Edu - futuro
Hack4Impact is working with Edu-Futuro, a non-profit service that works with immigrants and the Latinx community with the mission of breaking the cycle of poverty.
Role
UX Designer
Timeline
Sept - Nov 2022
Tools
Figma, Notion
Hack4Impact is helping Edu-Futuro replace fragmented spreadsheets with a secure platform that simplifies service delivery, automates matching, and protects sensitive beneficiary data.
Overview
Developing a secure, centralized platform to streamline Edu-Futuro’s immigrant support services.
Hack4Impact is partnering with Edu-Futuro, a nonprofit supporting immigrants and the Latinx community, to streamline how they deliver services and to automate tasks like matching services with service recipients/beneficiaries. The team is building a secure platform to replace their current use of Excel and Apricot. This will make it easier to manage, match, and protect beneficiary data.
Problem Statment
Edu-Futuro needed a way to manage immigrant support services without losing data, clarity, or control—I built a platform to fix that.
To address this, our team is designing a centralized service delivery management system to automate and simplify program tracking. The primary challenges included:
Manually entering data into Excel created inefficiencies and increased the chance of errors.
Apricot (what they were currently using) lacked a unified, intuitive interface to track service delivery end-to-end.
There was no secure or proper place to store and retrieve personal beneficiary data.
Staff needed a more efficient way to match recipients with the services they need.
The User Needs
👨👩👧👦 Family in need of Service
Need easy access to services for food stability and youth programs.
Require a straightforward process to request and receive support.
Desire timely assignment to appropriate service providers.
👧👦 Youth participants
Seek empowering educational opportunities.
Require a platform to connect with educational resources and mentors.
Need clear communication channels for program updates and participation.
💼 Case managers and service providers
Need a streamlined system to manage multiple service requests efficiently.
Require tools to auto-assign families to the right services without manual errors.
Desire real-time access to user information and case details to avoid errors and delays.
Research
Before we could design a solution, we had to uncover exactly why Edu-Futuro’s service delivery was slow, scattered, and risky.
To understand Edu-Futuro’s challenges, I started by analyzing their existing workflows and tools. Staff were using Excel spreadsheets and Apricot, which made tracking services time-consuming, error-prone, and insecure.
I conducted interviews with program coordinators to identify pain points in managing beneficiary data and matching services. We met everyweek to test what UX methods best suited them.
Since most users could only speak Spanish and were not very technologically advanced, we had to create simpler solutions with more sophisticated UX to make sure they could navigate the platform easily, access services without frustration, and complete tasks independently.
Further Problem Definition & Insights
From our research, it became clear that Edu-Futuro’s existing system created several barriers to efficiently delivering services.
Design Goals:
Centralize all beneficiary and service data in a secure platform.
Automate service matching to reduce manual work.
Provide clear, visual dashboards to track service delivery.
Ensure accessibility for Spanish-speaking, non-tech-savvy users.
My initals creations
Using Figma, we outlined + designed the initial prototype inspired by Edu-Futuro’s executive board’s interview that covered their desires & tested various section placements.
I created a style guide to ensure uniformity in the application and help the developers to a clearer CSS code + brand style with everything from design to writing.
The goal of my designs for Edu-Futuro is to effectively serve their branding, and this guide not only visual aspects but also makes sure that the user experience stays consistent, accessible, and user-centered. 🖌️
Final Creations
After meeting with Edu-future and taking into consideration their responses + opinions regarding the low-fidelity wireframe, we used Figma to create the high-fidelity prototype.
Takeaways
I am proud to have had the opportunity to work on my very first UI/UX project, which was a large-scale project for Edu-futuro.
I was fortunate to have the guidance of Katherine, the director at the time, throughout the process, and also learnt how to collaborate with software engineers and deliver final products to the client. In this project, I took the initiative to come up with multiple design versions, present them to my project manager and team, test them, and gather user feedback. This was a valuable learning experience for me, as I was able to understand the importance of considering every detail from the user's perspective and making the program as user-friendly as possible and accessible to a diverse audience.
As we launch the program through Edu-Futuro, I plan to gather user feedback to better understand how it's being used and identify ways to improve future versions. This will help ensure the platform continues to meet the evolving needs of its users.
For any questions about this case study please feel free to reach out! Feedback is always much appreciated, I am always looking for ways to grow. 🌷
