Connecting At-Risk Youth to Free Resources
KARIS INC. STREET OUTREACH
UX Design
Adobe XD | Figma​
PROJECT GOAL
Make it easier for at-risk youth to connect with Karis' Street Outreach team and free resources.
OVERVIEW
Karis Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides free resources to at-risk and homeless youth living in Mesa County, CO. Karis approached me to create a platform that would remove barriers to care for youth in the community.
MY ROLE
I led user research and analysis to first identify potential barriers to care before designing and testing a dynamic scheduling platform. I reported to Karis leadership, working as the project lead and sole designer.
OUTCOME
92% of youth said that this platform would make it easier for them to connect with Karis advocates and resources.
01. THE PROBLEM
Connecting with teens who are constantly on the move.
Karis serves at-risk and homeless youth between the ages of 18-25. Because these individuals are constantly on the move, Karis utilizes a team of Street Outreach Advocates to connect with youth. This team is responsible for connecting directly (primarily via phone) with youth to provide support.
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In surveying Karis' advocates and youth, both parties admitted connecting via phone was very difficult.
Youth also reported being unaware exactly what Karis advocates might be able to provide. Many say that Karis' website did not provide an easy way to connect with an advocate.
Karis' online presence is primarily donor and volunteer focussed. Consequently, their website does not offer a convenient way for youth to learn more about how they can receive support from Karis.
02. USER NEEDS
Designing a better way to connect youth to Karis' advocates.
My research demonstrated a need for a better way for youth to connect with advocates. I set out to create a scheduling website that would allow youth to connect with Karis' advocates how and when worked for them.
With Karis' youth constantly on the move, it was essential that our platform would allow youth to quickly connect with an advocate. I started with a simple sequential website design to outline the scheduling journey.
03. TESTING SOLUTIONS
USER-CENTERED DESIGN
After testing our prototype, it became clear the scheduling options were too limiting for most users and our copy did not always use trauma-informed language.
I updated the prototype to offer a the user more ways to meet with an advocate and revised the scheduling prompts.
RESPONSIVE DESIGN
Because Karis youth are often on the move, it was critical that our web portal was responsive and functioned well on mobile devices. ​
Testing and refining our scheduling solution.
04. OUTCOME
IMPACT AND REFLECTION
I set out to design and test a platform that would provide at-risk youth an easier way to connect with a Karis advocate and learn more about Karis' services. After testing our final prototype with Karis' youth, we found 92% of youth said that this platform would make it easier for them to connect with Karis advocates and resources.
Throughout this itarative process, I was reminded of the importance of revisiting the user's experience and background. Anticipating the potential barriers and hesitancies that youth would experience when using the platform was critical. Without having spent time working directly with youth at Karis, I know that my final designs would be drastically different.
If you are interested in learning more about my work with Karis please reach out!