Plant It Again • 5 min read
Plant It Again Student Tracker
Empowering a nonprofit to scale through a personalized, 0 to 1 enterprise platform
ROLE
UX Design Lead
TIMELINE
November 2023 to May 2024
TEAM
3 Designers, 1 Product Manger, 10 Engineers
DELIVERABLES
User survey
Design system
MVP & V2 designs
✨ HIGHLIGHTS
Shipped an MVP, finalized V2 designs, and mentored two designers during the school year
Delivered complex experiences (7 core features) that scale within SAAS or enterprise environments
Received enthusiastic approval from our clients, who tested the minimum viable product (MVP) using a staging URL
BACKGROUND
Creating inclusive opportunities for adults with disabilities
As a UX Designer at UCSD's tech-for-good organization, Triton Software Engineering, I had the opportunity to collaborate with a nonprofit called Plant It Again. Their mission is to create inclusive opportunities for adults with disabilities through various vocational training programs.
PROJECT GOAL
Providing Plant It Again with the infrastructure to grow
Plant It Again's student base had recently doubled, leaving them feeling overwhelmed. They were still using spreadsheets and other makeshift methods, which were not sustainable for the long term.
We want to take progress notes every day, but sometimes we're too tired.
—Karen, Director of Plant It Again
That's when they approached my team for a way to simplify their operations. Our solution was to build a robust platform that allowed them to manage their students and programs, all in one place.
FINAL DELIVERABLE
Project Showcase
My design team put together a demo video for our client and cross-design team. Tune in to see our product in action!
NEXT STEPS
Measuring success through KPIs
We decided to withhold handing off the product to Plant It Again until we're confident it can deliver immediate value to them (our V2 stage). When this project wraps up in Fall Quarter, 2024, the team will check in with our client in these areas:
Data
completeness
Percentage of complete student profiles (i.e. containing all necessary information).
Average reduction in task times
Average reduction in completion time for daily tasks, including locating student info and taking attendance.
Accessibility compliance scores
Quantitative compliance score with WCAG standards. Qualitative usability feedback from users with disabilities.
REFLECTION
Journey as a UX Design Lead
What I would've done differently
Earlier conversations with Eng
I learned the hard way that changes are more time-consuming and expensive at later stages of the design process. Now I know to seek input from engineering on feasibility, user flows, and concepts before diving into design.
Challenge
Designing for a specialized user group
To honor their mission, we made it a priority to understand the needs of users with neurodiversity and logistics of Plant It Again's different programs. It took time to deeply understand their organization, but once we did, things clicked.
Learning
Leading a design team
This was a special opportunity to mentor two passionate designers. I helped them learn Figma auto layout, facilitate client meetings, and go on to become the next gen of design leads in our student org. They were amazing!