IRC Connect
UX Research, UX Design, Ethnography
Role: design research & strategy lead, visual design
Overview:
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) a global humanitarian organization had recently launched IRC Connect: a communication platform for caseworkers and recently placed refugees. The main goals of the product were twofold: streamline communication streams and provide refugees with essential messages in their native languages. However, at current, uptake of the platform was lacking and I was tasked with understanding why.
Process:
Over the course of a three month’s I created, executed and analyzed an extensive UX audit. Work which included both remote and in-person research.
The research included the creation of surveys, in-person usability tests, 1:1 interviews with refugees and caseworkers, focus groups and card sorting. This work was conduced at six different resettlement offices across the US.
Result:
The primary results of this work were: a) an extensive UX audit document with detailed insights, product recommendations and metrics; b) a redesign of the desktop platform for IRC caseworkers and c) the design of a mobile application.
A key insight that emerged from the research was that currently, refugees were missing the SMS messages being sent through the IRC Connect platform. The main reason for this was that they were not used to using SMS texting, but preferred in-app experiences like WhatsApp. Additionally, refugees would often reply to the SMS, a message which currently went nowhere because it was not two-way enabled.
The suggestion to create an application to house the IRC Connect platform became a clear intervention point when it was learned that all refugees were given a smart phone at their first visit to the resettlement office. The application would solve numerous issues but most critically: it would streamline information in a reliable place and it would enable two-way communication.
