Link Sphere
Built a crowdfunding platform that helps people experiencing homelessness get back on their feet while ensuring accountability and transparency for donors.
Project Overview
In my startup studio course, I embarked on a project addressing the critical issue of homelessness. Our team developed an innovative crowdfunding platform designed to assist homeless individuals in rebuilding their lives, while ensuring accountability and transparency for donors.
My Contributions
As a key member of the project team, I conducted research for the SET (Social, Economic, and Technological) Analysis, Competitive Analysis, and A/B testing for our landing page as well as their design. I also created the Value Flow Diagram and led user interviews with stakeholders. Additionally, I was the lead designer for the platform development and the final poster design on Figma.
This experience honed my skills in user-centered design, visual design, and business analysis. This deepened my understanding of starting a business with a well-structured plan and the social impact through technology.
Final Poster
Motivation
​We aimed to explore different services and solutions that alleviate the struggles of people experiencing homelessness.
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People experiencing homelessness suffer from social stigma and are discriminated against mainly due to fear or lack of understanding.
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Organizations struggle with funding and aren’t able to reach enough individuals in need of their resources.
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Community members expressed levels of distrust when considering donating to nonprofit organizations.
“Sometimes I don’t know what resources are available to help the housing crisis, I usually hear information through friends”
- Survey Participant S.V.​​
Survey for Nonprofits and
Community Members
The goal of the survey
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Learn about individual experiences with the unhoused community. After doing a lot of research, we realized we had two stakeholders.
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Community members who want to aid the unhoused
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Organizations who are currently working with unhoused
Because of this, we realized we needed to create two surveys. This way, we have a comprehensive review about all personal experiences from both our stakeholders.
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Logistics of the survey
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For organizations
Format: Google Form, 12 questions
Contents: Demographics, challenges/obstacles of helping, organization support, relationship with unhoused individuals, useful service/resources.
Responses: 6
Recruitment: Direct emails through research, contacting homelessness experts through Facebook, and posting surveys on Nextdoor (neighborhood app).
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For the community
Format: Google Form, 13 questions
Contents: Demographics, challenges faced by unhoused individuals, funding limitations, basic needs support.
Responses: 14
Recruitment: Discord channels, UCSD Reddit, NextDoor, and personal contacts from team members.
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Survey Pain Points
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Concerns from organizations:
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Community members expressed levels of distrust when considering donating to nonprofit organizations.
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Organization members struggle to find the funds to keep their efforts afloat.
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Concerns from the community:
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Most people feel a lack of awareness/education about how to help.
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Feel that government measures are not implemented well and lack productive results.
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Safety concerns around helping the unhoused community - have had negative experiences in the past.
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Time and financial commitment.​​
Ideation Prompts
Focus: Broad/General Scope
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How might we assist our community in aiding the unhoused without requiring extra effort from them?
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How might we provide personalized support services for homeless individuals based on their specific needs and circumstances?
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How might we help nonprofit organizations aid the unhoused community effortlessly?
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Focus: Connecting organizations and stakeholders
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How might we connect organizations that are struggling with funding and a lack of support from community members?
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How might we address and bridge the gap of understanding between the community and homeless/individuals facing housing insecurity?
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How might we facilitate trust between local organizations and community members who want to help the homeless or those facing housing insecurity?
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Focus: Organizations and necessary resources
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How might we provide better connection between nonprofits and resources?
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How might we determine the needs of the unhoused and balance this with what can be realistically provided?
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How might we prioritize different needs for different demographic groups?
Initial Idea
After conducting research, surveys, and consolidating pain points, we realized that many individuals have concerns regarding the role of NGOs towards this initiative.
Because of this, we decided to direct our idea towards exploring products/services that can aid nonprofit organizations to better support those experiencing homelessness.
Who We Interviewed & Why
The goal of our interviews was to learn about personal experiences from people involved with the unhoused community and understand how funds are managed. Many of our interviewees were volunteers in the community or had professional roles in their NGOs.
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Jenai Funk - Project Coordinator at Build a Miracle
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Estaban Martin Duarte - Chief Executive Officer of VIDA
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Caroll Hafey - Homeless Heal Executive Director
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Shane Johnson - Executive Director of Mustard Seed Project
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Logan Goverman - Interfaith Marketing & Strategist
Top Storyboards
Quotes from storyboards from the interviews
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"...there is money available to address the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness, however there’s a lot of disagreement on where that money should go." - C.H. from Homeless Heal
"...can’t give a lot of information due to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), [but] Allows people to see the direct impact they are incentivizing. People go back and donate more." - L.G. from Interfaith
"Currently working with a similar program. It is very helpful and effective for community members to feel engaged and not only receive the home because they’re victims of poverty."- J.F. from Build a Miracle
"Any program where you have someone working with a case manager 1:1 to qualify for long term housing employment, those programs are the best thing we have come up with." - S.J. from Mustard Seed Project
Previous Focus
After conducting our interviews with people who work directly with nonprofit organizations, we explored how budgeting can be tricky. However, there was a strong need for consistent income towards this initiative along with the desire from the community to help.
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Our focus was to:
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Create products/services that can incentivize and connect individuals, private companies, donors, and nonprofit organizations.
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Find a source of funding towards this initiative.
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Alleviate any social stigma around people experiencing homelessness (PEH).
The Pivot
We first aimed to build a collaborative and sustainable platform, uniting our diverse community (NGOs, donors, individuals) through seamless outreach and resource-sharing to support those who are experiencing homelessness. However, we couldn't find a way to become profitable from this business startup.
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We pivoted our idea to build a crowdfunding platform that helps people experiencing homelessness get back on their feet while ensuring accountability and transparency for donors. Link Sphere would be different from other crowdfunding platforms since the donor would have the freedom to choose where their money is going to and have verifiable proof of their contributions.
LinkSphere's Mission
At LinkSphere, our mission is to connect potential donors with nonprofit organizations and homeless individuals while fostering transparency and trust in charitable giving by providing donors with verifiable proof that their contributions are directly impacting the lives of the homeless individuals they choose to support.
We ensure that every donation makes a tangible difference by creating milestones that act as a guide for donors to see what their money is being used for.
We promote transparency by requiring accountability measures through professional case managers
We enhance the connection between donors and recipients with our personalized matching system
A/B Testing
Page-Centered Probe
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We used Unbounce for the two variations of our landing page to perform A/B testing for our service. Each one of them emphasized different types of information about our service.
Landing Page A
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Variant A highlights the different ways to use our service. It starts by showing who we are and what we do and follows with call to action buttons.
Landing Page B
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Variant B emphasizes the purpose of our service. It starts with the call to action buttons to either become a donor or connect with other organizations and then shows what our service offers.
Page Results
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From May 19 - May 27 (9 days)
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At the beginning of publishing the page, Variant A was the leading variant but as of May 27, our A/B testing showed that Variant B had the highest conversion rate.
Though Variant B had the highest conversion rate, Variant A had the most conversions.
The results shows us that users appealed more when the purpose of our service is emphasized.
Web Advertisement
Keywords: ways to donate, homeless people needs, donate homeless in SD, raise money, help homeless, volunteering
homelessness solutions, safety
Target Demographics:
Age: 25-45+
Income Level: 33k-200k+
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Ad Copy:
Help End Homelessness | See your Impact | Contribute Today
Know where your money goes in the fight against homelessness. Connect with a non-profit near you.
Concierge MVP
We used this approach to test the concept of our product. It aimed to simulate the donation process and experience for:
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Tag System – Donors can choose what they’re interested in contributing to.
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Matching System – Pairs donors with people experiencing homelessness.
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Milestone Page – Shows completed and uncompleted milestones that donors can contribute to.
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Contract Page – Communicates what the donor will expect to receive from the individual they’ve donated to.
Interviewee 1
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Jenai Funk - Build A Miracle -
Program Coordinator/Project Manager
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23 years old
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Has been part of the organization for 3 years
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Middle class
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Interested in managing projects for humanitarian aid
Interviewee 2
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Tiffany Donahugh -Interviewed at a benefit for the Alpha Phi foundation, an organization she has supported continuously
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50 years old
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Mom of 2 children both in college
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Upper middle class
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Generous contributor to numerous charities
Notable Insights
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Match Page
“Having the options and the specific programs you can choose from as a donor is great.”
“Having more options and easily scout for who we want to donate to is accessible and nice.”
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“I would prefer to only see the description because I am worried I will base my decision on looks rather on their circumstances.”
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Milestone Page
“I like that there’s a case manager that has talked with the person you’re helping and has set different goals and you can decide what to help on specifically.”
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“I would want to know more about aspirations and long term goals, rather than their current milestone.”
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Contract Page​
“Signing a contract makes it more accountable as it backs up the donation.”
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“You’re not just randomly donating X amount of money and not knowing what will happen with that money.”
“The website showing that they’ve done their work makes it more accountable.”
Analysis​
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Keep the options feature for users to scout for who they want to donate to.
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Removing the picture feature of each individual
Possibly replace pictures with avatars.
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Having the users have control of what milestones to help with was a good idea.
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Make a new feature where donors can see the long term goals in one place.
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​Send proof and all documentation to the donor so our platform remains accountable and trustworthy
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Competitive Analysis
Key Features:
Gives children in poverty tools they need for their futures. Focuses on health, education, empowerment, and employment.
Advantages:
Adapt with children’s needs at different ages, focuses on four key outcomes: health, education, empowerment, and employment.
Disadvantages:
$25 is the smallest donation, has to be monthly.
Key Features:
Online service that facilitates grant, scholarships, accounting, fundraising management.
Advantages:
Personalized advice and management for each client based on specific factors.
Disadvantages:
Only for large scale transactions. Wealthy individuals must create a scholarship or grant before distributing funds.
Key Features:
Online donation platform that connects users with nonprofits in need of donations.
Advantages:
Gives nonprofits an easy way to keep track of donations and gives donors an easy platform to use, a faster checkout leads to more people actually donating.
Disadvantages:
Hidden fees could offput some users.
12-Month Plan
We went with the Traditional Product Sales Model for our 12-month plan.
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Revenue per month: $15,000 dlls
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Expenses per month: $11,360 dlls
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Hi-Fi Prototype
Final Video Pitch
Reflections
Participating in a startup business project as part of my startup course was an eye-opening and rewarding experience. Collaborating with my team to address the pressing issue of homelessness challenged us to think creatively and develop innovative solutions. I took on the role of designing the platform, ensuring it was user-friendly and accessible for donors. This project taught me the importance of empathy and user-centered design in creating impactful solutions. It also highlighted the value of teamwork and diverse perspectives in tackling complex social issues. Overall, this experience deepened my understanding of the intersection between technology and social good, reinforcing my commitment to using my skills to make a positive difference.