Impact Investment App
ImpactBridge is an impact investment app concept for community projects, where individuals can discover and invest in projects which benefit them and the community.
The problem 🚩
Entrepreneurs & community members who are passionate about helping and engaging the community don’t always have access to capital from traditional investors.
The goal
Designing an application for social good that will let community members discover and support impact projects which they care about.
My role
UX designer designing the app concept of ImpactBridge from research and concept to prototype.
User research summary ↓
I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to understand the users I’m designing for and their needs. The primary user group identified through research were active community members and micro-entrepreneurs who are passionate about engaging with communities and like-minded people.
The user group confirmed initial assumptions about the app concept I pitched to them, but research also revealed that the users are not open to investing large sums of money like the traditional investors. Other user problems included access to impact projects and knowledge based around how it benefits them.
Discovery
Users don’t always know it’s possible to invest in impact projects which cater to their community.
Entry barrier
Users don’t always want to invest or support projects with large sums of their own money.
Interface
Tradional investment apps are usually very complex and don’t cater to regular people.
Initial wireframe rounds ↓
I drafted initial wireframes for user flow of the app to ensure an easy way to discover and be part of social impact projects. Instead of making paper wireframes, I leveraged my UI tools proficiency to directly explore digital ones.
Digital wireframes considerations ↓
The goal of these initial rounds of wireframes was to establish clear used flows for onboarding and discovery process in the app - which I could further test with users on a low-fidelity prototype.
Usability test & feedback patterns ↓
Using the completed set of digital wireframes as per the user feedback, I created a low-fidelity prototype. The initial user flow I created was for logging into the app and discovering impact investment projects.
During the usability study of the low-fidelity prototype, I noticed some common themes emerged. I segregated the feedback into the following three domains: Sign-up process, home page & investment flow.
Addressing the user needs ↓
The usability study which used a low-fidelity prototype, revealed what aspects of the mockups needed refining. I noticed that users wanted customised suggestions as per their interests and they needed more intuitive navigation.
Based on these findings, I further refined the wireframes while addressing the user needs.
High-fidelity prototype and next steps ↓
I further improved upon the refined wireframes and made a high-fidelity prototype. The next steps would be to further test the app with users and improve as per their feedback and needs. You can test the prototype here. I would be happy to hear your feedback!
Impact and key takeaways 🏁
ImpactBridge platform and application is intended to let community members discover and support impact projects as well as showcase their own projects.
I learned that different users always use the apps in very different ways, which we as designers cannot always predict. Testing and studying user behaviour in-depth is essential!
