The Problem
The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected daily lives and led to extreme consumer behavior and panic buying. As a consequence, daily necessities, food and other resources ran out. World Health Organisation [WHO] suggested that in order to contain this virus, communities need to coordinate together. Even just small benefitting actions in individual communities can benefit the whole world.
Community resilience is a term used to describe the ability of communities to cope together to recover from large-scale emergencies. This means communities coordinating to strengthen factors such as social networks which will support people in times of crisis. This is proven by the Committee for Community Engagement which was established by CDC in 1995 and the community engagement during the AIDS epidemic.
My Roles & Responsibilities
I conducted literature review, user research and competitive analysis to gain a comprehensive understanding of the problem’s context. I was responsible for both the UX design process and the entire software development of the application.
Project Summary
An Artifical Intelligence (AI) mobile app that helps communities to collaborate and help each other during times of crisis such as Covid-19. This app helps individuals buy or sell resources locally by using their location information when they can’t find the resources in stores. Users are also able to supply others in need with resources. It provides location information where resources are available when the user searches for a specific resource.
User Research
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How do you usually shop?
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How did Covid-19 change the way you shop?
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How often did you have to shop online during Covid-19?
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What frustrates you the most when shopping during Covid-19?
5. Have you ever encountered a time where you had to buy a necessity but it was out of stock?
6. Which shopping or platform did you use the most to purchase?
7. Why and what is the most important thing you like about it?
8. What are your thoughts on Covid-19 and the future?
90% likes to shop in-store but 30% of them had to switch to ordering goods online during Covid-19.
50% of them had to purchase food and groceries during a lockdown. Medicines and essentials came in the second place whereas daiy necessities such as water and tissue paper came in last.
56% of the participants who had either themselves or their loved ones in isolation asked help from other people to help buy them goods. On the other hand, the remaining 44% stuck to shopping online and having the items delivered.
Findings
30% of the participants used Amazon as their main shopping platform. This could be because Amazon Prime has next day delivery which makes it extremely convenient during times of emergency. Most participants answered that any covid-related items were always out of stock and during times they were in stock, they would be overpriced. Some of the examples are: face masks, oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylingers, oximeters and sanitising liquid.
Common features that participants would love to have in this app:
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Chat interface
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Photos of the products being sold
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Approximate location for pick-up / drop-off
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Detailed descrption such as their price, quantity in the sale post
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Easy and straightforward navigation
User Personas
User Journey Map
User: Alanna
Goal: Sell products that she has to other people in the same city who needs them
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Information Architecture
Wireframes
Main Features
Homepage
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Displays all the current listings that are available and were added by other users.
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Users can add their own listings to sell their products by simply tapping the “+” at the bottom navigation bar.
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Lets users filter the listings by exchange, buy and donations.
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Listings can also be filtered according to their specific categories.
Listings filtered by trade type
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Exchange: Users upload the products that they have to exchange with other products from other users. They can use the chat interface to discuss the exchange process.
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Buy: This shows the products that are on sale from other users. Users can check a seller’s rating on the seller’s profile to check if it’s trustworthy.
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Donate: These are items that users choose to donate. This is extremely helpful during times of crisis, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. This can be considered community resilience.
Add a Listing
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The ‘+’ at the bottom of the home screen allows the user to add a listing.
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The user can add a photo of the product that they are either exchanging, selling or donating and provide the details for it.
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They can then choose the category they want to classify their item under and choose the trade type.
Seller's Profile
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Information such as all the listings that a seller has posted and reviews given from users that have traded with this seller are provided here.
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This increases the reliablity and trustworthiness between the user and the app.
Chat Interface
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The ‘Message Seller’ button on the seller’s profile leads to a chatbox where the user can discuss other details such as pick-up / drop-off location and time with the seller.
Reviews
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Allows the user to write a review about their experience with the seller.
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Engaging with user reviews gives a sense of community and improves user loyalty.
Prototype
Software Development & Testing
Let Me Help You app was developed by using React Native which is an open-source UI software framework created by Facebook. The app is a cross-platform mobile app meaning that, it is available for both iOS and Android. The best way to test a mobile app is by testing it out on a real device as this gives the highest accuracy. Simulators and emulators are also popular for testing mobile applications. In our case, participants for the user feedback survey used their own device.
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Overall, the application met its initial requirements and 80% of the participants in the survey agreed that the app would be useful for local communities to help each other during times of crisis by exchanging physical items. Final score of 86.5% (A Grade) was gained when evaluated by System Usability Scale.
Results
Overall, the application met its initial requirements and 80% of the participants in the survey agreed that the app would be useful for local communities to help each other during times of crisis by exchanging physical items. Final score of 86.5% (A Grade) was gained when evaluated by System Usability Scale.
Reflection
What do I feel towards this project?
This is a project I am most proud of as it was my first time being both the designer and developer of an entire application by myself in a short amount of time. It was also my first time carrying out the entire UX design process which helped me learn a lot about user experience and user research. Also, I was inspired by how my home country (Myanmar) was facing the pandemic, including myself who lost loved ones during it. Therefore, I am glad I was able to design a product that can help people during times of crisis like this in the future.
What would I have done differently?
I would extend the design beyond the mobile version to encompass a desktop version, thus enhancing accessibility across devices. Furthermore, incorporating multiple languages into the application would be a valuable addition, breaking down language barriers and ensuring a more user-friendly experience for a broader audience."