SOAR
Role: UX/UI Designer
Tools: Figma, FigJam, Miro, Adobe Illustrator
Project Duration: 4 Weeks // 2024
Background
For the final project of the Google UX professional certificate, I designed a responsive web application to contribute to social good. With hundreds of thousands of people facing the challenge of reentering society post-incarceration, I felt it was essential to provide accessible tools to help former prisoners succeed and reduce the recidivism rate.
Through this project, I also wanted to try out tools & techniques I did not try in my previous projects.
The Problem
According to the US Department of Justice, nearly 650,00 ex-offenders are released from prison every year. And while some prisons offer programs and support for offenders before release, reentry support upon release is staggeringly inaccessible. The reentry process is not a one-time deal. Individuals often need stable support for extended periods of time; however, financial status, access, and quality are often challenges.
The Solution
SOAR is a website and mobile app designed to provide holistic reentry support to the formerly incarcerated. It was essential SOAR was also available through the web so that those without access to mobile devices could still use it via public forums (i.e. community centers, libraries, etc). Reentry support and programs aren't one-size-fits-all; SOAR offers career, community, and health resources to provide opportunities and reduce recidivism.
01 Empathize
Research & Affinity Mapping
To get a better understanding of features that would be the most beneficial for users, I conducted some research and used an affinity map to organize the most prevalent findings. I focused a majority of my research on national and state organizations that were able to provide thorough insights and statistics on reentry. The main goal was to identify what has and has not been successful in helping the formerly incarcerated with reentry.
Based on the research I conducted I was able to determine some of the most essential goals for the app.
Objectives
"The Bureau of Justice Statistics found that
of individuals who left state prison were arrested [2] at least once in their first year after release"
44%
Within nine years of release,
of those previously in state prison had been rearrested
6
of
5
User Persona
In order to develop a user persona for this project I wanted to focus on creating a fully encompassing persona while trying to avoid any of my own biases that might be present. As result, I took advantage of the Figma plugin QoQO.ai which used AI to generate a user persona. After providing a detailed input, I asked for multiple formats for user information. The original cards and bullets were significant in number, so I took the ones that repeated or I felt were to most essential and combined them to provide the following user persona.
02 Define
Site Map
03 Ideate
Wireframes & Lo-Fi Protoype
Once I decided on the sitemap and the overall flow of the application, I was able to begin designing the wireframes. During this process, I decided to try digital rather than paper wireframing, and I was able to find a kit to give the wireframes a similar aesthetic to paper. It provided a lot of pre-designed components and stickers. I think that it really helped speed up this part of the process and gave a cleaner presentation.
After gaining a better understanding of the users wants and needs, I developed an application map to layout essential pages and features.
04 Design
Brand Identity
The vision I wanted SOAR to inspire was one of new beginnings, motivation, and stability so I decided that the main inspiration for the brand would be the wings of a phoenix. The goal for the visual design was modern and clean but still bright and uplifting. As a result, I made the following decisions based on common associations and created a mood board before developing the main brand slides.
Turquoise - Symbolizes balance, tranquility, and clarity of thought, evoking feelings of refreshment and renewal.
Orange - Represents enthusiasm, creativity, and determination, evoking feelings of excitement and motivation.
Pink - Represents passion & boldness, evoking feelings of confidence and joy
Nunito Font - Rounded terminals give a friendly and approachable vibe while maintaining professionalism
Reflection
Next Steps
What I Learned
The next steps for this project would be to begin usability testing and then develop prototypes based on the given feedback. Finding a wide range of demographics to include in the usability test would be an essential element in order to prevent bias. I would want to include individuals of varying associations with the prison system as well as those without experience to gain a holistic understanding of how users experience the app. The most important aspect of the next step would be to make sure that the app realistically can help formerly incarcerated people.
My main goal with this project was to focus on research, brand identity, and experimenting with new tools. I wanted to focus on designing an app that focused on social good and could have a positive impact. Other projects I worked on involved research through user interviews; however, in this project, I had to focus on research through secondary sources since I did not readily have access to primary sources. I believe that this forced me to expand and improve my research capabilities. Additionally, I tried out different tools in Figma and used Adobe Illustrator for the first time in a project. There was a bit of a learning curve, but I improved my skills with AI and felt that I diversified the tools that I'm capable of using to complete a project.
I hope you enjoyed this case study. Check out my other work.