Timeline
2 months, Fall 2025
Role
Lead product & UX Designer
team
Engineering Tech Leads & Salvation Army Admin Staff
skills
UX Research, User Testing, Cross functional collaboration, Design Systems
The Salvation Army’s Navigation Centre (SANC) offers free transport to the most vulnerable populations in Calgary. Our booking tool allows Admin staff to spend less time managing the overhead of bookings and more time focusing on other critical tasks.
As the lead product & UX Designer working with student developers at Code the Change, I conducted various user interviews, created prototypes, worked cross-functionally with engineering teams and stakeholders to iteratively create a tailored booking management app for the Salvation Army.
Impact: how we improved the process
3x less
Booking overhead time
2x less
Dropped bookings
2x less
Time swapping apps
The Salvation Army offers free transport to Calgary’s most vulnerable populations via the Navigation Centre, helping them receive reliable transport to important appointments like job interviews or medical appointments. This offering is actively changing lives in our city in a time where public transport can be unreliable.
The Salvation Army intended their administrative staff to be “background actors” and not spend too much time managing appointments for this system. The existing concept is simple: agencies would work with clients to book appointments with the Salvation Army Admin staff, and the Admin staff would schedule the appointment for pickup and the driver would do the rest on the appointed date
In reality, they were spending a lot of time filling out information manually across different forms and spreadsheets, which was a time consuming process prone to mistakes and causing great frustration.
Discover
Learning about the current booking process
I interviewed Salvation Army Admin staff and observed parts of their current workflow to learn more about their current booking process, workflow, and concerns to develop a strong foundation for future design work.
Define
Problem Definition & User Groups
User groups definition
To design with users in mind, I identified key user groups that needed to be involved in the process, and focused on those who would use the system:
Key tasks for all users
To design with users in mind, I identified key user groups that needed to be involved in the process, and focused on those who would use the system:
develop
Problem Definition & User Groups
User flows
Based on the tasks each user group would need to complete and their goals, I created user flow diagrams to help organize my ideas first.
Low-Fidelity prototyping
To better communicate my visions to my team and stakeholders, I created low-fidelity prototype sketches and used them as opportunities to ask more questions and iterate based on feedback.
Medium-High Fidelity Prototyping
After working with admin staff and our tech team with my sketches, I worked on medium-high fidelity prototypes alongside a design system to allow the team to better visualize and experiment with different interactions on the prototype. After creating these prototypes, I conducted several rounds of user testing to validate my assumptions and further iterate on the prototypes.
deliver - solution
Final design highlights and features
Three different workspaces for each user group
Cutting out the middleman
Supporting drivers and convenience
Powerful, unified management tools
conclusion
Final reflections
Challenges
I had a lot of fun learning to navigate the unique challenges that followed converting a manual process to a digital one alongside real clients, while working cross-functionally with our tech team. In particular, I had to figure out how to:
Fully understand and empathize with users to develop a deep understanding of the problem and streamline the booking process.
Navigate user testing coverage, as some user groups were unavailable for testing.
Design and organize my files for smooth developer hand-off.
Learnings
Draw things out, think things out yourself, but don't be afraid to ask clarifying questions! This helps move things out faster and creates mutual understanding.
Think about the future: systems and user needs adapt, so designs should accommodate these changes to the best extent possible.
A picture is worth a thousand words, but an interaction is worth even more: visual and interactive communication is key to success!