OVERVIEW
A Platform Built for Mutual Aid
Covaid is a mutual aid platform that provides an intuitive request form to allow community members to easily seek help for support. These requests are then processed and matched to nearby volunteers who have signed up to support their community. Since launch, we have onboarded seven organizations and +2,800 volunteers.
MY ROLEInterface Designer
As a designer on the team, I worked on refining the design system and interfaces of our platform while introducing new features and updates that are shipped off to our developers. Currently, it has a web platform with the iOS app still in development.
SOLUTION
Visit covaid.coThe Covaid platform consists of both a web platform and an iOS app designed for volunteers. Below is a link to the web application, which is currently live.
PROBLEM SPACEChallenges from COVID-19
Due to the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw that many mutual aid organizations were facing an overwhelming amounts of requests for support. Many of these organizations currently rely on the use of spreadsheets as a way to keep track and organize their volunteers and their current tasks. These are the three main problems arise from this current format.
PROBLEM SPACE
Inefficient Spreadsheets
Currently, the majority of organizations use and depend on spreadsheets like these to manually manage and keep track of their volunteers and tasks, which is quite inefficient (blurred for confidentiality purposes).
From this problem space, Covaid was created, a product built in response to the coronavirus pandemic that streamlines the process for both organizations and the people who are offering their time to volunteer. In order to allow our platform to reach nationwide audiences, we wanted to find a way to manage communication and help delegate tasks at a larger scale. Five primary interfaces were built around this goal.
01 FEATURE
Simple, Three-Step Form
To receive help from a volunteer, an individual needs to simply fill out a three-step form. They are also able to put in the zip code they are in and specify the areas of help they are looking for to help with a better matching process later on.
01 FEATURE
Matching Volunteers
After the request is made, the organizations that have partnered with us will assign volunteers to requests by sending notifications to them via text or email. The process of finding and matching is streamlined as volunteers will be organized by their distance and specific help availability based on the person who made the help request. The first volunteer to respond to the notification will take on the task.
02 FEATURE
Checking Request Assignments
After the request is made, the organizations that have partnered with us will assign volunteers to requests by sending notifications to them via text or email. The process of finding and matching is streamlined as volunteers will be organized by their distance and specific help availability based on the person who made the help request. The first volunteer to respond to the notification will take on the task.
03 FEATURE
Managing the Organization
Another feature on the organization dashboard is the ability for Covaid to help manage the administrative details of the organization as well as sync the data with Excel. Since many organizations are likely to come from using Excel to organize their volunteers and requests, this feature will help alleviate the transitional friction organizations may face.
04 FEATURE
Managing the Volunteers
The organization portal allows quick management and viewing of the volunteers. There is also a map feature that allows us to see the locations of requesters as well as volunteers. When viewing volunteers, there are filtering and searching options that help us clearly find people with specific availabilities, resource offerings, and locations.
05 FEATURE
Sending out a Beacon
Lastly, we recently introduced the Beacon feature, which allows organizations to send mass notifications to a curated list of volunteers based on their needs.
01 FEATURE
Volunteer Signup
Right on the landing page, volunteers can go through a quick process to sign-up with Covaid while also providing some detailed information on the resources they can offer and their time availabilities.
02 FEATURE
Checking Volunteer Requests
Whenever a request has been matched to a volunteer, this will appear on their personal dashboard. Here, they can view three different states of requests: new, active, and complete. This is also where volunteers can accept or complete requests.
03 FEATURE
Updating Volunteer Profile and Status
If a volunteer becomes unavailable, they have the option to ‘mark as inactive’ whenever they want to be opted out of the active volunteers list.
FEATURE
Finding a Page of Resources
The resource page provides curated information regarding COVID-19 and appears in two areas: a link on the main navigation bar and after someone has just submitted a request. We recognize that we are not always available to provide immediate help, so we have this page that allows filtering of information based on city/zipcode as a way to find other potential ways to be helped.
FEATURES
The Mobile App
The Covaid team is also currently building a mobile app specifically for volunteers. We recognize that accessibility to important information is not as readily available for these helpers, and that notification by email and text is also ineffective and often ignored.
Reflection
Working on creating this platform, I was able to quickly see the immediate impact that design can bring to the world. Within just two months of launching our platform, we were able to onboard six organizations, +1800 volunteers, and complete +400 help requests. Seeing this has helped me better recognize how powerful good design can be in creating social good and change.