Basic Needs Case Study
To reduce the stress and increase time efficiency for unhoused individuals
The Team
The Problem
Unhoused people don’t have confidence that they’ll be able to meet basic human needs like food and housing on a daily basis.
Solution
Basic Needs will reduce stress and increase time efficiency for unhoused users by using a mobile app, kiosk, and ride service that will be accessible, intuitive, and will empower them to remotely reserve a bed, a meal and other resources locally.
We achieved this solution by understanding that uncertainty about transportation, meals, and housing is often the most stressful part of being unhoused, and that we must find a way to get rid of these “unknowns.”
User Goals
Experience Goals
A kiosk that will empower, decrease stress, be
user-friendly & intuitive
End Goals
Reserve a meal and/or a bed at a nearby shelter or soup kitchen, book an appointment for job/life counseling, join the program
Life Goals
Find a permanent roof over one’s head
User Journey
Priority Pyramid
Lower the stress from daily tasks
Instead of conducting an online survey to collect data, we turned to a massive survey on unhoused people in King County, titled “Count Us In,” conducted in 2018.
It highlighted the most common obstacles that people faced in receiving assistance or a permanent shelter, which we referenced as we designed our product.
Paper & Prototypes
Paper was used for UI testing before moving into high fidelity prototypes
Final Product
Our team created a mobile app and fleet of kiosks located in public spaces accessible to the unhoused community that can be used to reserve a bed, meal, and private shuttles to shelters.
Kiosk Render
FIN
