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“The Helper Groups”

Creators: Naznin
a Middle School Student from Mouse & DIIT Design League @ JHS 218
Screenshot 2021 05 17 5 13 57 PM

About this Project:

The challenge that my project addresses is the issue of homelessness in the East New York area of Brooklyn,New York. I came up with this idea by taking a look at the needs in my community of East New York. As a group we all decided to work on helping the homeless. After choosing a target group to focus on I then had to learn more about the homeless population to figure out their wants and needs. I discovered that homeless people need help with shelter, food, clothing, medical care, job placement, education, and help with addiction. So I decided to create an application that would help with all of their needs. Like a “one stop” shop.



My project is designed to work with the MTA bus kiosk service. The idea is that most people who are living on the street do not have access to technology. I decided to map an APP to help people in need find free services to assist them with any needs they might have. People would have the ability to search for a variety of services such as shelter, food, clothing, education, and assistance with addiction. No login is necessary that way people that want to remain anonymous can use the APP without fear of being tracked by anyone. The APP would be integrated with the MTA kiosk system and would also be available online at any access point (i.e.: public library). The APP uses GPS mapping to locate services within the area.

Project Media

Images

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Slides

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Community Feedback:

👾 
Fun
🚀 
Innovative
🌎 
Helpful
🌈 
Great Design
💡 
Makes Me Think

Feedback from the Judges:

👏 Associate Director of Content Development & Training at Mouse — Emoti-Con Judge
Your ability to use technology to address a local issue is so impressive! Designing the app to work with an MTA Kiosk allows your app to meet your users where they are and without security concerns. I would be curious to know if you plan to expand this app to include a feature to schedule an appointment with one of the services the user can choose from?

👏 Visual and UX Designer at IBM — Emoti-Con Judge
This is a great way to aid the homeless population in NYC! You really thought about your target audience and considered the best ways for them to access this technology. The idea of putting the application on the MTA kiosks is brilliant! Now you would just need to figure out how to get the word out to people in need that this application exists!

👏 Consultant at Deloitte Consulting LLP — Emoti-Con Judge
Great idea! I think you came up with a great list of tools that could greatly benefit the homeless community. The fact that you thought ahead and designed this to work with MTA Bus Kiosks is very smart! One huge problem that the homeless community faces is access to information like this, and I think providing an anonymous, easy app in a public place is a great solution to that problem. Great work, and keep it up!

👏 UX Design Manager at Samsung Electronics — Emoti-Con Judge
I love app ideas! The presentation slide was a well-done and engaging way of narrating the project. This project should inspire others to find opportunities in community service design.

Consider building-in donation options for those who want to volunteer to help the homeless community, such as giving food, clothes, and other services. Also, I would like to recommend that you explore an interaction design program to learn more about user experience. Good work!

Feedback from the Community:

Ms. Presley 👏 a Teacher and/or Educator from NYC
I love this idea. This is a great idea and it seemed to be very well thought out.
Eileen 👏 a Community Member from Brooklyn North Borough Office
It is clear that you did your research for this app and have considered the needs of some of the most vulnerable people in your community. I am impressed with your idea to connect this to the MTA kiosk and that you have considered that not all interactions with technology have to track people. Your design allows people to interact and get the information and resources they need without the hassle of logging in or having their data tracked!
Juan Carlos 👏 a Technology Professional
I really enjoyed the concept of this project. I think it would be a great idea to create a kiosk for folks to be able to check what services are available to them in a moments notice. keep up the excellent work and more important the empathy you showed in selecting this project.