Jamii is an app designed for the BIPOC community, facilitating easy access to Support (including medical, psychological, and legal services), Businesses (including hairdressers/barbers, food, cultural spaces, bars, and clubs), and Events (music, exhibitions, markets, hangouts, and workshops) information.
What initially started as an app focusing on Black-owned businesses, shifted to an app for Support information.
There is a lack of online resources displaying black-owned businesses in Berlin. We aim to help the community to be able to easily find these services and display them in an effective and easy-to-use application.
Everyone is welcome to use the app. Currently, the target demographic is the Black community living in Berlin.
Skills Developed
UX Research, UX Design, Information Architecture, Prototyping, Art Direction,
Design System, UI Design, Micro-interactions, Usability testing
Duration
4 Weeks
Team
2 UXUI Designers (Lillian Searson & Susana Monteiro)
What initially started as an app focusing on Black-owned businesses, shifted to an app for Support information.
There is a lack of online resources displaying black-owned businesses in Berlin. We aim to help the community to be able to easily find these services and display them in an effective and easy-to-use application.
Everyone is welcome to use the app. Currently, the target demographic is the Black community living in Berlin.
Skills Developed
UX Research, UX Design, Information Architecture, Prototyping, Art Direction,
Design System, UI Design, Micro-interactions, Usability testing
Duration
4 Weeks
Team
2 UXUI Designers (Lillian Searson & Susana Monteiro)
Research
Research methods applied:
• Secondary research
• Competitors Analysis
• 1 x Survey (55 responses)
• 4 Interviews (all BIPoc - 3 Black persons)
Research methods applied:
• Secondary research
• Competitors Analysis
• 1 x Survey (55 responses)
• 4 Interviews (all BIPoc - 3 Black persons)
Survey Research
What we wanted to explore:
- Should we use BIPoC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) or PoC (Person of Colour)?
- What is the number one priority function in the app?
- Is there a difference in app priorities for different ethnic groups in Berlin?
- When it comes to a community app for people of color in Berlin,
what are you most excited to see? Please select all that apply (1=highest priority).
• Events (e.g. exhibitions, music, cinema)
• Businesses (e.g. restaurants, hairdressers/ barbers, shops)
• Support (e.g. legal., psychological, and medical)
• Community articles (e.g. recommendations from fellow users, business owner stories, cultural event shoutouts)
- We used Microsoft Forms for survey data.
- Not only is this tool renowned for its secure handling of data, but it also helps the user visualize their survey data.
Survey Findings
BIPoC
We explored terminologies like BIPoC (Black, Indigenous People of Colour), or PoC (People of Colour). Our findings highlighted that BIPoC was an acronym more readily used in Berlin.
Business
Businesses as an app display function did not perform well as a main priority, however had strong percentages as a second priority. This revealed that the app could showcase businesses, but would not be the main focus.
Events
On first glance, events seemed to be the prioritized function of the app. This was especially true in GenPop data. However, from diving deeper into the data, the events function was regarded as a second priority for the Black population, which we wish to focus on.
Support
Although our survey lacked context on what support could look like on this app; it was the highest selected function in the black population of our surveyors. This has made us reevaluate where our initial app would focus on and the direction of this current Capstone project.
BIPoC
We explored terminologies like BIPoC (Black, Indigenous People of Colour), or PoC (People of Colour). Our findings highlighted that BIPoC was an acronym more readily used in Berlin.
Business
Businesses as an app display function did not perform well as a main priority, however had strong percentages as a second priority. This revealed that the app could showcase businesses, but would not be the main focus.
Events
On first glance, events seemed to be the prioritized function of the app. This was especially true in GenPop data. However, from diving deeper into the data, the events function was regarded as a second priority for the Black population, which we wish to focus on.
Support
Although our survey lacked context on what support could look like on this app; it was the highest selected function in the black population of our surveyors. This has made us reevaluate where our initial app would focus on and the direction of this current Capstone project.
The Define phase - Affinity Map Findings
We reviewed all the findings and pain points in an Affinity Map. These were our main takeaways.
Current Solutions
We noticed that the current solutions for our interviewees to find any BIPOC resources were through word of mouth or knowing somebody who knew somebody.
Lack of Resources
Every interviewee explained that finding anything BIPOC related in Berlin involved lots of research. Many times, this was a tedious process with no real ending.
Experiences in Berlin
Our interviewees expressed that this ideated app would add much value, as each of them faced countless difficulties being BIPOC in Berlin.
Community
Initially, we ideated having a community feature on our app. From our interviews, it was highlighted that a sense of community is more important than a community feature (right now).
We reviewed all the findings and pain points in an Affinity Map. These were our main takeaways.
Current Solutions
We noticed that the current solutions for our interviewees to find any BIPOC resources were through word of mouth or knowing somebody who knew somebody.
Lack of Resources
Every interviewee explained that finding anything BIPOC related in Berlin involved lots of research. Many times, this was a tedious process with no real ending.
Experiences in Berlin
Our interviewees expressed that this ideated app would add much value, as each of them faced countless difficulties being BIPOC in Berlin.
Community
Initially, we ideated having a community feature on our app. From our interviews, it was highlighted that a sense of community is more important than a community feature (right now).
User Journey Map
Scenario
Sade wants to go to a Doctor that will make her feel more comfortable.
It’s Thursday, and she’s looking forward to the weekend to do something fun.
Scenario
Sade wants to go to a Doctor that will make her feel more comfortable.
It’s Thursday, and she’s looking forward to the weekend to do something fun.
A/B TESTING
While the app was still being built into a mid-fi version, we got stuck on how to move forward with a function. We were not able to make sense that if a user clicks on an information card, should they be directed to an independent page or should this information pop-up. From A/B testing, we concluded that although a pop-up card is more aesthetically pleasing, the independent page was more functional.
While the app was still being built into a mid-fi version, we got stuck on how to move forward with a function. We were not able to make sense that if a user clicks on an information card, should they be directed to an independent page or should this information pop-up. From A/B testing, we concluded that although a pop-up card is more aesthetically pleasing, the independent page was more functional.
Usability Testing
We conducted usability testing that prompted the tester to find a gynecologist and save this information. After they had done this, they were requested to put a reminder for an upcoming music event.
In our online usability test, we posed the Single Ease Question (SEQ) so we could explore how difficult the task was currently for users.
Using Maze, we were able to identify usability pain points and flow with the heat map.
• Maze— SEQ
Our in-person usability test also highlighted pain points and frustrations for the current user, and also included the System Usability Scale (SUS) to access the current usability of our product.
From usability testing, we were able to better understand how users would engage with our app.
We took the feedback onboard, reiterated it, and did another series of guerrilla testing to gather quick feedback. We noted again additional uses of our app and made changes.
Then, it was time to submit.
We conducted usability testing that prompted the tester to find a gynecologist and save this information. After they had done this, they were requested to put a reminder for an upcoming music event.
In our online usability test, we posed the Single Ease Question (SEQ) so we could explore how difficult the task was currently for users.
Using Maze, we were able to identify usability pain points and flow with the heat map.
• Maze— SEQ
Our in-person usability test also highlighted pain points and frustrations for the current user, and also included the System Usability Scale (SUS) to access the current usability of our product.
From usability testing, we were able to better understand how users would engage with our app.
We took the feedback onboard, reiterated it, and did another series of guerrilla testing to gather quick feedback. We noted again additional uses of our app and made changes.
Then, it was time to submit.
The Outcome
Future Steps
• Add more BIPoC information
• Expand our app to more cities
• More user testing to access the current SUS score
• Community function
• Implement more accessibility features e.g. dark mode, text display options
• Add more supporting languages
• Test using a sense of community scale
• Add more BIPoC information
• Expand our app to more cities
• More user testing to access the current SUS score
• Community function
• Implement more accessibility features e.g. dark mode, text display options
• Add more supporting languages
• Test using a sense of community scale