Hi, I’m Calum, a digital designer based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I’m a designer passionate about helping both clients and end-users, through the creation of positive user experiences built upon empathy, clarity and inclusivity.
I’m currently working as a UX Designer for Whitespace, a rapid-paced digital agency full of talented designers and developers working on a wide range of products from data-driven decision support tools to fostering an online community platform for digital innovation.
The UK is facing a crisis. 14.5 million people across the country live in poverty and our homeless population is expected to double from 236,000 to 575,000 by 2045. Additionally, small businesses across the country are also struggling, for instance, the recent Covid-19 pandemic is estimated to have closed 234,000 small
Pitch In is a mobile application that provides an easy and trustworthy method for people to support their local community. Through Pitch In users can use their spare change to donate goods and services from local businesses to individuals in need within their community. Users can then track these donations within the app to ensure that their money is actually going towards helping their community.
The goal of Pitch In is to provide those less fortunate with a new means to access goods and services they typically cannot afford. This could range from daily essentials to something as simple as free coffee.
To say that my knowledge of the problem going into the project was limited would have been an understatement. I knew that my research would need to be extensive and varied if I wanted Pitch In to succeed. Over the course of the year, I conducted research ranging from interviews with users and industry experts to card sorts, competitor benchmarking and surveying the public.
All of this research acted as the foundation that I built my product on, from supporting materials such as user personas and customer journey maps to my design system and lo-fi/hi-fi mockups. Lastly, these designs were validated through rounds of user testing to ensure that Pitch In was meeting the needs of its users as well as helping identify opportunities for improvement and growth.
Working on Pitch In has been a challenging but incredibly rewarding experience. I had the opportunity to grow as well as showcase everything I’ve learned over the past four years. I’m pleased to say I can look back on the work I’ve produced this year and say I’m happy with the result.
The Hi-Fi prototypes for both the business-facing application and consumer-facing application are now available to view, and if you want to learn more about the project at: www.pitchinapp.com