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Hunger Helpers
Sarah Karney
Sydney Miller
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Overview
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Presentation breakdown:
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What is the Hunger Helpers project?, 3
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Obstacles, 4
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Finding Partners, 5-6
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Site Design and Usability Testing Plan, 7-29
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GroundCntrl app testing results, 30-37
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Marketing plan, 36-43
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Wrap-up and questions
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Research-Driven
App testing of
GroundCntrl system
Two rounds of usability testing of website
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The Hunger Helpers Project
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The goal of the Hunger Helpers project is to create and
market a mobile application and website that will inspire
citizens to volunteer to end hunger in their community
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This project is a continuation of past capstone projects.
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Users join the team of the agency they are volunteering with
to begin. They then complete various challenges, such as
checking in at the food pantry or uploading a picture of cans
they donated, to earn “badges” for their efforts.
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We hope by “gamifying” and making the volunteer process
social, more people will want to volunteer at the food
pantries and soup kitchens in their community.
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Obstacles we encountered
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The focus of the project shifted from the launching and
marketing of the Hunger Helpers app to a research-based
project, due to unforeseen obstacles.
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Original launch date: March 2013
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New launch date: August/September 2013
We found this shift in focus to be positive, rather than
detrimental to the project. This allowed us more time to focus
on developing a product that was intuitive and easy to
navigate through doing research.
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Strategy//
Finding project partners
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We identified 34 food pantries and soup kitchens in the
Champaign/Urbana area that could potentially partner with IPM
for this project. We have 14 partners signed on.
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What we expect of partners:
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Commit to project for at least 6 months
Designate person to work with IPM and to orient new volunteers
Promote website and app
Participate in exit interview for further promotion of project
What partners gain in return:
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Program tailored to their specific needs
Promotion of agency
More volunteers
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Strategy//
Partners define the project
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We have a variety of partner organizations: some are larger
and others are run from the basement of a church.
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They have different needs as organizations. For the project to
work, we cannot use a “one-fits-all” approach to creating
tasks and badges for each team.
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Some partners don’t need volunteers in the conventional
sense
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Flexibility is key
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Research
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We planned and executed 3 specific research plans.
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Website: 2 usability tests
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App: 1 usability test
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Usability Testing: Research Plan
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We employed a method of explorative usability testing. We served as
moderators during the testing.
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We wanted to answer 4 research questions:
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1. Does the user understand the purpose of the site?
2. Can the user sign up/login easily?
3. Can the user navigate the page easily, and find the information they are
looking for?
4. Does the site leave the user with unanswered questions?
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Each participant was read a task, then watched while they completed it
on a site we designed and coded. They were encouraged to speak aloud
while they thought. Participants also answered an open-ended survey
about their experiences with the site.
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Tasks:
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1. Find out what the Hunger Helpers project is.
2. Sign up for an account.
3. Log in.
4. Determine information about the project partner.
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Usability Testing: Research Plan
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We chose participants based on WILL’s typical audience
profile, according to previous capstone reports:
Station
Weekly
Cumulative
Audience
Age Range
(majority)
Top Income
Bracket
TV
83,000
25-65(45-64)
$75,000 $149,000
(26%)
AM
24,500
18-65 (18-34)
>$75,000
(50%)
FM
24,600
18-65 (>65)
>$75,000
(31.2%)
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Usability Testing Results//
Round One
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Demographics: Eleven people participated in usability
testing and 8 participated in the survey. Our participants
ranged from 18 years old to 63 years old.
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Additional participant information: Four of our survey
participants currently volunteer. Out of the participants that
currently volunteer, three say they would be “likely” to
volunteer in the Hunger Helpers project, with one participant
remaining neutral.
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Usability Testing Results//
Round One
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Positive 1: Users responded well to “Faces of Hunger” page
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Positive 2: Users like the design of the site
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Positive 3: Users find the site easy to navigate
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Usability Testing Results//
Round One
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Problem 1: Users don’t recognize the app is mobile-based
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Problem 2: Users don’t fully understand the purpose of the
app
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Problem 3: Users don’t fully understand the concept of
activities and badges
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Problem 4: Users are confused about how to register for an
account
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Problem 5: Users don’t always recognize Illinois Public Media
as the main project partner
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Usability Testing//
Round Two
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The second round of usability testing sought to answer the
same research questions as the first, as well as improve on
the issues we discovered in the first round.
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We altered some of the pages on the site to make it easier to
understand and use. We used these new pages for the
second round of testing.
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Usability Testing Results//
Round Two
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Demographics: Seven people participated in the second
round of usability testing, and five people participated in the
survey. Participants in the usability testing ranged from 22
years old to 61 years old.
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Additional participant information: Two of the survey
participants currently volunteer. One of these participants said
the site would “likely” inspire them to volunteer while the other
remained neutral. The other three survey participants who do
not volunteer seemed uninspired by the site; they remained
“neutral” when asked if they would be likely to volunteer in the
Hunger Helpers project.
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Usability Testing Results//
Round Two
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Positive 1: Marked improvement in participants
understanding the purpose of site
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Positive 2: Improvement in recognition of Illinois Public
Media as main project partner
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Positive 3: Marked improvement in ability to register for an
account
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Usability Testing Results//
Round Two
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Problem 1: “Signing up” for an account is not as intuitive as
it should be
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Problem 2: Users are not sure how to choose a partner
organization to team with
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Problem 3: Users still find the explanation of challenges and
badges to be “vague”
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Problem 4: Users don’t always recognize Illinois Public
Media as the main project partner
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Final site designs
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We altered the site one final time after analyzing the results
of the second usability testing.
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Recommendations for Illinois
Public Media
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In order for the project to succeed, we recommend:
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A designated person at Illinois Public Media to be the first point
of contact for the project.
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Illinois Public Media must market this project in the months
approaching the app’s launch. It is most important to do this
online and on-air.
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GroundCntrl App
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GroundCntrl created the app interface
and software the Hunger Helpers app
would utilize
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It was important to test the app in
order to know how to best design
challenges, how participants will use
the app, if the app fulfills the needs of
this particular project, etc.
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(Photo credit: Apple)
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What the app interface looks like
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App Testing
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Four research questions we wanted to answer:
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The app testing took place over five days from May 1, 2013, to May 5,
2013. Each day, we emailed the participants with the daily challenge,
listed below:
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1. How easy is it for users to complete the various types of tasks?
2. What (if any) problems do users encounter while using the GroundCntrl
app?
3. What do users like/dislike about the app?
4. Would users use the app in a volunteer setting?
Day 1: Check in to a location
Day 2: Take a poll
Day 3: Take a photo and upload it to the app
Day 4: Consume media via link, Q& A and Upload photo, enter an amount
Day 5: Q&A and take a poll
At the conclusion of the testing, the participants took a survey to
answer more open-ended questions about the ease of usability and
engagement of the app.
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App Testing
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NOTE: It is important to note an oversight that skewed
results of the testing:
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The date of the testing coincided with the launch of the new
version of the GroundCntrl app.
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Some participants downloaded the app before this launch, and
others downloaded it after, causing the participants to not all have
the same version.
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This could be the reason for some of the problems we found with
the app.
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App Testing
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Positive 1: Users thought uploading photos to the app was
easy
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Positive 2: Users liked the “Teamstream” feature
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Positive 3: Users thought “checking in” on the app was easy
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App Testing
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Problem 1: Users could not complete some of the tasks due
to system problems
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Problem 2: Users did not like the design of the app
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Problem 3: Users said they would likely not recommend the
app
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Problem 4: Users did not think the app was intuitive or easy
to understand
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Recommendations for
GroundCntrl
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In order for the project to succeed, we recommend adding:
 The ability for users to share their progress with friends via
social media.
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The ability for users to raise awareness about the project
through social media on the app for a challenge.
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The ability for users to contact the team leader (and other
members) directly via a messaging system through the app.
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A team details page: the team leader contact, hours of
operation and level of involvement.
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Recommendations for
GroundCntrl Continued
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The ability for users to invite friends via social media.
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The ability to use geolocation when determining the nearest
“team” available in order to choose a team to join.Create a FAQ
within the existing panels
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Provide users the option of completing a tutorial via their
phone after downloading the app
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Make the badges different colors from each other
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We recommend the description of the app in the Apple Store
state that users upgrade their software before downloading
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Marketing Plan: On-Air Spots
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Because IPM has both radio and television outlets, this is the
easiest and most effective way to reach the target audience for
this project.
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Previous capstone research found those who do not volunteer
choose not to do so due to perceived time constraints. Therefore,
we recommend airing spots on WILL-TV, WILL-AM and WILL-FM
that emphasize how the Hunger Helpers project fits into any
schedule.
Examples:
-“An estimated 1.9 million Illinois residents do not have enough to eat. You can be part of the
solution and you can do it all on your iPhone. Go to W-I-L-L.illinois.E-D-U to join the Hunger
Helpers team.”
-Someone who is profiled in the “Faces of Hunger” page on the Hunger Helpers site can voice
their experience and encourage listeners to go to WILL’s site to learn more about the project.
- “Think you don’t have time to volunteer? Think again. The Hunger Helpers app makes
volunteering easy. We help you find ways to volunteer that fit into any schedule and budget,
and it all starts with your iPhone. Visit W-I-L-L dot Illinois dot E-D-U today to learn how you can
make volunteering part of your life.”
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Marketing Plan: Online
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We recommend placing an ad linking to the Hunger Helpers
website on Illinois Public Media’s website. Here are some
example ads:
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Marketing Plan: Social Media
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We recommend that Illinois Public Media promote the
project through its existing social media accounts i.e. Twitter
and Facebook.
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Furthermore, should GroundCntrl create the option to share
to other social media outlets through its app, “liking” the IPM
page or tweeting about the Hunger Helpers project could
become two more challenges for volunteers to complete to
earn badges.
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Marketing Plan: Partner Promotion
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The food pantry/soup kitchen partners would be key in
promoting the use of the app to their volunteers.
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Larger organizations would be asked to promote the project
on their social media accounts and through newsletters
emailed to current volunteers.
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Marketing Plan: “Faces of Hunger”
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We received unsolicited positive feedback on the “Faces of
Hunger” section of the website because of the more personal
feel it gives to the project.
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Our recommendation is that IPM expand this section into a
larger multimedia project..
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The Hunger Helpers site would maintain a smaller excerpt of
the project on the site, while the full project would be hosted
on IPM’s site.
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Ensuring Success//
Where to go from here
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Remain in contact with project partners.
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Based on the needs of the organization, draft a list of potential
tasks and badges that are unique to each organization.
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On the website, there needs to be some sort of description
available so that people know a little bit about each
organization before choosing a team.
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Create a mobile version of the website, responsive design.
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Conclusion
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We believe this project has a good chance for success,
should the recommendations be taken and research utilized
fully.
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We also believe this project has wide-reaching effects in the
journalism community. It redefines the role of journalism in
communities and raises the question of how involved civic
journalism should or could actually be.
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If the recommended changes can be made, we support
continuing funding for the project and continuing to work
with Illinois Public Media and GroundCntrl.
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Questions?