This project focuses on the utilization of ethnography research methods on a real-world organization, which in this case is Kudoz and designing a solution tailored to its mission and problems.
Kudoz is a non-profit organization and their mission is to help people with cognitive disabilities (Kudoer). Kudoz gather volunteers (Host) to setup workshops (Experience) for the Kudoers to build up motivations and explore potentials of themselves.
Throughout the project, I explored and applied using different ethnography research methods to gain a clearer understanding of my context: the stakeholders, their environment, and their situations of interaction. My findings provided to my team allow them to understand better that Hosts become inactive due to difficulties in planning experiences, Host dropping rates are higher than joining, and the lack of ideas for new Experiences.
PRO-
BLEM
SOLU
TION
As a solution to these problems, I helped to brainstorm ideas for the team to create workshops for Kudoz’s hosts to participate in. The workshops gave us a direction to help improve on their hosting experience, which our team decided to create a mobile application prototype for Kudoz as a solution to solve and improve the problem of host declining rate.
FEAT
-URES
01
Preference finder
Hosts will be prompt to select their preferences on interest, cost, and location. These factors affect Hosts’ choices in generating Experience ideas.
02
Pre-approved
Experience
The list of pre-approved Experiences that have been approved by Kudoz Staff and has been hosted before. This will allow Hosts to skip through the proposal stage as well as prevent the loop of idea generation until proposing.
03
Kudoer's Request
Kudoers regularly request for a topic they would like to learn. Instead of only sharing the requests with Kudoz Staff, this feature will share the Kudoer’s request with Hosts, which enables them to grant the Kudoer’s request by planning the Experience.
PRO-
CESS
01
Ethnography Research
To apply ethnography research methods in a real-world context, I’ve actively involved with Kudoz as a participant and an observer in their experiences throughout the semester. This allows me to gain a better understanding of the stakeholders in the organization.
02
Pre-approved
Experience
In order to identify the user’s pain points throughout their Kudoz workshops. I’ve built up personas and user journey maps tailored to the organization's situation.
03
Iterations
Participatory workshop were conducted to iterate and solidify the product idea through understanding the target user groups' thinking process. Workshop activities include the following. I came up with the ideas of cube sorting to allow the participants to rank their piorities in creating an Experience from accessibility to cost. The workshop helps to visualize the participants'areas of interest as well as their preferred journey with Kudoz at the stage of finding new inspirations to host.
CONCLU
-SION
Hospiration presented a unique opportunity to apply ethnography research methods in a real-world context. As a UX and APP Designer, I played a crucial role in understanding the needs of Kudoz. Through extensive user research, including persona development and journey mapping, I identified key pain points faced by Kudoz hosts and proposed innovative solutions. The proposed prototype offered essential features to maintain host in actively participating and conducting workshops, I ensured that the final solution addressed the declining host rate and fostered a positive hosting experience. This project allowed me to combine my skills in user research and Adobe XD to create a meaningful and impactful solution that aligned with Kudoz's mission.
