My Role:
Design Research
Prototyping & Wireframing
UX/UI Design for
In-Site App
UX for Kiosk
Testing
Icons
EDG Pop-Up
Copywriting
Collaborators:
Cameron Foy: Design Research, UI for Kiosk, Brand Identity, Copy Writing.
Erin Lawson: Design Research, UX/UI for Website, Testing, Copy Writing.
The Afghan refugee crisis in Texas is much greater than we realize! In a single year, the Refugee Services of Texas organization assisted 1,025 refugee groups. A refugee is someone who has fled their home country and crossed a border due to war, persecution, or violence. They have no choice but to become refugees. Various organizations assist in the welcome and resettlement of refugees, but they cannot always provide everything a family may require in a new country.
is to provide a service that can help a specific group of people, in this case, Afghan refugees, by providing an aid kit that allows families to hand-pick donated items such as clothing, hygiene products, electronics, and more. While also being able to travel to various locations.
After all the survey feedback is collected, we begin to understand what it is like for a refugee who has gone through a traumatizing experience and has arrived in a new country with different customs and such. We began to pinpoint where they really needed help but often got ignored. Similarly, we investigate volunteer experiences and how they can best assist experts and refugees. While determining the best way to obtain assistance from donors who will truly make a difference and have an impact.
Overall, we want to help refugees first and foremost, but also those who can assist them. As a result, it will facilitate us in determining how many touchpoints are required, as well as making the process simple and approachable to all audiences. With this in mind, we divided them into different priorities.
Organizations like World Relief, Refugee Point, and Breaking Bread Breaking Borders already help refugees in a variety of ways. During the early stages of relocation, these organizations primarily assist with legal paperwork, English language learning, and job placement.
Often, these organizations are more concerned with legal proceedings and overlook basic needs and understanding new customs. However, there is often insufficient capital or people to focus on this type of issue, leaving a gap that, if filled, can improve refugees' ways of life and help them acclimate to the country much faster.
We were able to find places that needed a more human touch by taking an honest look at the state of the refugee crisis in Texas, covering specific pain points that go into helping refugees feel welcomed and settled without suffering a lot of hardship but instead feeling protected. Despite government assistance, these organizations and services still lack personalized care, clarity, and accessibility.
With all this in mind.
Many of these organizations do incredible work to assist refugees, but because they do so much, they have more of an umbrella of assistance that simplifies the situation by providing generalized care for all people.
We wished to fill the void. by organizing a pop-up event to push the envelope and develop a personalized and specific needs system for these refugees Not by taking away from existing systems, but by expanding and adding to them in new ways. While also bringing various forms of volunteerism and donations to keep the project going.
The testing was extremely useful in determining key points where the refugee might feel overwhelmed and how to help them avoid feeling insecure after this experience. Similarly, better organize information so that it is clear to all users and leaves no room for confusion. Accordingly, it let us see what was really working and could be applied to other systems.
Language Selection
Because most refugees speak a language other than English, it was critical to bring it to all touch points for better information accessibility.
Visual Organization
Because most refugees come from diverse cultural backgrounds, hierarchies and labels were put in place to avoid confusion and make it clear where they needed to go next.
First Step Pop-Up Experience
I thoroughly enjoyed learning how to use digital components to assist a group of people in making their lives easier, as well as how to create quick and efficient services that could move around town and expand into more. Similarly, digging deeper into the refugee issue and potential solutions to make the process easier for both receiving countries and refugees.
Since we were thinking about play areas and wayfinding, I would have liked to go into more detail about the pop-up itself and what the overall space's environmental design could be, while including more digital experiences. Similarly, expanding the service to include other types of refugees.