the  P R O B L E M

the  S O L U T I O N

my  R O L E

the  P R I M A R Y
R E S E A R C H

H O W M I G H T WE

the  P E R S O N A S

the  W I R E F R A M E S

the  M O O D B O A R D

the  U S A B I L I T Y
T E S T I N G

the  H I G H - F I D E L I T Y
F R A M E S

Oakland is a city that is plagued with violence and crime, while also gentrifying rapidly. The conflation of these issues has caused a surge in both petty and serious crime. With the cost of living rising and incomes stagnant, inequality in Oakland has become unsustainable.

Upward Oakland is tackling four of the main causes of inequality by offering housing assistance, universal basic income, after school career building, and higher education scholarships, via bridging the community to each other through the app.

My role was the sole UX/UI Designer.

the  S E C O N D A R Y R E S E A R C H

• A basic income pilot program started in 2021 in Oakland, as the UBI experiment gains momentum in the country (and world).

• As of September 2021, Oakland had seen a 100% increase in carjackings, and a 50% increase in shootings over the year before.

• Rapid gentrification has caused housing shortages for everybody, but those with the least suffer disproportionately.

Criteria for the interviewees was that they were residents of Oakland, preferably with varied circumstances, to have a good sampling of the population. The different circumstances were critical so that comparisons and contrasts could be made based on backgrounds. Two people were single with no children, with moderate and high incomes. One person was married with children and high income. Two people were single with children, with low to moderate incomes. Regardless of income and circumstances, everybody had similar wants and feelings for Oakland. Clear themes emerged following these interviews:

1. HOMELESSNESS

2. COST OF HOUSING    

3. COMMUNITY & DIVERSITY

4. STUDENTS & EDUCATION

create an atmosphere of community among our users?

reduce gun violence and robberies/carjackings?

keep poor and homeless residents housed and fed?

address education inequities?

find solutions to rising rent and displacement of long-time residents?

Two types of users were defined when building the personas. The recipient would be a requester of assistance from Upward Oakland. The donor would be offering assistance to Upward Oakland. These two types of users will be coming together to form the Upward Oakland community. 
 
In connecting donors and recipients to each other, the community will build and narrow the gaps of the growing inequality. Boosting those who need it benefits the entire city of residents.

Two user flows were created, one for the RECIPIENT, and one for the DONOR. The wireframes went through two iterations, plus one edge case addition for each flow.

Oakland’s murals were the inspiration for the mood and colors for the high fidelity designs. They are very recognizable and iconic to Oakland residents. The colors needed to be vivid and colorful. Purple became the dominant color for the app because it represents resiliance, creativity, transformation, and inspiration. The brand attributes are empathetic, warmth, inspiring, community-driven, and connection.

There were two iterations for usability testing, each with five different participants. After the first iteration, the issues found were:

• confusion about app function and goals up front

• concerns about legitimacy and enthusiasm to sign up

• application process feels too simple

After the first testing session, Upward Oakland teamed up with the City of Oakland to garner legitimacy and trust, and give an official impression. New screens were added up front to clear up any confusion about using the app.
 
Images chosen that highlight Oakland’s social justice murals and vibrant creative scene were very well received in user testing.

After two user testing sessions and three iterations, a clean, simple, easy-to-use app design was finalized. The two user flows included in the prototype are entered through the recipient or donor, going all the way through apply for assistance, or donate and checkout.
 
https://www.figma.com/proto/K0b3txDLiugnzp4JglK3lv/Upward-Oakland-Designs?page-id=544%3A2134&node-id=1218%3A2411&viewport=750%2C650%2C0.36&scaling=min-zoom&starting-point-node-id=1218%3A2411

the  W R A P U P

From start to finish, creating Upward Oakland was an adventure. Once interviewees were selected and interviewed, discovering patterns and themes was the most intriguing step in the process. It became apparent fairly quickly which issues in poverty were the most urgent and needed solutions.
 
Initially, this project felt like a very exciting problem to tackle, but once I got into it, I realized that defining the problem was very complex, covering too many people and issues. Those two challenges, defining the personas, and defining the problems, were incredibly nuanced. More personas were needed to properly reflect the residents of Oakland. Narrowing down the issues in Oakland felt like over-simplifying too complex of a problem.