Client / Project Sponsor
Toyota Mobility Foundation
Role
My responsibilities
Timeline
Tools
Team
Streamline pantry operations to improve service delivery and optimize resources, such as staff time and technology, to effectively handle high volume of clients.
Needed solutions that wouldn't break the bank because pantries are non-profits and have very limited budgets.
Project / Individual Impact
Accelerated new client registration process, cutting average time from 9 minute to 5.45 minutes.
Accelerated returning client check-in process, cutting average time from 3.5 minute to 2.1 minutes.
Improved Overall Check-In Process Efficiency
Marion County (IN) communities experience substantial food insecurity. We partnered with food banks and local food pantries to understand the food assistance gap. Following the research phase, my team partnered with Westminster Neighborhood Services (WNS) to develop tailored solutions to the challenges they face.
Westminster Neighborhood Services struggles with lengthy client check-in processes, particularly for non-English speakers, causing frustration and inefficiency.
Underlying Issue: Language barriers create delays due to staff reliance on translation apps for repetitive client intake questions, impacting client experience and pantry efficiency.
I designed "Translator Playlist," a feature that can be integrated into any existing translator applications. This solution enables users (here staff) to personalize and pre-load common check-in conversations/questions, translating them into any language with a single click. Also developed a temporary tool for immediate use.
Result: Implementing this at Westminster Neighborhood Services improved both staff and client experience, substantially reduced new client registration time for non English speaker, and increased overall check-in process efficiency.
Teleport to the solution
Toyota Mobility Foundation empowers nonprofits to enhance operations and overcome mobility challenges by sharing Toyota Production System expertise.
In this project, they partnered with university students across educational disciplines (HCI, design, engineering & business), food banks, and community food pantries, creating an academic, community, and industry collaboration. The goal was to improve the operational efficiencies of local partnering food pantries, enabling them to better serve food-insecure families in their local communities.
Indy Hunger Network performed a meal gap study on Marion County, Indiana, in 2021, which revealed that 25% of people are food insecure. Despite the fact that there are over 200 pantries inside Marion county, just 18% of charitable food is distributed via these crucial community centers.
So we started by performing extensive field research to understand the food supply chain and identify the bottlenecks. We partnered with (5) pantries and (3) - major foodbanks serving the Marion county. We interviewed them and performed participatory observation to experience the challenges firsthand.
“There is so much excess food in the food system, and we have so much food stored in our warehouses. For a lot of agencies we partner with, their biggest challenge is the transportation to source the food."
Marcie Luhigo, Executive Director, MidWest Food Bank.
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In our research, we discovered several critical pain points within individual pantries. These bottlenecks significantly hindered their ability to function efficiently and ultimately limited their capacity to get more food from the foodbanks and therefore effectively serve the community's needs.
We decided to create smaller, multidisciplinary teams that worked directly with individual pantries to further explore their unique challenges and create customized solutions designed to optimize their operational efficiency.
My team partnered with the Westminster Neighborhood Services (WNS).
To better understand the pantry experience, let's visualize the user journey of a food pantry visitor (client).
Identified key problems
From our initial research, we identified 13 issues impacting the WNS pantry operations. To prioritize, we held a design sprint with our pantry representative, Olivia Stewart (Family and Adult Services Director) and asked her to rank the issues based on their effect on daily operations.
* after consulting with the user (pantry representative) and analyzing all opportunities based on effort and impact the team decided to prioritize the top 4 challenges.
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To optimize efficiency, we divided responsibilities leveraging individual expertise. As product designer, I led efforts on the language barrier and CRM usability issues.
Leveraging our cross-disciplinary collaboration, we held weekly sessions:
Updates & Feedback: to share individual project progress and receive diverse feedback.
Ideation: codesigning with the team and pantry reps to brainstorm ideas.
Major Bottleneck
Check-in process significantly slowing down overall service.
Core Problem
Language Barrier
Approximately 18% of the clientele at the Westminster food pantry consists of Non-English speakers, predominantly comprising Spanish speakers and Haitian Creole speakers. The check-in process for Non-English speakers takes twice as long as it does for English speakers.
Client
Regular Check-In
New Registration
English Speakers
2 minutes
6 minutes
Non English Speakers
5 minutes
12 minutes
Understanding the user problem
To illustrate our user-centered approach,
I created a detailed storyboard using our persona, Keesha, to capture the journey of staff members and identify their key interactions and challenges.
Non English Speaking Client Demographics at WNS
Deep Dive
My research pointed that approximately 80-90% of check-in conversation follow a repetitive pattern. And Its harder and more time-consuming when the staff has to ask and re-translate the same questions over and over for multiple non-English-speaking clients.
Having pinpointed the issue, I began by reviewing existing research and solutions for breaking language barriers in various industries and nonprofit sectors. I explored the latest tech solutions, like translator earbuds, and conducted a market analysis. I assessed existing solutions based on functionality, accessibility, and desirability. None met all three criteria. Examining current translator apps, I found the phrasebook feature.
The ‘Phrasebook’ feature
The phrasebook feature lets you save your translated phrases for easy access, like a personal mini-dictionary. This feature is common among the leading translator applications on the market, yet it also represents a common gap in their functionality. But we must understand that the feature wasn’t designed for the specific problem that the pantry staff face.
Why is ‘★’ not the preferred option for the pantry staff?
To address this challenge,
I came up with the translator playlist concept. This entails compiling phrases, questions, and dialogs into sequential lists, organized by task, action, or phase, for one-click translation into any language. This feature can be integrated into any existing translator applications.
What drove the design decision to prototype the concept integration within Google Translate?
Market Analysis
Google Translate dominance in market share (top 3 most used) with extensive language support and top features.
Field research
With wider compatibility (Android & iOS), Google Translate was the dominant choice among partnering pantry staff, followed by Apple Translate.
01 The Playlist
Level up your language game! Organize your go-to translations like a pro.
Just like you have separate playlists for your workout pump-up jams or cozy summer vibes, you can now do the same for your translations. Organize them into groups, personalize them for your needs, and enjoy the smooth flow!
02 Effortless Translation
One playlist, one click, multiple languages!
While the phrasebook feature saves translated phrases (output), playlists feature is a bit different. It stores your initial inputs. giving you the freedom to effortlessly translate them into any language with a single click. This makes them ideal for situations where you need to communicate across multiple languages.
03 Translate the response
Forget the switch and translate hustle! Replies translate in real-time, keeping the flow.
This feature is similar to Google Translate's conversation mode, automatically detects and translates conversations in real-time from receivers language into the user's selected language. Users can choose to receive the translation as either text or voice output.
Participants:
(4) - Bilingual Spanish Speakers
User:
Design team (Roleplay)
Environment:
(1) Moderated + In-person
(3) Moderated + Virtual (Zoom)
Success Matrix:
Time-On-Task, Participants Satisfaction
Results:
New client registration time
User Demographic
Previous
New
Non English Speakers
12 minutes
7.7 minutes
Regular client check-in time
User Demographic
Previous
New
Non English Speakers
5 minutes
2.2 minutes
Insights:
Participants appreciated the smooth conversation flow.
Two participant expressed concern that the dialect might hinder comprehension for users from different backgrounds.
Why a new feature? Why not add it to the favorite feature?
Maybe we can 🤷🏼. While the pantry staff's needs are unique, the existing feature was designed with broader use cases in mind. The potential impact on other users is uncertain and requires further investigation. My hypothesis is that the user flow might not completely disrupt their mental models as the pattern exists in multiple application, but testing with diverse user groups is essential to confirm this.
This approach aligns with design solutions found in many popular products like creating music playlists on Spotify (or other music players), or saving your favorite reels on specific folders on Instagram.
While the translator playlist concept held merit, its immediate implementation required dedicated development resources. Recognizing the Pantry's budgetary limitations, I started exploring alternative, indirect deployment methods.
Effectively replicating the playlist functionality remained a critical need (Part A). To bridge this gap, I created a temporary web tool using FlutterFlow. This solution provided immediate value without impacting the pantry's budget as it was free.
And for the real-time translation of receiver responses (Part B) I decided to use existing translator applications (ex: Google Translate etc).
Why did I use FlutterFlow?
As I explored ways to make the alternative tool, FlutterFlow stood out because:
Free basic plan
No/low code platform
Thus, it helped us achieve the 'zero dollar impact' while allowing staff to make changes in the tool or add new features without any coding expertise.
Note: Currently, it supports English to Spanish
Note: Currently, it supports English to Spanish
With the prototype in hand, we couldn't wait to put it to test on a regular pantry day.
The proposed testing setup
Participants:
(6) - Westminster Clients (Spanish Speakers)
User:
WNS Pantry Staff
Environment:
Pantry Day (Live)
Success Matrix:
Participants and User Satisfaction
Intuitive interface:
Staff were able to quickly grasp how to use the tool, even without prior exposure to the final prototype. This indicates a user-friendly and intuitive interface that minimizes onboarding time.
Reduced workload:
The ability to avoid repetitive translation tasks was well-received by the staff. This suggests the tool successfully automates or streamlines a previously time-consuming process.
Clear information architecture:
The sequential organization of the conversation flow was well-received. This highlights a clear and logical structure that facilitates navigation and finding specific questions.
Positive user and client experience:
Staff feedback and the client's appreciation for the smooth conversational flow both indicate a successful outcome. This suggests the tool addresses the needs of both users (pantry staff) and clients (individuals seeking assistance).
Background noise interference:
Testing in a controlled environment didn't account for real-world noise factors. The translator struggled with background noise at the pantry, leading to inaccurate translations at times. This highlights the need for further development to improve noise cancellation or speech isolation functionalities.
Dialect limitations:
The system encountered minor issues related to dialect variations. This suggests a need for expanding the translation capabilities to handle a wider range of dialectal speech patterns.
Accessibility for hearing-impaired users:
The prototype lacked features catering to users with hearing difficulties. This presents an opportunity to explore visual question elements or integrate with existing point-to-talk solutions.
Navigating ambiguity
Diving into a complex problem was like exploring a hidden world - exciting yet disorienting. Unlike well defined projects, constraints kept multiplying. Keeping the user's goals and the project's objective in mind became my compass. Every decision hinged on how it impacted the user's journey, ensuring we reached their short and long-term needs.
Co-Creation Approach
This project underscores the importance of co-creation. We invited the user to become part of the team and decision-making as we conducted our research, identified bottlenecks, brainstormed solutions, and tested our ideas. This kept us laser-focused on user needs and ensured our solutions addressed their core problems.
Expand your toolbox
Stepping outside my UX comfort zone, I tackled the complex world of charity food distribution with Lean Six Sigma. Initially apprehensive, I discovered its strength in efficiently mapping out the supply chain. This experience underscored the importance of embracing new methods, even from outside UX, to expand your problem-solving toolkit.
Kaizen philosophy
Drawing inspiration from Toyota's Kaizen philosophy (continuous improvement), I adopted a cycle of rapid idea generation, testing, and refinement. This ensured our solutions were constantly adapted to user feedback, eliminating inefficiencies and maximizing the project's impact.
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