SOCIAL ECONOMY ACTION RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Designing an app that empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to effortlessly discover grant opportunities and seamlessly schedule advisory sessions with social enterprise consultants.
Problem Statement
Based on the National Social Enterprise Roadmap and research revealing 9 out of 10 social enterprises struggle to thrive, grow, and succeed in their mission; there is a significant gap in accessible support for underprivileged social entrepreneurs.
Our goal is to design a mobile app that provides a platform for social entrepreneurs to easily access consultancy from experienced mentors, ultimately improving their chances of success and contributing positively to the social enterprise landscape.
Result
Given the time constraints of our project, having had to shift our project objective at Week 10, we were not able to fully circulate our design to potential users. However, we were successful in designing high fidelity wireframes and will stay in touch with the client Paul Medina as he shares the design with aspiring entrepreneurs for feedback.
ROLE
Product Designer
TOOLS
Figma, Figjam, Mural, Canva, Notion
DURATION
16 weeks
(May - Aug 2023)
TEAM
8 Designers
1 Design Manager
1 Product Manager
PERSONAS
Defining the target audience
To better understand our users, their goals, and their pain points, we created personas for the two main types of the users of the mobile app—aspiring entrepreneurs and social enterprise consultant.
Target audience #1 - Social Entrepreneurs
Based on the research provided by the client, primary pain points for social entrepreneurs include
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Finding social funding
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Storing confidential enterprise information and receiving valuable feedback
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Managing and tracking appointments with consultants
Target audience #2 - Consultants
Our second target audience includes investors. Pain points include
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Building trust and establishing credibility with clients
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Coordinating schedules and time management
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Difficulty sharing sensitive documents due to the lack of effective tools
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Secure payment transactions through a mobile app
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Analyzing key features
For competitive analysis, our team focused on researching on meeting scheduling (Calendly, ADP List, etc.), video conferencing (Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, etc.), and payment (Venmo, PayPal, GCash, Maya, etc.) platforms as these are the main features that the mobile app contains. For each platform, we analyzed their pros and cons as well as how we can apply their certain features to our designs.
My responsibility involved researching competitors in the video conferencing space where I identified common design patterns. Notably, a gap in the market became apparent—none of the platforms examined provided an integrated note-taking section. In all instances, users were required to take notes outside the platform.
USER FLOW
Structuring information
To build out the skeleton of the mobile app, our project group split into teams of 2 per user flow. Then we proceeded to create user flows that maps out how a person will navigate and be directed in the app to complete their goals.
I was tasked with crafting out the video conferencing flow with a note taking space where I considered possible constraints:
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Users are not well versed in technology
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Note taking on a small screen is difficult simultaneously video conferencing
I considered a note taking platform with the option of uploading handwritten notes. The user journey outlined below illustrates how a person would navigate through each screen.
DESIGN
Putting it all together
After creating and iterating on the user flows, we proceeded to start designing the app. We started sketching out lo-fi wireframes and then created mid-fi and hi-fi wireframes. We also created our own design system and component library in Figma.
Mid-fi Wireframes
Stemming from the lo-fi skeleton, we started using color and typography in our designs to make the wireframes closer to what they will look like in the final product.
Hi-fi Wireframe
In hi-fi wireframes, we used complex colors, effects, and images to simulate how the mobile app will actually look when the users use it.
DESIGN
Design System & Component Library
To better standardize our designs and adhere to SEAR’s brand guidelines, we created our own design system and component library to be used in our designs.
OUTCOME
Did we achieve our project goals?
A major challenge in the project was having to shift our project objective at Week 10. We worked with the client to redefine project objectives and set new expectations on the final deliverable. Since we promised to deliver a set of highfidelity wireframes, we were successful in meeting the PRD.
Impact on the Client
The client can spread his business and also connect entrepreneurs to consultants which will open this network of knowledge
Impact on Social Economy
We aspire for the project to have a beneficial influence on the social economy through 5 different avenues
Entrepreneurial Success Rate
9/10 entrepreneurs fail and hopefully we flip the ratio to 9/10 succeed
Education
Entrepreneurs have the ability to participate in educational sessions
Knowledge Transfer
Knowledge transfer will empower entrepreneurs to get their organizations off the ground
Mentorship
Establish partnership between communities such as having a mentor look over an organization as it grows and they can stay in communication
Grant Opportunities
Entrepreneurs have the ability to find grants
So what's next for SEAR?
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Iterate on MVPs such as Superadmin access, and flesh out Browsing Grants with regards to internal applications and checking the status of them
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Clarifying component Library
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Cleaning up design consistency
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Prototyping the flow to navigate through
Personal Takeaway 🤔:
Adaptability
The project's parameters shifted, and with a shrinking timeframe, we had to revise the PRD and adhere to it in order to meet the deadline. Overall, we adapted to these modifications and successfully met the project's timeline.
Project Management
I learned effective project organization nurtures collaboration, optimizes resource allocation, and ensures quality control, culminating in a product that resonates with users
Consistency
Working with designers from different backgrounds, it was important to keep design consistency within my partnership, and then within the team
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