UN-Habitat
Finding Opportunities to Urbanize Slums
Challenge:
In underdeveloped countries, slums still exist. These areas have no infrastructure like running water or electricity, and the people who call them home live in little more than lean-tos. The UN-Habitat Programme works to urbanize or develop areas where slums are located to provide adequate housing, resources, and programs for the residents. In order to identify which slums to prioritize, the group used a lengthy, manual process. I was asked to lead user strategy and design for the creation of the Electronic Strategic Financing Framework (E-SFF). E-SFF is a web-based application created to break down the complexity of the process while reducing the number of resources required to complete assessments. My job was to streamline the user experience, provide alternatives to monotonous data entry, and help users to work more autonomously.
Project Category:
Approach
In order to tackle this project, it was essential for me to understand the existing process. How do cities and communities gather data, as well as plan and finance their slum improvement projects? To answer those questions, I interviewed UN-Habitat officials and workshop leaders. Also, recognizing the scale and complexity of the project, I established a cadence for milestones and communication with product owners and Urban Engineers.
Once I understood the why’s and how’s, I needed to identify the project priorities. I conducted a design exercise with the same group of experts to uncover their priorities for the application. Everyone was asked to illustrate their ideas and rank them from the most important to the least important functions. This exercise allowed us to discuss the vision and agree on the priorities.
I determined that there were five primary functions that E-SFF needed to provide. Next I needed to dig into each one of them to understand the underlying intent, then make it engaging and easy to use.
For example, the tool is intended to collect data. We all know how tedious it is to go cell by cell and input numbers. My approach was collecting data through a series of engaging questions, leading the users step-by-step, while the tool collated the data and performed calculations in the background.
Once I understood the why’s and how’s, I needed to identify the project priorities. I conducted a design exercise with the same group of experts to uncover their priorities for the application. Everyone was asked to illustrate their ideas and rank them from the most important to the least important functions. This exercise allowed us to discuss the vision and agree on the priorities.
I determined that there were five primary functions that E-SFF needed to provide. Next I needed to dig into each one of them to understand the underlying intent, then make it engaging and easy to use.
For example, the tool is intended to collect data. We all know how tedious it is to go cell by cell and input numbers. My approach was collecting data through a series of engaging questions, leading the users step-by-step, while the tool collated the data and performed calculations in the background.
Result
The E-SFF web application launched as a pilot in February 2021. It is currently being tested in Praia, Cape Verde. Plans to expand the use of E-SFF are in progress.
User Impact
UN-Habitat workshop leaders have found that users can understand and independently use the tool with just two hours of training, in contrast to weeks previously. They are pleased with the ease of transition to the new software. Each process now takes 30 minutes to complete.
Can’t get enough?
My mission is to make information resources available, appealing and accessible for the user, while utilizing a creative problem-solving approach. Want to know more about this project? Let’s talk!