User Experience Design · Web Design
Social Enterprise Competition
A design challenge exploring how to help more young people become social entrepreneurs.
Design brief
Problem
How might we enable more young people to become social entrepreneurs? Many aspiring social entrepreneurs never move past the idea phase because the support is missing: no access to networks or mentors, or no capital to get started.
Solution
A social enterprise competition that pairs students with mentors and awards a starter kit as the prize, a fun, educational way to encourage young people to start their own social enterprise.
Defining users
User research
We wrote a questionnaire and interviewed three people. Using their answers, we created our user persona, Christine.
User journey
Identifying problems
Education
- Early education doesn’t teach enough practical entrepreneurship and problem-solving skills
- College students don’t realize social impact careers can be a viable way to make a living
How might we expand programs within schools, encourage students of any major to explore ideas like social entrepreneurship, and build marketing, pitching and public speaking skills into coursework?
Funding
- There’s no well-known crowdfunding platform built for social enterprise
- Impact investors and social enterprises can have conflicting goals (profit vs. social good)
How might we build a community that connects funders and mentors with budding social entrepreneurs, and create new incentives that reduce that conflict?
Connecting
- Social entrepreneurs need peer support and information sharing
- Today’s ways of connecting are fragmented and noisy
How might we create an accessible platform where social entrepreneurs share information, support each other, collaborate and connect with mentors?
Brainstorming solutions
Ideation
Storyboard
- This sounds interesting. Christine learns about a social enterprise competition through a website.
- Let’s do this! She signs up and begins to brainstorm.
- Who do I know that can help? She does some research and talks to her professors and classmates.
- Who don’t I know yet? She joins the contestants’ app, which connects her with peers and resources like how to pitch an idea. She gets more and more excited about her idea.
- Competition day! Christine presents her team’s idea, attends workshops and networks with local non-profits, businesses, mentors and students.
- Winner! She wins the starter kit, sponsored by local businesses, which connects her with funders and mentors and gives her initial funding.
- Launch. After graduating, Christine launches her own social enterprise and keeps using the app to share ideas with local entrepreneurs.
- Giving back. She becomes a mentor for the next competition and encourages younger students to follow the same path.
Website
We designed a website for the competition that works as an information hub and a place for competitors to sign up. A low-fidelity wireframe mapped out everything the site needed to include.
Mockup
After designing the homepage, we realized we needed a second page for the competition guidelines. That let the homepage work as a visual infographic that makes people want to sign up, while the details still have a home.
Homepage
Guidelines