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OBA Leef & Leer

[ Role ]

UX Design, Product Design

[ Approach ]

Scrum, lean startup

[ Description ]

This project focuses on designing digital solutions for the OBA’s Leef & Leer department to better support Amsterdam’s volunteer network. By mapping available resources, connecting volunteers with community needs, and identifying gaps, the initiative aims to maximize the impact of volunteer efforts.

[ Client ]

OBA. Amsterdam Public Library. Leef & Leer 

[ Year ]

4 weeks projects. 2022

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At a glance

Amsterdam hosts many volunteers who, with support from the public library (OBA, Leef & Leer) and volunteer organizations, teach reading, computer skills, or Dutch. However, poor communication with these organizations often leaves volunteers’ needs unmet, impacting their work. Improving these services was crucial for enhancing quality standars for volunteers and learners.

Challenges

  • Attract more people to volunteer.

  • Find the needs of the volunteers and try to fulfill them.

  • Make ‘demand and offer’ more efficient.

Outcomes
 

  • An MVP prototype to develop the product.

  • Handover to developers.

  • Implementation document.

Contribution

I led research and UX design in this project while actively contributing to UI design. Collaborating closely with the team, I conducted user research and translated insights into actionable improvements for the product. Additionally, I was responsible for defining software requirements to ensure seamless handoff to developers.

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Impact

What did we achieve?

18% CR

During user test in the real scenario.

24% ER

12  interacted with the platform within 30min.

50

Visitors were attracted within 30 minutes.

The process

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Testing & Iterating

User Feedback & Refinements: Tested the platform with volunteers and adjusted features based on their needs, ensuring better usability and efficiency.


Key iteration: Removed the chat feature due to feasibility constraints and replaced it with direct email links for streamlined communication.


Impact: Improved access to schedules, resources, and support, helping volunteers stay organized and up to date, giving away the feeling of missing information. Easy access and increased visibility for becoming a volunteer.

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Research

 

Research Methods: Literature review, surveys, conducted interviews with volunteers, and facilitated focus groups to explore motivations behind prosocial behavior. We attended OBA events and spoke with volunteers and organizations.


Key Insights: Found that most volunteers weren’t motivated by external rewards like money, but rather by a well-structured and supportive environment, along with the desire to make a positive impact and a frequent feeling, of fear of missing information.


Outcome: Used these insights to refine our approach—not just recruiting new volunteers, but also understanding how to build a supportive environment for long-term engagement based on networking and community building.

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Ideation & prototyping
 

We organized co-ideation sessions with volunteers and stakeholders, we simplified the volunteer registration process by designing a touchscreen display at library entrances, helping thousands of visitors learn how to get involved.

We attended OBA events, spoke with volunteers and organizations, and identified the need for an online platform to unify and streamline the volunteering network.

To test our approach, we designed two prototypes: One for the touchscreen and one for the internal platform. We tested both twice. One internally with the stakeholders and, one with OBA visitors.

Conclusion

In just four weeks, we took an agile create-measure-learn approach to quickly test ideas with early adopters. By staying flexible and listening to real users, we shaped a concept with validated features that actually made sense for them. This fast, hands-on process helped us design a smoother, more accessible volunteering network.

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