MOTUS: Creating social tools for social entrepreneurs for positive and peaceful impact.
OVERVIEW
Designing a tool to help social entrepreneurs pursue their passions in creating positive change with community engagement and access to education and resources.
ROLE
Product Designer
YEAR
2023
TOOLS
Adobe Photoshop, Figma, Miro
DELIVERABLES
Mobile App Design, User Research, Wireframes, Prototypes, User Testing
STARTING THOUGHTS
"You're just one person. How will you make a difference?"
The opportunity: curate a community space dedicated to growing community and learning about social entrepreneurship.
According to studies, the leading cause of failed social movements is a lack of the ability to organize. This on-the-go social and educational app is aimed to help people create strong communities and networks that educate and empower each other!
DISCOVERING WITH EMPATHY
New social entrepreneurs struggle with organizing community around social issues.
Young teens and adults 14-30 may be passionate about an issue like climate change or the education system and want to create communities for change, but they often don't have the resources (financial, educational, mental), the community, or the skills to do so. They need dedicated support and tools.
From academic studies defining social movement successes and failures, to interviewing real amateur and professional social entrepreneurs, I found patterns, struggles and gaps in the social entrepreneur world and found three main problems:
USER RESEARCH AND INSIGHTS
(1) There is a high financial barrier to entry into social entrepreneurship
QUANTITATIVE
89% of social entrepreneurs said they have social passion projects and part-time jobs simultaneously on the side.
QUALITATIVE
"We need more acceptance. People think social entrepreneurship isn't a real career."
Krithika Nathan, 28 (Social influencer)
"It's not easy to turn a profit…"
Meghan Fenton, 26 (Sports social group creator)
(2) A centralized knowledge and education about social entrepreneurship is non-existent
QUANTITATIVE
78% of social entrepreneurs said they experience imposter syndrome regularly.
QUALITATIVE
"You need a place for young student leaders to 'experiment' and build a safe space."
Robert Morton, 32 (Events campus club founder)
"Imposter syndrome is real. But I was finally grasping that failure is inevitable… I never had a mentor… I had no specific pathway. The Internet didn't provide everything, you have to be resourceful."
Krithika Nathan, 28 (Social influencer)
(3) There is no established and dedicated community space to connect with other social entrepreneurs
QUANTITATIVE
63% of social entrepreneurs said their main struggle was in organizing community.
QUALITATIVE
"I use Hinge to connect with people… LinkedIn can be too stuffy and Instagram isn't personal enough."
Sydney Robertson, (Female film collective participant)
"There were other organizations out there that were very similar that we had never heard of."
Meghan Fenton, 26 (Sports social group creator)
COMPETITIVE RESEARCH
What tools are currently available for social entrepreneurs?
APP
PROS
CONS
Best for social enterprises with a tangible product or service
People on Kickstarter are used to supporting innovative ideas
No fundraising for causes; you must offer a product/service
You need a solid marketing strategy to stand out
Facebook's algorithm prioritizes fundraisers, increasing reach
Supporters can easily share and create own fundraisers
Limited customization with branding your fundraiser
Feed is not curated with social entrepreneurial content
GoFundMe is great for direct social impact campaigns
High competition for fundraising, including personal emergency causes, can make it harder to stand out
IDEATING AND BRAINSTORMING
What should we build?
Based on impact, time and resource constraints, I prioritized building features with the most impact with the shortest amount of time to build for an MVP.
LEGEND
MUST HAVE (NECESSARY FOR THE PRODUCT)
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COULD HAVE (SLIGHTLY INCREASES PRODUCT'S WORTH)
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SHOULD HAVE (SIGNIFICANT FOR THE LONG RUN)
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WON'T HAVE (CAN BE IGNORED FOR NOW)
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Learning space
2
Personas to customize profile
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Emotional, colourful and playful design
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Personalized timeline/feed
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Niche categories/topics explore hub
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Gamification: quests/badges
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"Verified" badges
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Interactive courses/lessons
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Interactive courses/lessons
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Daily/weekly notifications/reminders
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Livestreams of events/protests/conferences/news
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Daily motivational quotes of the day
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Mentorship program
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Partnerships with organizations
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Weekly even spotlights/article features
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Funding for grants
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Integrated calendar
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Database of organizations and causes to support
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Guided self-reflection and journaling corner
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Virtual conferences
BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS
Why will this work?
MOTUS is a social and educational platform. Users want to share their knowledge and also seek knowledge from others. A learning space is going to give new social entrepreneurs centralized access to community resources.
MOTUS is a safe space. Users indicated they want to find communities but don't know how. A curated social space can help users find people to help organize, guide, and support them on their journey.
MOTUS offers accessible support. People who care about social issues are often taking action voluntarily without pay. They may use dedicated resources to learn about funding and garner more support for their cause.
PROTOTYPING AND TESTING
How does it work?
I created low and mid-fidelity mockups to visualize the information architecture before mocking up higher-fidelity prototypes.
VISUAL DESIGN SYSTEM
How will it look?
Neutral colours with a pop of a blueish-green hue to represent growth and intellect, playful and simultaneously serious fonts to blend learning and entertainment.
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Onboarding Flow
New users can personalize their profile and choose a persona based on their entrepreneur "type", select topics they're interested in, and follow people based on recommendations. Personas are displayed on your profile, and are used to characterize your archetype as a social entrepreneur.
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Content, Events and Resources
Users who want to learn can access features like a recommended explore page, a learning centre with community-generated guides, articles and events, and a curated timeline. Users who want to educate can post their own content.
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Quests
To increase motivation, users can complete social entrepreneur-related quests to earn badges and display on their profiles.
LESSONS LEARNED
3 things I learned.
(1) User insights can challenge assumptions
During the research phase, I dug deep into the hearts and minds of young social entrepreneurs, uncovering challenges like financial barriers, imposter syndrome, and the quest for community. While I initially had ideas about what young social entrepreneurs needed, direct user research revealed deeper insights. This reinforced the importance of approaching every project with curiosity, staying open to unexpected insights, and continuously validating design decisions with real users.
(2) Focusing on high-impact solutions with efficiency is the key to a scalable product.
Prioritizing the most impactful features over a long list of possibilities ensured a more intuitive and engaging user experience. With many exciting feature possibilities, I was tempted to include everything. However, by with a prioritization framework, I was able to focus on the most valuable and feasible features first. This not only streamlined development but also improved usability by keeping the experience simple, clear, and effective. The lesson? A product’s success isn’t about how much it offers, but how well it delivers on its core purpose.
(3) Emotional design matters.
By engaging users through gamification, bold visuals and emotion, a playful and vibrant interface not only enhanced usability but also created a sense of motivation and belonging for users. This reinforced the idea that great UX isn’t just about usability; it’s about designing experiences that resonate emotionally and keep users engaged over time.
