Ethnographic
Research
Ethnographic research was performed about the population of Barbados to find out how the people are being affected by Covid-19 pandemic
There are social problems that existed before the pandemic.Through the research I learned residents of Barbados are dependent on tourism as a major source of income and they are struggling to meet basic needs.
The unemployment rate for the 1st quarter of 2021 stood at 17.2%. In 2020, the national gross income per capita in Barbados amounted to around 14.5 thousand U.S. dollars, up from 17.4 thousand dollars per person in the previous yearAbout 18% of the native population lives in poverty.The poverty line in Barbados is 5,503 Barbadian dollars which is about 2,760 USD.The problem of homelessness in Barbados is largely due to the unemployment rate
User Interviews
Because of pandemic restrictions, I am not able to travel to Barbados. User Interviews were conducted on Zoom to find out problems that people from Barbados are having.
Participants had to be residents of Barbados and being impacted economically by covid-19 pandemic. Participants were recruited by the software developer who is from Barbados and living on the island. My user is not able to meet basic needs such as food security, clothing and paying for utilities.
I learned people were helping each other through mutual aid groups and through local charities:
“My mom and I grow food in our garden that we share with community” - Sham
“Resources need to be distributed across the island” -Sham
Research identified there is a stigma:
“I don’t want keep asking the same people for help”- Trisha
When asked about the homelessness problem: “Some people are embarrassed to ask for help” -Sham
Persona
Two personas were created to empathize with users pain points and needs.
Most of my users have varying needs however urgent needs need to be prioritized.
Design Research
There aren’t other apps for mutual aid in Barbados so research is limited to mutual apps here in the US.
Product market fit helped look at features from other mutual apps keeping in mind that my user is in a different country. Comparing different apps helped me see different features being used by other mutual aid apps.
Ideation
Rapid Ideation was done using Miro to help me narrow down ideas and generate solutions.
Ideas were narrowed down through dot voting
urgent needs will need to be prioritized
• Basic needs like food, shelter and bills need to be covered.
• Connecting with NGOs also take priority
User Flow
User Flow was created to help Trisha and Sham find the help they need or donate items.
Mid Fidelity
Wireframes
Wireframes were designed and sketched to be able to validate ideas with stake holders and users.
Ideas from rapid ideation were also implemented on wireframes. The software developer let us know some of our ideas are not easy to implement on Wordpress so we had to iterate and let go of some ideas.
High Fidelity
Wireframes
A high fidelity wireframe was created to add the branding and implement designs into wordpress templates.
A high fidelity prototype was created to test designs on wordpress platform.
Design System
The design system also helped make it easier to update designs in the future.
01 Colors
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02 Typography
03 Buttons
03 Cards
