Grassroots Grocery
Volunter Platform
Sept 2022 –
May 2023
Web &
Mobile App
x2
Grassroots Grocery is a nonprofit organization that aims to place New York City food distribution in the hands of community volunteers. Their goal is to empower these communities by creating a network of neighbors helping other neighbors.
Figma, Airtable,
Illustrator, Slack,
Notion
A Network of Neighbors
Grassroots Grocery had a stronghold in the Bronx, but as they expanded into new neighborhoods, they hit a snag. Their existing communication tools made it difficult for members to connect, discover events, and organize attendance.
Founder Dan Zauderer calls his events “produce parties.” Who doesn’t like a party? But would you go if you didn’t know anyone else attending? Most likely not.
Dan came to us with an ambitious request: design a web platform that sparks connection and engagement among volunteers.
What Brings Them to the Table?
We knew the key to success was understanding the heartbeat behind Grassroots Grocery – the volunteers. We conducted interviews with 7 volunteers from all walks of life. We also surveyed 22 additional members.
Here’s what they shared:
Why They Volunteer
- To connect with neighbors.
- To support the community.
- To gain volunteer experience.
- To network with organizers and industry professionals.
What Turns Them Away
- Infrequent local events.
Solution: incentivize attendance in other neighborhoods. - Inconvenient event times.
Solution: bigger incentives for less popular event times. - Not knowing who’s attending
Solution: participant visibility through volunteer profiles.
Meet the Volunteers
To keep focus on who would be using this platform, we created four user personas that encapsulated the volunteers’ motivations and pain points.
With these insights in mind, we crafted a solution that went beyond the typical social media model. We introduced gamification—points, ranks, and leaderboards—to give volunteers a sense of achievement while fostering community engagement
This model introduces a new metric that encourages member engagement. Points, unlike event attendance metrics, can be curated to promote certain event times or locations.
We compiled a list of product goals using this model.
High Priority:
- Location map
- Event promotions
- Volunteer frequency incentives
- User profiles and networks
- Notification system
Medium Priority:
- Feed with updates from members of network
- Integrated event information page
- Event history and results
Low Priority:
- Reward referrals
Driving Engagement on the Go
Grassroots Grocery’s members are always on the move. Survey results and behavioral data revealed that mobile devices were the primary entry point for most users.
We provided the team with a sitemap.
The user flow enhanced the rank system by providing various touchpoints for point completion and networking opportunities.
Next, we created low-fidelity wireframes, which outlined how point completion would be assigned to community activity and new events.
Curated Connections
After tree testing our initial model with three members and three non-affiliated users, simulating new members, it was clear that the points system was unintuitive for people who are unfamiliar with the game model.
We responded to this feedback in our prototype. Rather than having to manually search and compare point totals, users receive a curated feed of challenges that balance high point values with user preferences.
The Grassroots Grocery Volunteer Platform is where community engagement gets an interactive twist. Right from the start, users dive into a curated feed designed to spark action–attend events, complete challenges, and connect with fellow volunteers.
The Community page provides a more thorough feed that highlights volunteer achievements. Here, users can see what their network is up to, cheer each other on, and even climb the leaderboard to see how they rank among their peers. A dynamic recommendation system suggests new connections based on shared events, locations, and leaderboard activity.
The Events page makes sign-ups seamless while integrating the challenge system for extra motivation. Users can preview upcoming events, see which friends are attending, and track the points they’ll earn. Even past events stay relevant, with attendee lists that encourage volunteers to connect.
Volunteering with intention is easy with the Progress page. Challenges are categorized to help users find events that move them up the ranks. Users are also given a breakdown of their completed challenges and visited locations, turning every completed event into a visible milestone.
The Map page expands on location discovery. Users can filter by places they’ve visited, mark favorites, and get directions instantly. Selecting a location reveals key details–contact info, visit history, and relevant challenges.
Delivering Impact
A year after the platform’s introduction, Grassroots Grocery has experienced the following:
43% INCREASE IN MEMBER BASE
17% RISE IN HOUSEHOLDS SERVED
These results demonstrate the potential for greater scalability, and the organization is now focused on building infrastructure to expand its network on a national scale.
Collaborating with a volunteer team of full-stack developers, we implemented the platform under tight budget. Most of our design timeline overlapped with the development process. Features had to be adapted or repurposed to overcome technical challenges on the fly.
This platform would benefit from two features down the line:
Event Signup Integration
The system had to be easy to use for Grassroots Grocery’s volunteer organizers, who varied in their levels of technical expertise.
Automation
Challenges and point attribution are manually curated by organizers. Automations could alleviate organizers of this workload.
This project is my second collaboration with Grassroots Grocery. Check out the Grassroots Grocery Event Manager to see how the organization’s operations have been overhauled. I’ve also partnered with Grassroots Grocery on expanding their visual brand identity.
By collaborating with Grassroots Grocery’s dedicated team of organizers and volunteers, we have helped to lay the groundwork for a national network of neighbors helping neighbors.
Next
Grassroots Grocery Event Manager
Side Project
UX, UI, Research, Illustration