About Communiteer

Communiteer is a Social Enterprise, purpose-built to foster social participation and community. It leverages the technology behind social media and crowdsourcing platforms to increase user engagement and collaborative opportunities.

Project brief

Conducting a research analysis into Communiteer’s goal of empowering online community building with its volunteer audience. Researching various forms of online community building and providing recommendations for how Communiteer might encourage and foster large-scale community building on its platform.

Duration

7 weeks

Scope

  • Human-centred research

  • Research analysis

  • Representation of target audience and their user journey

  • Formal research report with recommendations

Get the full report

Feedback

Alex de Barros Santos
Product Manager

“Getting quotes from users was very helpful, as well as pointing out the current and problematic journey versus the blue sky journey. Your recommendations are feasible and I am looking forward to read the full report. “

Renee Wyatt
Senior UX Researcher and mentor

“Fantastic framing of the problem and great work on the hypothesis. The way you presented the HMW statement and then answered them at the end was very powerful.”

HMW

Empowering online community building

How might we Identify all the relevant tertiary student personas in such a large ecosystem?

How might we encourage community building for young people (18-25) on a tech platform?

How might we enable the different scales of micro-solidarity?

How might we create bespoke and enticing user journeys for our different tertiary student personas?

How might we add value to all parts of the ecosystem?

Project overview

Goal

Consider Gen Z’s motivations and barriers in order to increase the number of young volunteers. Improve Communiteer’s user experience and brand awareness.

Customer problem

Young adults find it challenging to dedicate time to volunteering. They struggle to balance their busy calendars, making it difficult to engage meaningfully with volunteering opportunities.

Business opportunity

Boost participation of young adults on the Communiteer platform, and increase the number of registered volunteers actively engaged in volunteering activities.

Key success metrics

› Increase the volunteer pool from 25% to 51%

› 5000 volunteers to sign-up by the end of 2024

› 20k to 30k active students on Communiteer by July 2025

› Automate scalability

Hypothesis

Hypothesis 1

We believe that Gen Z does not trust large not-for-profit organisations, which prevents young adults from engaging in volunteering opportunities with larger institutions.

So, if we show that they have created a positive impact within the society, we will see an increase in volunteer sign-ups.

Hypothesis 2

We believe that Gen Z does not look for volunteering opportunities traditionally as previous generations did.

So, if we improve visibility of volunteering opportunities in this generation’s preferred channels, we will see an increase in engagement.

Hypothesis 3

We believe that Gen Z is running on far too many calendars and does not have enough time to spare on volunteering activities.

So, if we integrate volunteering activities into Gen Z’s busy schedules, we will see that the barrier of time constraints can be overcome.

Research objectives

Provide strategic guidance and enhance volunteer engagement, especially amongst Gen Z, on Communiteer’s online platforms through customer-informed and data-driven insights.

Learn more about Gen Z, how they interact, their motivations, belief systems, and barriers when it comes to volunteering experiences.

Conduct a competitor analysis and Heuristic evaluation to assess the current Communiteer platform.

Explore the idea of micro-solidarity to facilitate scalability and automation of the business, more particularly on how to move from Crew to Congregation.

Interview and survey target audience to uncover key volunteering pains and gains.

Provide opportunities for improvement, either on-line or off-line.

Methodology

Desk research

Understand the concept of micro-solidarity, diffusion of innovations theory, as well as Gen Z’s preferences and insights.

Competitive analysis

Research other platforms that offer similar services, to gain insight about what is and what isn’t already working.

Heuristic evaluation

Current platform evaluation, to suggest and define possible improvements.

Survey

10 min survey to understand the target audience’s perceptions about Communiteer and volunteering activities, using JotForm.

User interviews

45 min interviews with target audience (primary and secondary) that are not communiteer members, and are not necessarily familiar with Communiteer. Interviews to be conducted via zoom and through Askable.

Project Limitations

Since Communiteer users could not be interviewed, it was not possible to receive feedback from current platform users.

Access to a working prototype was not provided, therefore it was not possible to conduct usability testing on the current work in progress.

The survey received 22 submissions and no answers from Communiteer members.

The survey was answered in just over 2 mins, even though it was designed to be answered in 10 mins.

Need for digital engagement strategies

Gen Z heavily relies on social media to find volunteering opportunities

Relevance of micro-solidarity

More than half inquired believe that community-building is important

Importance of educational institutions

Large majority of interviewees suggested schools and universities as a gateway to volunteering

Contextual landscape

Leveraging micro-solidarity’s power dynamics within Crews, tech-driven recruitment strategies, and integrated on-line/off-line induction, can optimise scalability, engagement, and sustained participation, enhancing overall volunteer experiences.

”My ideal volunteering experience involves a seamless, technology driven process where safety, communication, training, and feedback mechanisms are reliable”

Target audience

The integration of popular social media platforms, coupled with fostering micro-solidarity, holds potential for enhancing Gen Z engagement in volunteering, driven by motivations for skill development, passion, social connections, and purpose.

Gen Z’s motivations in numbers

Gen Z’s barriers in numbers

Personas and their volunteering journey

Primary persona

Alannah, 22
Psychology student at Griffith University
[Has never volunteered]

”“We live on-line, our lives are on-line. Brands need to be on social media for us to notice them.”

Secondary persona

Sarah Mei, 19
Business overseas student at RMIT
[Has volunteered in her home country]

”I have been volunteering with my parents since I was very young. It comes naturally.

Becoming a volunteer through Communiteer

Current volunteer journey

Ideal volunteer journey

Reactions to Communiteer

Even though the interviewed young adults were unfamiliar with Communiteer, and other similar platforms, they find the concept relevant and appealing, appreciating its direct connection to organisations and flexible opportunities.

Reactions to Communiteer’s concept in numbers

Key recommendations

Consider how Communiteer can increase recognition, and improve social media engagement through the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI).
Pursue opportunities within educational institutions to increase reach and trust.
Explore power-dynamics within Crews to facilitate expansion to Congregation.

#1 – Improve brand awareness

Why?

› None of the interviewed knew about Communiteer.

How?

› Always ensure that branding is consistent throughout.

› Hand out merchandise to volunteers, as people using branded items help increase visibility.

› Regularly send out newsletters with engaging content/campaigns, updates and impact of volunteering activities.

› Explore partnerships with organisations and influencers (DOI).

#2 – Leverage educational institutions

Why?

› Skilled volunteering opportunities were important to 59% of enquired young adults. 72% were likely to add volunteering experiences to their resumes.

How?

› Suggest the integration of skilled volunteering services to specialised companies that support higher education institutions in developing online educational programs.

› Collaborate with high schools to initiate early volunteering programs, encouraging students’ community involvement.

#3 – Micro-solidarity for automation and trust

Why?

› Community is important to 63% of enquired.

› 68% would like to share leadership efforts, 32% to be guided.

How?

› Empower influential volunteers to mentor others, fostering trust.

› Create a user-friendly platform where micro-solidarity is mimicked, by creating pods where leadership is shared by volunteers.

› Implement algorithm-driven matching for personalised opportunities/skill-matching, increasing participation.

HMW answered

How might we Identify all the relevant tertiary student personas in such a large ecosystem?

How might we encourage community building for young people (18-25) on a tech platform?

How might we enable the different scales of micro-solidarity?

How might we create bespoke and enticing user journeys for our different tertiary student personas?

How might we add value to all parts of the ecosystem?

Majority of primary and secondary target audiences are interested in volunteering activities even if they are not currently volunteering.

By leveraging social media channels and mimicking micro-solidarity on Communiteer’s platform, enhancing user experience.

Through the introduction of new power dynamics where leadership is shared, involving all volunteers.

By collaborating with educational institutions and creating a sense of community, instilling trust amongst young adults.

Integrating volunteering activities to Gen Z’s busy agendas. Focusing on skill development (Genz Z), can increase reach (VIO), and create community-impact.