ONGOING THESIS STUDIO
UX RESEARCH
UX DESIGN
PROTOTYPING
Role
UX Researcher
Product Designer
Speculative Design Lead
Timeline
Aug 2025 - Present
Team
Ashley Xiang
Jillian Jackson
Tejas Garg
Skills
Field Research
UX Strategy
UX Architecture
Prototyping
Overview
This case study documents an ongoing, multi-semester project designing a digital solution for weather disasters in St. Louis. It covers our process from volunteer research, behavioral archetyping, usability testing four divergent interaction prototypes, and more. At the end of next spring, we will have a shipped a working, interactive solution.
INITIAL TOPIC RESEARCH
Core Topic
How can we design solutions, strategies, tools, devices, interfaces, and more that allow people to prepare, respond, adapt, and thrive in increasingly extreme weather in St. Louis and across the globe?
What is the timeline?
The studio project spans two years, the entire duration of the program. Each semester in our thesis studio explores these topics and steps.
Discovery + Finding Scope
ActionSTL logged 17,602 resident relief requests, but 62% went completely unclaimed.
In-Person Volunteering
In the fall, people were still in need from the May tornado earlier in the year. We participated in a food drive to help out but also observe what were main themes in aid distribution.
Hundreds of people were still in need even months after disaster
Canned goods lagged while fresh food moved instantly
Non-material needs went unmet.
ACTION STL IS AN ACTIVE NONPROFIT IN ST. LOUIS
Institutional Bottlenecks
Investigated platforms like the Citizensโ Service Bureau, FEMA portals, and mPING. Found existing channels are fragmented, slow, text-heavy, and built for top-down intake rather than fast, community-level coordination.
LOOKING INTO EXISTING PLATFORMS WHERE PEOPLE CAN REQUEST AID
Micro-Interaction Experimentation
Deployed an open digital survey testing how users complete various input formats without required answers. Participants could choose which questions to answer and which to skip. Text heavy fields and open camera prompts had high drop-off rates, highlighting the need for low-cognitive-load inputs.
SURVEY AND AI PROTOTYPING TO TEST MICRO-INTERACTIONS
Research + Testing
After our broad initial discovery, we performed more research specific to aid distribution and support post disaster, volunteering, and affected people's stories.
Mixed Methods Scoped Research
60% of people gain information from word of mouth.
77% are motivated to volunteer after seeing damage firsthand.
Archetypes Over Static Personas
Targeted the Motivated Bystanderโindividuals eager to contribute who lack high-commitment physical resources.
Rapid Prototyping
Targeting the Motivated Bystander who are individuals eager to contribute who lack high-commitment physical resources.
Claude
Figma Make
Figma
ONBOARDING, TAP TO INPUT VOLUNTEER CAPACITY
STATUS FOR CHANGING CAPACITY
FOCUSED TASK EXPLORATION & CHOICE
TASK DISCOVERY
Usability Testing
TESTED WITH FIVE COMMUNITY MEMBERS
100% of people liked binary choices and simple designs.
People are drawn to seeing the big picture and content all at once.
Design + Build
This semester we are refining our project statement and have a goal of build a working digital app by the end of 12 weeks for testing and further speculation.
We are also working on
User Journey
Information Architecture
Feature Matrix + Prioritization
Because people document and go to their community first...
We are building a debris, logging crowdsourcing app for motivated bystanders in order to amplify local volunteering and aid efforts.
Design Goals
Joy
Play
Connecting Community
Leveraging Data
Simple Microinteractions
Reflection
Next Steps
Plan out specific app content and layout
Research building and technical constraints
Ship and pilot in Spring 2027
Expand into speculative thesis directions
Takeaways
Moving from macro paralysis to actionable scope
Embracing productive divergence before convergence
Navigating multi-stakeholder research friction
