Golden Gate Hive Directory is a mobile app for connecting families and individuals to free or low-cost resources available within the SF community. Users provide personal information and GGHD generates a list of community resources to assist with their life situation needs.
I was inspired to develop this product after voluntering as a tax preparer with Mission Economic Development Agency in San Francisco. Aside from providing free tax services, MEDA also assesses individuals for other services, like education assistance, or job-readiness programs. What astonished me most was the number of clients I saw turn down additional services, even if they were offered free money through subsidized programs.
The original concept was to incorporate behavioral science and educational games to help change people’s thought patterns around finances. Through games, users would learn about different scenarios that affect economic mobility, and where they could go to find local solutions.
I decided to break up the concept and instead focus only on matching people to non-profit services in San Francisco. MVPs for the larger concept would have to wait, considering more research would need to be done on educational games, finance, and the fusion of behavioral strategies.
SF is home to a tremendous amount of diversity and there are services available to indviduals with intersecting needs. For instance, Larkin Street Youth Services offers a variety of assistance for homeless youth such as employment opportunities, temporary housing, and HIV testing. San Francisco has over 70 non-profits dedicated to case managing homelessness. Furthermore, SF has non-profits dedicated to assisting all walks of life from LGBTQ, to Veterans, elders, immigrants and so many in between.
In additon to homelessness, San Franciscans may also struggle with mental health, lack of educational funds, and lack of health insurance.
User Flows depict users traversing categories within GGHD. Users are allowed to skip sections and return later, as to allow them quicker access to personalized results.
I was able to complete the entire product in one week by adhearing to a timeline, and allowing myself to focus only on one section at a time.
Creating brand assests and developing the user interface took longer than initially expected. My moodboard was the biggest help. I was most inspired by an image of stacking blocks and overlapping circles. I built on this by exploring different types of communities with a focus on diversity.
After the high-fidelity frames were complete, I prototyped with Invision while simultaneously developing the style and typography.
I chose a beehive to represent community and the results of collective effort. I like the idea of bees working together for the purpose of their hive. Altruistically, all communities could work this way — If San Francisco were a beehive then non-profits would be it’s busy bees, and the services provided is honey.
HIVE serves as an acronym for Honoring Intesectionality and Validating Equality.
After mock-ups are complete, tested, and feedback is incorporated, I wanted to add an extra visual to give myself and users an idea of what the product would look like from an advertising perspective.
I feel compelled to continue to evaluate GGHD from different perspectives so that it may grow. Even as I meet people and share the idea, I still see there is much need for community outreach in order for the product’s potential to fully be realized.
Thank you for reading! Please reach out with questions or comments. Check out the full look of Golden Gate Hive Directory on my behance profile.
Cheers!
