Brick house with brown door

Ample Labs: A Case Study

Exploring hidden homelessness in Toronto

 

"The work that Anna and Blue Umbrella did played a huge role on understanding exactly what our end-users were going through right before and during COVID-19. We were impressed by the quality, depth and attention to detail of the results. We know this will play a big part of informing our upcoming product strategy and roadmap."

- CG Chen, Founder, Ample Labs

 
 
 

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Background

Ample Labs (2019-2022) was a social startup using AI and Data to help prevent homelessness. They created Chalmers, a SaaS web-based chat bot connecting people in challenging situations to critical services.

Ample Labs engaged Blue Umbrella while going through a product pivot. They moved from: helping people locate resources to a becoming a homelessness prevention software.

The goal of this study was to better inform the team about “hidden homeless” individuals, those who without permanent housing for less than 6 months.

Co-creation is embedded in the DNA of Ample Labs. They regularly work with the community members with lived experiences of homelessness. We collaborated with the team to understand the business goals, design the study, recruit individuals, fine-tune the deliverables and tag recordings in Dovetail.

We conducted exploratory interviews with 13 individuals experiencing hidden homelessness in order to understand:

  • Individuals’ characteristics, needs, behaviours and pain points

  • Online and offline channels used to find resources, social services, jobs and social connection 

  • Barriers to accessing or discovering online resources

  • Experience with the Chalmers chat bot

We developed 3 personas and journey maps to illustrate the findings and identify high priority areas for product development strategy and marketing.

 
 

Services:

  • UX Research for Startups

  • In-depth Interviews

  • Persona Development

  • Journey Mapping

  • Participant Screening, Scheduling, Recruitment and Incentive Management

Keywords:

  • Product Pivot

  • User Acquisition Research

  • Research with a Vulnerable Population

 
 
First interactions with Chalmers bot: asks which resources you seek and asks for permission to use location

Screenshot of Chalmers web app on mobile - the polite, helpful chat bot

 
 

Short video demonstrating how to use Chalmers

 
 

Persona & Journey Map Development

 
 

We conducted in-depth interviews and developed 3 personas to highlight key aspects such as their daily reality, experience with Chalmers and sources of income.

 
 

The personas captured:

  • A top-line description of their Current Situation

  • A narrative-based Summary

  • A description of their Income, Human Connection, How they discovered Chalmers and the Effects of COVID on their circumstances

  • A list of Immediate Needs to help prioritize product development and user acquisition

  • Visuals describing modes of transit (Getting around) and Technology Use

  • Slider scales to help with Persona comparisons: Income, Last Shelter Stay, In-Real-Life (IRL) Social Network

 
 
 

Along with the persona, the journey maps are intended to be used for empathy building and storytelling. Ample Labs used the deliverables in pitches for funding & partnership opportunities, for roadmap planning, and to improve the user acquisition strategy.  

We developed 3 journey maps depicting each persona’s reality as they transition between permanent housing, temporary housing and homelessness. The video below is a brief (2 min) overview of Jade’s journey map.

 
 

The journey map for Jade as she transitions from permanent housing into hidden homelessness. It includes a story, her feelings, thoughts and needs at every step. It also includes the issues she encounters, offline and online resources used and her Chalmers experience.

We developed 3 journey maps depicting each persona’s reality as they transition between permanent housing, temporary housing and homelessness.

 
 

The impact

Our work allowed Ample Labs to:

  • Pivot the product to address a wider social challenge at the onset of COVID-19

  • Apply primary research about needs and motivations to user acquisition strategy

  • Find gaps in the product offering

  • Inform a product strategy based on needs of current and potential users

  • Integrate storytelling using personas and journey maps into funding pitches and partnership opportunities

The Ample Labs team wrote a Medium article about this research project. They kindly offer the 3 personas and 3 journey maps free to download. Contact us if you’d like to discuss the project, research process or data outputs.

 
 
 
 
 

Let’s find out if we are the right UX research partner for your team!

We loved working with the Ample Labs team. They believe in co-creating with the community and incorporating research in at every stage.

Are you working on a social mission-driven app, have a lengthy roadmap but few resources? Do you want to walk a mile in your users’ shoes?

Let’s find out if we’re a good fit.