Internet access for everyone:
Connect4all

Access to the internet is considered a fundamental human right in today's world. However, the reality is that not everyone has the privilege of high-speed internet or the means to afford it.

While most of us take connecting to the internet for granted, there are approximately 3 billion people who have never experienced internet connectivity. Even among those who do have access, many hundreds of millions can only go online infrequently due to factors such as using shared devices or dealing with slow connection speeds that hinder their internet usage.

The number of internet users is growing at an annual rate of 3.5%, but this growth is not evenly distributed. In poorer nations, internet access is often unaffordable, resulting in nearly three-quarters of the population in the 46 least-developed countries having never been online.

This project was to design an application to help communities and organizations to know people without internet access in their community and find a way to connect them to the internet through a reasonable solution.

This project was part of my studies and it took 4 weeks to complete.

As a learning project, I was UX designer leading the app and responsive website design from conception to delivery.

I started with Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, and then creating low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, iterating on designs, determining information architecture, and making a responsive design.

Tools

User research

To develop my interview questions, I researched these topics:

free internet
types of internet access
Internet coverage
percentage of internet users

I conducted the interviews with teachers, social workers and public service assistants, and most of them reported that they struggle to find internet access for their clients after hours or on public holidays. They were absolutely on board with using an application and thought that would make it much easier for them.

Personas

Google UX Design Certificate - Portfolio Project 3 - Case study slide deck [Template] (1)_

Competitive Audit

For this project, there wasn't any direct match so I had to research indirect organizations that mostly help people in need in different ways such as charities, and find out what model they use to identify targets and manage their information.

Also, I looked into internet provider companies and their products and sales. another source was locater applications.

CAF is a public service for social help and family support that helps people find accommodation and public housing. The Salvation Army is a charity organization that helps people in need worldwide. SFR is one of the leading telecom service and internet providers in France.

I looked into these three large organization websites and applications to see what features they offer, how is the user flow and navigation, and what is their unique proposition value.

Ideation

I did a crazy eight ideation exercise to come up with ideas for how to address gaps identified in the competitive audit. My focus was specifically on how to find the closest free internet access or finding a reasonable provider.

Wireframes

After ideating and drafting some paper wireframes, I created the initial designs for the internet finder app. This design focused on searching and finding the best and nearest internet services.

To prepare for usability testing, I created a low-fidelity prototype that connected the user flow of finding the nearest public free internet access.

UI Kit

What kind of feeling do I want users to experience while using Connect4all? The pastel green is associated with calmness and creativity and the color mustard is associated with attention. Dark navy has a good contrast with both green and mustard to make it legible.

I conducted usability testing with 6 participants over Zoom, each lasting about 30 minutes.

The objective of the test:

Observe if users can accomplish the specified task. If they made a mistake, can they recover?
Identify areas of the app that requires a change to improve user performance and satisfaction

With the provided feedback, I created revisions to fill the gap between my understanding of the users and what the users experienced.

Usability Testing

BEFORE

AFTER

Selecting the prefferd language from the homepage was confusing and busy for user, so I simplify it into an icon.

Forward icon was unnessecery for the homepage, instead the connect button is a clear way to start.

Having location menu and list of options together on one page was confusing, I separate the map from the list to have a more clear flow.

Made a few changes to menu bar and arrows to have a easy and clear flow.

Instead of listing the locations with free internet, I decided to show them on the map which user can span through and find the best location.

Final Mockup

Next steps

There is a list of features that I like to add to this application:

- Make an offline version so that in places with low service coverage, users still can have access to lists and directories.

- Design an audio option and also a screen reader for people with special needs.

-Design a responsive website.

- Add a premium version for large organizations.

Takeaways

Based on user feedback Connect4All is an application designed to help organizations and communities in providing affordable and accessible internet access to those who are currently underserved, particularly individuals from less privileged backgrounds or residing in rural areas. They believe it is efficient and user friendly and easy to work with. By harnessing the power of technology, Connect4All aims to bridge the digital divide and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to connect to the online world.

I learned that even though the problem I was trying to solve was a big one, diligently going through each step of the design process and aligning with specific user needs helped me come up with solutions that were both feasible and useful.

Internet access for everyone: Connect4all