Final work from the Google/Coursera Experience Design course, de-vuelta is a citizen platform to help find lost objects and mascots.
Designed for the modern city, where people no longer know each other, it aims to strengthen bonds and trust between citizens.
What do ordinary citizens think when they lose something? How can hope be rekindled that another citizen will return what has been lost?
These questions guided the exploratory research, which soon revealed the user's central problem: the lack of links between the inhabitants of the same city.
The first low-fidelity prototype was crucial to understanding users' reactions and ingrained beliefs.
Using the say-think-do-feel quadrinomial, I realized that the real challenge was to create a collaborative network.
With the high-fidelity prototype in hand, I carried out usability tests to clarify the points that were still unclear. Reducing the cognitive load and simplifying processes were priorities. Every user suggestion was noted and carefully considered.
The persona that best represented the users had two faces: the ordinary person who lost or found something and the professionals, such as pet shop owners and police officers.
But deep down, what united them was the same nature: being fellow citizens of a single city.
What makes someone take the time to return a simple notebook forgotten on a park bench?
Faith in others requires surrender and openness.
That's why I designed the final prototype with flexibility in the data and respect for the privacy of choices.
Given that the relationship to be strengthened was one of trust, I designed de-vuelta as a safe space where those who have lost can connect with those they have found, and vice versa, without having to provide personal details.
The possibility of keeping all communication within the platform strengthens security and increases trust between parties.
I chose the open source design system Bold, which has components for Figma and React included, to create high-fidelity prototypes more quickly, as well as to facilitate future implementation of the project.
Page to promote the ad, with options to share it on social networks and download a poster in A4 format, containing a QR code that directs you to the ad's page on the platform.
de-vuelta promises to be an effective tool for recovering lost objects and pets. One participant in the study commented: "The platform is intuitive and effective, I hope you manage to implement it."
To turn it into an OpenSource project, the following points still need to be covered:
Verify doubts about the legality of the platform and get concrete insights from those who work with lost objects and pets on a daily basis.
Contact animal protection associations as well as veterinarians to find out about specific needs and to integrate microchip technology into pets.
Designing the internal chat section, with an emphasis on regulating the status of announcements, as well as exploring the possibility of a wall that would form organically from successful experiences.