of need.
