Process
During the initial client meeting with Gary Thandi, the founder and representative of "Moving Forward," my team and I focused on understanding the challenges the organization faced. We engaged in discussions about their current onboarding system, specifically exploring the process for users to book appointments and how appointment scheduling is managed. In addition, we delved into gaining insights about the organization's identity, values, and both short-term and long-term goals and aspirations.
The Problem
After the interview, we identified and categorized several key challenges faced by the organization:
Moving Forward faces three primary challenges that can be summarized as follows:
1. Increasing Awareness and Support
With a need to increase funding, they seek to create a strong presence and effectively communicate the significance of their mission. Being one of the busiest non-profit organizations nationwide, Moving Forward aims to raise awareness about its valuable services. By spreading the word about their impactful work, they hope to garner additional support and donations.
2. Limited Appointment Management Resources
Due to resource constraints, Moving Forward lacks dedicated personnel to handle scheduling and appointments. As a result, Gary manually contact and match students or professionals with users. This process can be time-consuming and may lead to inefficiencies in matching the right individuals. Finding a solution to streamline appointment management would greatly improve the user experience.
3. Long-Term Sustainability and Partnerships
Moving Forward aims to boost engagement and raise awareness about their organization. Their vision includes expanding services to post-secondary institutions with limited mental health resources. To achieve this, the organization seeks to establish recurring sponsorships and partnerships.
Understanding our Users
Interview and Survey Research
To gain a deeper understanding of our users and potential users of Moving Forward services, we conducted research utilizing a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. This holistic approach allowed us to delve into the motivations, preferences, and needs of our target audience. Through qualitative research, such as one-on-one interviews with 3 participants and user observations, we gained valuable insights into the experiences, emotions, and perspectives of users. Concurrently, quantitative research methods, such as surveys by 8 respondents and data analysis, provided us with statistical and measurable data to identify trends and patterns.
Grouping Target Audience
We conducted a thorough analysis and categorized the main target audience into three distinct user groups, based on the result of our user research. We then proceeded to identify the specific benefits and challenges that each user group experiences when interacting with Moving Forward's current services.
Problem Statement
By thoroughly analyzing the needs and challenges of our target audience, we crafted a focused problem statement that targeted a specific group, which are youth who are in urgent need of mental health counseling.
Our Focus
How might we highlight / attract the services offered at Moving Forward for youth who are in urgent need
of mental health counselling given that they are
not aware of available mental health support?
Ideation
Following our problem statement formulation, we initiated a brainstorming session to generate innovative ideas for potential solutions that effectively address the identified problem as experienced by the target audience we decided to focus on. We then voted on the ideas that seem most effective and feasible for the client.
