Helping Hands is a volunteer matching platform developed as a part of our ISTM 631 course project. The application enables users to seamlessly search for volunteering opportunities, create personalized profiles, receive recommendations, and leave reviews. Organizations can also create profiles and post opportunities, making it a comprehensive tool for fostering community engagement and selfless service.

"As an A&M community member, I want more accessible volunteering and social responsibility opportunities so that I can give back to society."

Our project aims to bridge the gap between individuals seeking to volunteer and organizations in need of volunteers.

We conducted interviews with 9 users to understand their needs, preferences, and challenges in finding volunteering opportunities. Affinity mapping helped us identify common themes and insights, guiding our design decisions to create a user-friendly platform.

Based on our user research, we developed detailed user personas to represent the key segments of our target audience. These personas helped us empathize with our users and tailor the features and design of Helping Hands to meet their specific needs.

Our team performed a competitive analysis through a lightning demo of existing platforms that connect volunteers with opportunities. This research provided valuable insights into industry standards, helping us identify gaps and unique value propositions for Helping Hands.

We utilized mind mapping during our ideation process to explore various solutions and features. This technique allowed us to visualize our ideas, categorize them, and decide on the most impactful features to include in our application.

We designed detailed task flows to map out the critical processes for both users and organizations. These task flows ensured that our application provided an intuitive and efficient experience for event registration and setup.

A user journey map was created to visualize the entire experience of a user interacting with Helping Hands. This map highlighted key touchpoints, emotions, and potential pain points, guiding us to enhance the user experience at each step.

Our mid-fidelity wireframes and prototype depict the core functionality and design of Helping Hands. These wireframes were essential in iterating our design and obtaining feedback, ensuring that our final product met user expectations.

The style guide document outlines the visual elements, including color schemes, typography, and iconography, used in Helping Hands. This guide ensured consistency in design and branding across all pages and components of the application.

The user flow document provides a comprehensive overview of the paths users can take within the application. It includes detailed diagrams showing how users navigate through various features, ensuring a seamless and logical user experience.