UX/UI Case Study: Communities of Care

  Upon release from prison, former inmates are faced with a new set of struggles from inside, primarily finding housing and a job. However these can be extremely hard to get accepted to, as many places will deny anyone with a criminal record. “The challenges are particularly acute for those with drug and violent crime offenses. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, found about 75% of hiring managers said they were unwilling to seriously consider applicants convicted of drug, property or violent crimes in a 2021 survey.” -Pettypiece, Shannon from NBC News

  Communities of Care was built to assist those with felony convictions. It provides both a Job and Housing page with listings from companies certified to accept people with criminal records. There is also a community page to connect with others to discuss anything from struggles acclimating back into society to celebrating milestones. Additionally, there are pages with resources from finding local NA/AA chapters, healthcare and mental health links, and more. No one should be left without basic necessities and support just because of past mistakes. Together, we can break the recidivism cycle and give everyone a chance at their best life.

  In doing my competetive research, I noticed mostly websites offering similar services, but none that do everything Communities of Care (CoC) offers.

Friend a Felon is an app and website, created by someone who has been through the system, made for employers and property managers who are open to hiring/renting to former felons to post listings. They have pages about how it can benefit the employer/manager as well as pages for how they can go about posting listings and a blog with first hand experiences. This app lacks resources for the person themselves though.

  Career OneStop is an all-inclusive website with resources for felons to find jobs. This includes a page for potential careers that is broken down by skills and job listings that cater to those skills. They have resources for resume building, interview techniques, and what to do once you land a job. While this is an excellent resources for job finding, the website looks outdated and does not provide the rest of what CoC offers.

  Honest Jobs is a website created by people with criminal records for those with criminal records. While I could not gather much information without creating an account, I was able to gather that their main focus is on finding jobs. However they appear to have a community aspect revolved around successful reentry. This website seems to provide the closest resources to CoC.

Initially, I designed the app to fit a rectangular screen. Upon pulling it up on my phone, I noticed the corners were cut off, making it looked cramped. I moved the menu bar as well as the titles in to provide better spacing.

In my first version, the error message on the "Apply" page in the "Jobs" section was hard to read as red text with a white outline (as shown on the bottom line). To fix this while still conveying the text as an error message, I swapped the colors (as seen on the top line).

In my first version, the error message on the "Apply" page in the "Jobs" section was hard to read as red text with a white outline (as shown on the bottom line). To fix this while still conveying the text as an error message, I swapped the colors (as seen on the top line).

During usability tests, most users found the tasks to be easy to complete. Some users found the housing section difficult in applying filters and returning to the map. I added the "Apply" button and gave users the ability to click on the map with some text instructing the user. Many users also mentioned having a difficult time clicking on the tabs at the bottom, since I originally had the buttons as only the icons. To fox this, I added squares encpassing the entire area each icon was in and made that clickable. Overall, user testing provided positive feedback.

If I were to continue working on this app, I would add the resources section hidden beind the menu bars at the top. I would also change the home screen. Additionally, I would add a short tutorial of how the app works for those who are not as familiar with common app elements, such as the menu bar at the top.

I learned a lot about using Figma through this project. I learned some shortcuts for increasing efficiency as well as factors that go into a usable app that we take for granted.

I am very proud of this app as a whole. This is an app I would actually want to create in the future, especially seeing the lack of comparable apps. Justice for those who have been in the system is something that I care a lot about. As for the design process, I am very proud of the Housing section. It was more difficult than I anticipated to fit everything on the screen. I am also proud of the overall aesthetic. I did not want too many colors but also wanted a bright pop of color and I think I made did it in a cohesive way.

This app in particular was challenging because I was trying to keep in mind that many users have not used recent technology if they had been in prison a long time. I was attemping to make the app navigation as clear as possible without crowding the screen.