Empowering small charities: Larus CRM
to create a cloud-based CRM that addresses the needs and
challenges of small charities
Between Feb. & June 2023
I worked as the
Solo Product Designer
In the B2B SaaS sector
With 5 Tech Wizards
(all are former volunteers)
In the absence of formal social protection programs that can provide sufficient coverage and benefits in Egypt, households rely heavily on charities and the demand has been increasing.
52,500
Charity
EGP Spent
bn
10
beneficiary
M
21
by
including
on
Source: Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity 2022
Small Charity
30,000
We thought charities’ problems were with managing their data as paperwork isn’t up to the task anymore.
Actually, the problems were..
Complexity of Technology
Users have limited technological knowledge and find dealing with technology complex.
Inconsistent Data Record
Collecting data from volunteers occurs through social media, leading to inconsistent records.
Complex Inter-charity communication
There are no official resources to verify applicants' eligibility. Contacting other organizations is the only option to avoid being scammed.
Pricing Issues
Small charities don't have enough finances to spend on expensive systems.
Our Solution
A user-friendly cloud-based CRM that enables charities to collect, process and manage their data, communicate with fellow charities and manage their finances.
Main Features
Avoid Being Scammed: Verification Portal
Verify Legibility:
Quick Application Access
Reduce Distraction: Categorized Notification
Improve UX:
Benefits Visual Directory
On my way, I..
Advocated UX within the team & conducted UX research,
I initiated a crash course-like conversation about UX research with the team before asking for referrals, which is how I met five people from three charities.
UX Research on Small Charities:
Needs, Behaviors, and Workflow (Simplified)
UX Research, Why?
As a new product hitting the market, we wanted our potential users, charity staff members, to steer us in the right direction and help us create the product they desire.
Explore & Empathize: obtain an in-depth understanding of our users’ needs, behaviors, and current workflow.
Validate & Support Decision-Making: mitigate the bias in our initial problem statement influenced by previous team members' volunteering experiences and determine what opportunities may exist for creating our product.
Facilitated two ideation workshops,
I collaborated with the team over two workshops to generate, refine, and prioritize ideas, incorporating their personal experiences in the field.
Interactive form; required data fields are dynamically displayed based on help category.
Integrate Messenger to communicate and record data from volunteers and donors.
Used colleague's feedback to improve,
Starting with low-fid ink-on-paper sketches, I iterated my way to higher-fid designs, communicating with my team and seeking feedback after each iteration.
& Conducted usability testing.
I tested the prototype with three users and identified issues such as navigation difficulties to the home page and overwhelming notifications. I worked on these issues to deliver the final MVP prototype.
People
Families
Donors
Volunteers
Finance
Charities
Administration
MEGAKHEIR
Larus
Homepage
People
Families
Family Profile
Family Profile
Information Overview
Code:
0568
# of Members:
4
Ids:
29311234567845
,
28709012345677
,
29011234567890
,
# of Applications:
3
Received Benefits:
600 $
Employment Status:
Unemployed
Living situation:
Rental
Status:
Active
Communication Records
Cell Name
Mostafa
Shery
Shery
Mostafa
Shery
Purpose
Verify
More Docs
Apply
Verify
More Docs
Time
10:30
14:20
16:36
09:36
08:23
Date
10 Oct 2022
16 Apr 2021
23 July 2020
5 Jan 2020
1 Jan 2020
Channel
Phone
Phone
In person
Benefits
Amount
120$
150$
180$
150$
# of Donors
16
28
43
38
Date
10 Oct 2022
16 Apr 2021
23 July 2020
5 Jan 2020
Payment
Cash
Transfer
In Kind
Transfer
Status
Finished
Finished
Finished
Finished
Category
Education
Ramadan
Roof
Ramadan
B_Id
6369
6587
6325
6512
Applications
Date
10 Oct 2022
16 Apr 2021
23 July 2020
Status
In Progress
Rejected
Finished
Category
Ramadan
Medical
Education
A_Id
0253
9587
6847
Overview
Members
Contacts
Address
Medical Records
Eligibility
Documents
Complex Page Hierarchy
Users found it difficult to understand the structure of the pages with 3 to 4 levels of hierarchy
— End of case study —
Incoming plot twist..
I still learned..
The progress was looking awesome!
After a round of usability testing and improving the designs, I presented the MVP prototype to the team and was well received. Everyone really wanted to start building it.
Team decides Larus’s abandonment.
The team made a tough decision to abandon the project after not managing to secure funding.
UX Research helps with mitigating bias,
Our volunteering experiences gave us valuable insights, but UX research is the way to avoid building products for ourselves.
Think big, start small, build fast & iterate,
It is always about finding the balance between ambitious goals, manageable tasks, fast delivery and iteration to move forward.
& Feedback starts with a minute from a colleague.
UX focuses on desirable products, but what is a desirable yet unfeasible or unviable product?
