Venux
Accessibility-Focused Delivery App
Services
Visual Design
UI & UX Design
Scope
2 Months
Industries
Accessibility Design
Date
March 2023
Venus aims to ease the hassle of acquiring necessities such as groceries, during extreme weather conditions by partnering volunteers with those in need.
The app is designed to promote a sense of community during the troubling times of extreme climates.
BC's flood preparation guide was a great resource in pin-pointing the most common needs in extreme weather conditions. These will later be implemented within my app as highest priority necessities.
Additionally I found a government-issued resource that dives into the step by step instructions of how to help an individual with a disability in the best way possible during an emergency. This information can be used in the "info" pages of the app.
In ensuring that the app is able to accomodate the key accessibility needs, I conducted market research with the ICE App. Here is what I discovered:
ICE App Overview
ICE APP SWAT Analysis
ICE PERSONA+EMPATHY MAP
Relevant Flood-Associated Issues
After researching the market, I found a big gap not only in accessibility-focused emergency services, but in disaster-focused apps in general.
While there are government ran downloadable apps, there is little difference between what the flood guide states on the website vs the application.
The advice always states that the user should prepare the necessities ahead of time. However, humans tend to procrastinate or forget, or simply the disaster can happen unpredictably, leaving the individual with no choice but to make due with what they have.
Builds relationships and helps community
Receives in-app points
Receives necessities at the door
Saves time and nerves
Sitemap on Sticky Notes
I found that by making the sitemap with sticky notes I was able to easily shift pages around freely.
Beginning the design of the app, I began my brainstorming by trying out various home page layouts from the perspective of the user in need.
Sketches on Procreate
After feedback, I have decided to focus on developing the app from the perspective of the volunteer.
I have received some great suggestions and solidified my app's purpose. Venux (app's name) would serve as a government-funded community powered service. It will connect users in need with volunteers that will be able to deliver goods and necessities either through shopping or donation. The volunteers will be compensated for their expenses by the government and will be rewarded with points that can be used for discounts at grocery stores, prizes etc.
Wireframing
I began sketching the key screens in procreate to experiment with the overall layout.
Transferring over the Procreate Sketches into clickable Figma layouts:
Landing Page
Home Page
Opportunity Page
Profile Page
I began to take inspiration from palette generators such as coolours and adobe colour. The final palette was developed by experimenting with themes of calmness and nature, with a twist of modernity.
Through the development of my logo, I was playing around with elements that represent community.
As shown in the sketches, I used figures of humans joining hands and played around with the shape of the letter "X".
In this stage, I incorporated the colours and typography to the screens.
Log in
Cause page
Sign up page
The opportunity screen now includes a swipe-interaction. This allows the volunteer to delete the requests that they cannot accommodate. In order to find out more information, the volunteer will instead press the green button with a "plus" sign on it.
The little looking glass sign formed with the "O" in "Opportunities" page title was inconsistent so it was eliminated in the later iteration.
The most important part is bringing the app out into the real world!
I prompted the app testers to adopt the lens of the persona shown below:
A community-driven young volunteer
residing in Langley, BC.
Then, asking the tester to follow the following prompts:
1. Interact with the clickable prototype.
2. Feel free to voice their thoughts as you go through each screen and point out any confusion or elements you would like to have changed. These changes can be about the content, formatting, or functionals.
Here is what I discovered:
User Test 1
User Test 2
Home + Account Pages
Cause + Home Pages