summary
Hackathon for a Local Charity
DreamTeam is a charitable organization with a mission to redirect negative emotions of troubled teenagers through physical activity. Not just any activity; they train for RAGBRAI, a 450 mile annual bike ride across Iowa.
DreamTeam challenged my team at the DSM Hackathon in 2023 to devise a digital solution that could streamline their manual documentation they use when training young riders.
project overview
Growing Pains
Until 2023, DreamTeam had been training around 25 kids and working with 25 mentors. But this was the 50th year for RAGBRAI, and that gave the DreamTeam a new ambitious goal to reach 50 kids, which meant they'd need 50 mentors as well.
Training was already well underway in May for the Hackathon, and the stakeholder was obviously challenged by the additional complexities caused by this amazing growth.
Our web app solution will likely reduce 40 hours of documentation and associated frustrations with this currently manual process.
problem #1
Organizing Riders and Mentors Into Groups On the Fly
My team went straight to work interviewing the stakeholder to uncover pain points and requirements. While we were interviewing him, I created a lightweight Story Map to visualize the current process, which went like this:
The team manager (our stakeholder) would spend 20-60 minutes ahead of training sessions online organizing riders and mentors into riding groups, and printing off multiple copies of the document to hand out to each mentor for tracking purposes.
Each group could have 4-9 kids and 2 mentors.
Mentors are volunteers who have a passion for cycling. Because of the nature of volunteering, there is a large amount of schedule trading going on. If something comes up for one mentor, they might trade shifts or just find a replacement.
solution
Create a Dashboard with Flexibility
The organization of riders, mentors, and groups was the most important feature for this app. It was the reason we could shave 40 hours of time off of the admin tasks, so it was crucial to get it right.
As we talked through questions from our Story Map, answers started rolling in, and I was immediately drawn to the idea of a dashboard.
By consolidating riders' data onto a single screen, a dashboard would enable mentors to make informed decisions more efficiently and quickly. Whether it was reorganizing 1 rider or 5 mentors, all the necessary information would be in one place, reducing the time and effort required for the decision-making process.
I shared this idea with the team and everyone agreed this was an excellent format to use. With this direction decided, I began the process of wireframing.
Wireframing proves invaluable in fostering discussion and offering visual reference points. This approach enabled us to identify any overlooked gaps and swiftly decide on a direction moving forward. Time was of the essence!
To solve for the need for flexibility on group assignments, I created a table with a dropdown menu in the first column that would give mentors total control over group assignments on the fly.
Dropdown menus are flexible, customizable, and familiar to users, making them a great choice to fulfill this need. Plus, they'd be pre-populated based on the imported data discussed in Problem #3.
problem #2
Pen and Paper Has Risks
Mentors had to ensure all kids got to the checkpoint and stayed with the group. They would put a checkmark, or an 'x,' or a circle next to each child’s name at each checkpoint on the printed copy.
There may be 3-5 checkpoints on any given ride.
The problem with pen and paper is that notes are scribbled everywhere, ink could smear from rain or sweat, other handwriting may be hard to read, etc.
solution
Show Groups as a Whole Inside of Stops
If you're familiar with OOUX methodology, you may recognize that the solution we created was to nest riders inside groups and nest groups inside stops. This allowed us to treat the whole group as an object with the flexibility for the mentor to check the whole group in and check the whole group out with 2 clicks of a button.
I didn't learn about OOUX until after this project was complete. I'd love to revisit this project and intentionally apply OOUX principles to it and evaluate how I did on the first version.
problem #3
Incorporating Our Solution Into Their Ecosystem
Throughout the entire project, my team talked heavily about a major challenge that lied on the front and back end of each training session.
Most of the current documentation was located within a fairly robust spreadsheet. The spreadsheet had a page for riders' details, mentors' details, each ride, each ride's checkpoint and how many miles into the ride each checkpoint was.
After each session, the mentors would take a screenshot of their document with all the checkmarks and send it to the team manager. He would then record those details in that same spreadsheet and could track the entire season.
The spreadsheet was the brain behind the DreamTeam. We had to find a way to incorporate our digital app into their existing ecosystem for a holistic process.
solution
Import From Spreadsheet, Export Back to Spreadsheet
The amazing developers I worked with knew exactly what to do. The solution was to provide an 'Import' button that would be available at all times, and a dynamic 'Export' button only available when new data was recorded.
If there had not been any changes made to the dashboard, instead of 'Export,' mentors would see 'Synced.' This would give the mentors the ability to distinguish between when they were up to date and when they need to export their new data.
This would also add to the reduction of time spent manually transferring notes to the spreadsheet, as well as a reduction in errors caused by the manual process.
direct results
Potentially Reducing Admin Work by 40 Hours Per Season
The result was a sleek, user-friendly web app allowing mentors to easily check participants in and out of each session with just a few clicks. The ease of this would allow them to move along from start to finish a bit faster and more confidently for each session.
With manual tracking in the rearview for mentors, our team manager could retrieve up to 40 hours of his time back each season.
What would you do with an additional week of time back?!
indirect results
Time Back Means More Resources Available Elsewhere
The impact of our design extended beyond efficiency gains during training. By reducing administrative burdens and streamlining workflows, the organization could reallocate resources towards other supporting initiatives.
Reflecting on the hackathon experience, I realized the profound impact that design can have in driving social change. Through collaboration, empathy, and innovative thinking by a group of strangers, we had not only created a digital solution but had also touched the lives of those in need, embodying the true spirit of design for good.
What's Next?
Lessons Learned and Next Steps
Collaborating with a diverse team taught me the importance of effective communication and leveraging each member's strengths to achieve our collective goal. Through a concerted effort to recognize and make the most of each team member's expertise, we successfully delegated tasks, optimized our processes, and tackled challenges with remarkable efficiency and creativity.
Although strangers on day 1, by fostering an atmosphere of open-mindedness, where ideas flowed freely and feedback was warmly embraced, we cultivated a culture of trust and collaboration. In this supportive environment, everyone felt empowered to contribute their very best work. Together, we united our diverse perspectives to achieve meaningful milestones and drive our shared goals to fruition.