Overview

A community center's volunteer matching app for rural elderly care in Sai Kung.

2023
User Research
Co-creation Workshops
UI/UX Design

Client
Jockey Club Design Institute for Social Innovation

Program Beneficiary
Sai Kung District Community Centre

In response to the growing demand for caregiver services and support, the Sai Kung District Community Center (SKDCC) partnered with J.C.DISI of PolyU, under the PolyU Jockey Club Operation SoInno program, to develop a volunteer matching app. The app’s primary goal is to seamlessly connect elderly residents and their caregivers with local volunteers and community members, making it easier for them to request and receive timely assistance from their neighbors.

Founded in 1970 as a non-profit charitable organization, SKDCC has long been committed to its mission of "connecting communities, caring for villagers, and protecting nature." In 2022, SKDCC recognized a rising trend of caregivers in the rural Sai Kung district actively seeking help, underscoring the need for a tailored solution. This app was developed to address that need, ensuring elderly residents and their caregivers in rural areas can find the support they require more easily.

The Challenge

Overcoming accessibility and usability challenges for elderly and caregiver users

Our goal was to design a platform that not only connected elderly residents with volunteers but also prioritized ease of use for both caregivers and elderly users. The challenge lay in creating an application that was intuitive, efficient, and accessible, while addressing the unique needs of an aging population and the caregivers who support them. It was essential that the platform streamlined the process of finding and offering assistance, making it effortless for users to navigate and engage with.

The Solution

Simplifying the platform’s features and user flow for an intuitive experience

Our team focused on creating an interface that delivers a streamlined, user-friendly experience for both elderly users and volunteers. By prioritizing only essential information, we minimized visual clutter and enhanced overall usability, making the platform easy to navigate for all age groups and technical skill levels.

Elderly App

Balancing digital convenience with a personal touch: Elderly users and caregivers can request services directly through the app, while volunteers handle the coordination of dates and times through phone calls. This approach ensures a seamless blend of digital convenience and human interaction, making the experience approachable and personal for elderly users.

Volunteer App

Enhancing communication and organization: The volunteer app was designed to improve communication between the Centre’s staff and volunteers. By categorizing and organizing relevant information on both sides, the app ensures that volunteers have everything they need to efficiently assist the elderly, while staff can easily manage the flow of information.

Staff Backend

Optimizing staff workflow through a centralized system: We developed a backend platform that organizes content and streamlines the distribution of information, significantly reducing the workload on the Centre’s staff. This system enhances communication with volunteers and provides staff with the tools they need to manage the process effectively, allowing them to focus on what matters most—supporting the elderly in their community.

The Interface

Designing user-friendly interfaces tailored to the needs of different users

To ensure a seamless and accessible experience for all users, we designed three distinct interfaces, each tailored to the specific needs of elderly users, volunteers, and the Centre’s administration.

Elderly Interface: The interface for elderly users was crafted with simplicity as the top priority. We eliminated all superfluous information and focused solely on the essential tools needed to request services. This minimalist design promotes ease of use, ensuring that elderly individuals can navigate the platform without confusion or frustration.

Volunteer Interface: The volunteer interface was designed to provide more functionality, enabling volunteers to manage their services efficiently. This interface includes options for scheduling, managing tasks, and reporting, giving volunteers the tools they need to stay organized and effective in their roles.

Administrative Interface: For the Centre’s administration, we developed an interface that allows staff to control and oversee all operations. This interface streamlines the process of managing requests, tracking services, and communicating with volunteers, offering a comprehensive overview of the platform's activity to ensure smooth operations.

Each interface was carefully designed to suit the unique requirements of its users, promoting clarity, ease of navigation, and a user-centric experience across all levels.

Key features

Clarity and Ease of Use

Elderly App

Merging simplicity with meaningful human interaction

During our workshops, both elderly users and caregivers emphasized the importance of human communication in their daily lives. While we prioritized creating a simple, accessible interface for elderly users, we also recognized the need to preserve personal, human connections.

To address this, our app retains traditional phone-based interactions alongside digital tools, allowing elderly individuals and caregivers to communicate directly with volunteers via phone calls. In addition to maintaining this human touch, the app offers a digital option for requesting services and tracking them in real-time. Users can view who will be arriving at their home and when, providing an added layer of safety and reassurance.

This thoughtful integration of simplicity, human interaction, and technology ensures that the app feels familiar and supportive, while offering modern conveniences that enhance both safety and efficiency.

Custom Volunteer Overview

Volunteer App

Personalized Dashboard for Quick Access to Key Information

The welcome page is customized to provide volunteers with the most relevant information at a glance. Key details such as scheduled services for the day and individual KPI progress are displayed through a series of widgets, ensuring that volunteers can easily stay on top of their responsibilities and performance metrics as soon as they enter the app.

Streamlined Visit Workflow

Volunteer App

Simplifying Volunteer Reporting and Health Monitoring on Visitation Day

The steps volunteers follow on visitation days have been automated and simplified to ensure a more efficient and stress-free process. After each visit, volunteers complete a brief form to report how the service went, including any health-related observations they may have noticed during their time with the elderly.

Volunteers also have the option to highlight urgent health concerns, instantly notifying the center if a significant health decline is observed. This feature ensures that, even when volunteers are providing non-health-related services, the center stays informed about the well-being of individuals, allowing for timely interventions when necessary. By streamlining these processes, the system helps volunteers focus on providing care, while giving the center a comprehensive view of each individual’s health and needs.

Staff Dashboard Overview

Admin Backend

Providing staff with a comprehensive dashboard to monitor platform activity and performance

The staff backend dashboard is designed to offer a comprehensive view of the platform’s activity, providing real-time data on service requests, volunteer activities, and user engagement. By comparing current performance metrics with data from the previous week, staff can easily track the platform’s effectiveness in delivering and fulfilling services. This overview helps staff make informed decisions and ensures that resources are allocated efficiently to meet the needs of the community.

User Workshops

Engaging stakeholders through workshops to inform and refine the design

Workshops played a crucial role in both the planning and refinement of the platform. Before the design process even began, we held a series of workshops with the elderly and caregivers, volunteers, and center staff to deeply understand their needs and expectations. This initial input was vital in shaping the direction of the platform's core features.

Following the initial design phase, we conducted additional workshops to gather feedback and validate the design with the same stakeholders. These collaborative sessions allowed us to refine the user experience, ensuring that the platform aligned with the real-world needs of its users. By involving stakeholders from start to finish, we increased the likelihood of widespread adoption and ensured the platform’s long-term viability.

User Flow & Wireframe

Developing iterative wireframes to align with SKDCC’s goals and enhance user journeys

To ensure our design aligned with SKDCC’s objectives, we created multiple iterations of wireframes for both the frontend and backend of the platform. These detailed wireframes, developed before the start of development, were essential in visualizing the user journey and interactions.

The wireframes mapped out key user flows, illustrating how elderly and caregivers, volunteers, and center administration would navigate the platform. By refining these journeys, we ensured that each group—whether elderly users and their caregivers, volunteers, or staff—could move through the application intuitively, with clear guidance at every step.

Initial Concepts

Defining layouts and structure through initial concepts

The initial concepts were essential in shaping the layout and structure of the platform’s interfaces. These visual representations helped communicate our ideas to both SKDCC and the development team, allowing us to gather feedback and refine the designs further. By presenting these early screens, we ensured that each feature was carefully considered and aligned with the needs of the elderly and caregivers, volunteers, and center staff.

Documenting the journey

A comprehensive research report from concept to execution

As part of the project with SKDCC, we compiled a detailed research report that documents the entire process—from initial research and stakeholder engagement to final execution. This publication serves as both a reflective analysis and a valuable resource for those looking to understand the methodology and decisions behind the platform’s development.

The report offers an in-depth look at every stage, including user research, wireframing, design iterations, and key learnings from workshops and the design development.

READ REPORT →

Note on the usage of AI

Some images on this website and our Instagram account are generated using AI technologies. We use these advanced technologies to support our existing services, enhance narrative and storytelling, and improve the client experience. We believe that generative AI has a valuable place in modern creativity, but it is crucial to ensure that these technologies do not exploit artists' work without explicit permission. We are committed to ethical practices in all aspects of our business, including the use of AI.