Building a zero-to-one, crisis-counseling app
Providing mobile crisis counseling to individuals across the U.S. and Canada.
ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
Sep 2022 - Jun 2023
Call BlackLine volunteers connect with hotline callers using a phone number. Unfortunately, volunteers receive numerous spam calls. Users also want more options to get support from volunteers.
IDEATION
How can volunteers and users connect?
User and volunteer pain points led us down a rabbit-hole of ideation. We worked with our stakeholders to identify the most realistic solutions. Here are our outcomes:
USER FLOWS
Creating flows to ensure users get crisis support ASAP
With our ideas, we created user flows for each. A big concern I had was ensuring callers can get resources in the least amount of steps possible. I partnered with stakeholders to select flows and ideas that had the most efficient workflow.
DESIGN DECISIONS
Learning to design intentionally
Prior to this project, I had very few mobile app projects; and many of those used pre-existing design systems. Iterations and creating a design system helped me grow my mobile design skills.
Finding a balance between information on the homepage was a challenge. Concept testing helped us find a balance to show features users need to seek aid.
I led the team’s design system efforts in hopes of learning more about mobile design and how design systems sustain products. Here are a few components I created:
We used WCAG contract checkers for each orange style.
This project also gave me an opportunity to design microinteractions like loading wheels. While small, these interactions helped me improve my motion and interaction design.
Verification protects Call BlackLine volunteers from spam and hate calls.
Users can now write and text to volunteers, in addition to calling, providing more opportunities to seek aid.
Volunteers can send affirmations to users, improving the connection between users and volunteers.
THE END
Helping crisis counseling
We conducted a final set of usability tests with 11 participants which helped us refine our designs before shipping. Our app was shipped in June 2023!
TAKEAWAYS
Challenges & Learnings
Sometimes clients are unsure
Early-on, features were unclear. To overcome this, I created various sketches to get a starting point. I learned that this can help clients understand what they truly want.
Know when to move forward
As the design lead for this project, I learned that I have a lot of leverage in the team’s direction. I learned to work closely with stakeholders to prioritize action items and ensure the team was on-track.
