Unite App | activism for youth
Empower youth to learn about, discuss, and participate in civic activism.
Project Type: UX/UI Mobile App Design
Role: UX/UI Design, UX research
Industry: Social Media, Activism, Youth
Tools: Figma, Notion, Illustrator, Zoom
Methods: Surveys, remote interviews, personas, sketching, low-fidelity prototyping, think-aloud usability testing, iteration, stakeholder presentation
Duration: 4 months
Overview
UNITE is a concept mobile platform designed to help youth learn about, discuss, and participate in civic and social advocacy — particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when in-person engagement became limited. The challenge was creating a space that felt safe, meaningful, and accessible rather than performative or overwhelming.
Problem: Young people wanted to engage in civic issues but lacked safe, accessible, and meaningful ways to do so online.
Users: Youth aged 18–24 navigating activism, learning, and community during the pandemic.
My role: UX/UI Designer — research, personas, interaction design, prototyping, testing, and presentation.
What I did: Led research, developed personas, designed an idea-first interaction model, and iterated through usability testing.
Outcome: A concept platform that supports learning, thoughtful dialogue, and low-pressure participation.
Discovery: Understanding the Problem Through Users
To understand how youth experienced activism during the pandemic, I conducted surveys and remote interviews with participants aged 18–24 (due to ethical limitations around minors). I explored how aware they were of advocacy options, what motivated or discouraged participation, and how the broader social context affected their willingness to engage.
Several consistent patterns emerged. Most participants were not aware of any youth-focused advocacy platforms and described feeling disconnected from decision-makers. While online spaces made information easier to access, they rarely made participation feel impactful. Many participants also described increased anxiety and hesitation around expressing opinions publicly, particularly in environments tied to identity, performance, or social judgment.
Research Snapshot - User Interviews
To ground these observations, I conducted a mixed-methods research phase focused on youth engagement during the pandemic.
Participants included:
Youth aged 18–24 across varied educational and social backgrounds
Methods used:
Surveys and remote interviews
Focus areas:
Awareness of advocacy platforms, motivation to engage, emotional context, perceived impact, and barriers to participation
Key patterns observed:
Low awareness of existing platforms, hesitation driven by fear of judgment, uncertainty about impact, and strong interest in learning and contributing when safe pathways exist
Based on this research, I developed personas to represent different youth contexts — including younger users who felt isolated and uncertain about their influence, and older users who were interested but time-constrained and disengaged.
Name: Sarah
Age: 14
Context
Sarah recently moved to Waterloo and is navigating a new school and social environment during a period of heavy online learning. Most of her interaction with peers and information now happens digitally.
Experience
Sarah feels isolated by remote schooling and overwhelmed by the volume and noise of social media. While she cares about social and civic issues and wants to contribute, she struggles to find spaces that feel safe, constructive, and accessible.
Needs & Challenges
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Wants to contribute meaningfully to issues she cares about
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Lacks guidance on how to get involved in real-world impact
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Feels disconnected and isolated from peers and community
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Finds existing online spaces noisy, performative, or overwhelming
What This Persona Helped Clarify
Sarah represented young users who were motivated but unsupported. Designing for her highlighted the need for:
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Clear, structured entry points into engagement
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Spaces that feel safe and low-pressure
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Reduced emphasis on social performance
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Guidance from learning into action
This persona grounded the project in the emotional and social realities of younger users and reinforced the importance of psychological safety alongside usability.
Key Insights
Synthesizing research shifted how I framed the problem.
Rather than a lack of interest, the barrier was a lack of psychological safety, clarity, and perceived impact. Youth wanted to engage, but didn’t feel confident that their contributions mattered, or safe expressing ideas in public digital spaces. Traditional social platforms amplified these concerns by emphasizing visibility, identity, and social comparison over learning and dialogue.
This reframed the challenge from moving activism online to designing an environment that first supports trust, understanding, and confidence.
How might we help youth learn about, discuss, and contribute to civic issues in ways that feel safe, accessible, and meaningful — without replicating the pressures of traditional social media?
Design Strategy & Decisions
Designing for Ideas Over Identity
Most existing platforms revolve around profiles, followers, and metrics. Based on research about fear of judgment and mental health, I deliberately shifted UNITE toward topic-centered interaction rather than identity-centered interaction. Users could explore issues, contribute ideas, and respond to others without the social weight of persistent personal profiles.
Trade-off:
This reduced long-term reputation and accountability, but made participation feel lower-risk and more approachable — particularly for users new to civic engagement.
Structuring Participation as a Learning Journey
Instead of a single mixed feed, I structured the experience around a progression from understanding to contribution. Users could begin by learning, then move into discussion, and only later into action. This sequencing respected different comfort levels and avoided pressuring users into public participation before they felt ready.
Designing for Tangible Contribution
Participants expressed frustration that online activism often felt symbolic rather than meaningful. In response, I designed spaces that supported collaborative drafting, structured feedback, and idea refinement — not just expression. This helped participation feel constructive and grounded, rather than performative.
Supporting Engagement Through Lightweight Gamification
Research showed that many users were interested in contributing but lacked confidence and momentum. To support sustained engagement without creating competition or social pressure, I introduced lightweight gamification elements focused on progress rather than popularity.
These included:
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Badges for participation milestones (e.g., completing learning modules, contributing to discussions, refining ideas)
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Visual indicators of collective progress on shared initiatives
Trade-off:
Gamification risks shifting motivation toward external rewards. I intentionally kept it subtle and non-competitive so it would reinforce engagement without overshadowing purpose.
This helped participation feel encouraging rather than performative.
Encouraging Thoughtful Dialogue Through Annotation
Participants expressed a desire for more meaningful interaction than simple reactions or comments. To support this, I introduced an annotation feature that allowed users to respond directly to specific parts of content or proposals.
This enabled:
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Contextual feedback instead of broad, often shallow comments
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More constructive and focused discussion
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Lower social risk, since users could respond to ideas rather than to people
The annotation feature supported the goal of making participation feel thoughtful, safe, and purposeful — reinforcing the idea-first interaction model.
Prototyping, Testing & Iteration
I began with sketches to explore structure and flow, then translated these into low-fidelity prototypes.
Think-aloud usability testing revealed that early versions felt intimidating and unclear. Navigation labels confused users, discussion spaces felt too exposed, and notifications created distraction. I iterated by simplifying language, softening visual hierarchy, and constraining alerts so the experience felt calmer and more focused.
Considerations
Accessibility, Privacy & Ethical Constraints
Several constraints shaped the design. Users under 18 could not be interviewed directly. Privacy and safety were essential due to the sensitive nature of discussion. UNICEF required inclusive access without complex onboarding.
These constraints reinforced the importance of guest access, anonymity, visible moderation, and privacy-first defaults — not as features, but as core design principles.
Outcome
The final concept was recognized for its thoughtful framing and alignment with youth needs and was awarded first place among participating teams.
More importantly, it demonstrated how UX can shape not just usability, but emotional safety, trust, and willingness to participate.
Results Snapshot
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Participants were able to complete core flows (learn → discuss → act) without external guidance during testing
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Hesitation around posting decreased after introducing anonymity and softer visual hierarchy
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Annotation increased depth and specificity of feedback compared to free-form comments
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Users described the platform as “calmer” and “more focused” than traditional social platforms
Reflection & Next Steps
This project reinforced that designing for social impact requires designing for vulnerability, not just efficiency. Creating space for learning, dialogue, and contribution meant thinking as much about emotional safety and trust as about interaction patterns.
With additional time, next steps would focus on strengthening and validating the system responsibly:
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Partnering with youth-serving organizations (such as schools, libraries, or community groups) to evaluate the platform through facilitated programs
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Exploring moderation, trust, and escalation models to better support psychological safety while maintaining accountability
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Testing the platform with young adults, educators, and youth facilitators to assess how well it supports guidance, onboarding, and responsible participation
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Measuring whether participation increases users’ perceived confidence, understanding, and sense of agency over time
These steps would allow the platform to evolve thoughtfully while respecting ethical, legal, and safeguarding boundaries.