Fostering User Engagement and Building Digital Communities from 0 to 1
Overview
The Métis Nation of Ontario has been a self-governing body that started in 1993, representing the 130,000+ Métis within the province of Ontario. They serve to protect the rights and cultures of the Métis while striving to improve the social and economic well-beings of their children, families and communities throughout the province.
I was fortunate enough to take part in being one of the founding designers in this project, enabling me to explore a nuanced and intricate blend of social and government. Reach out to learn more!
Timeline
2024 - 2025
Responsibilities
Product Design, Branding, Stakeholder Management, Design System
Collaborators
Project Management, Quality Assurance, MNO Education and Outreach Team
A Community for All
Separated by geography but unified in vision
One of the biggest growing pains that the MNO faces in the present day is the increasing feeling of disconnection fromm the many areas where the Métis were displaced in the past.
While the MNO has placed efforts in advocating and providing resources for their habitants these past decades, only those in more urban areas tend to benefit from their programs and outreach while those in more rural areas would have limited to no support.
Problem
Geographical displacement in the past has left the Métis population fragmented, causing disconnectedness and the lack of awareness of resources provided by the MNO body.
Goal
Safe Space for All
Bring a sense of community and improve engagement between members of the MNO within one place.
Goal
Resource Management
Consolidate resources and support into a source of truth for the MNO community.
To uncover requirements of the project, my team and I collaborated with MNO representatives to field out focus groups that capture the core needs, patterns and motivations for our target user groups.
Through multiple user sessions, we worked closely with the Early Education and Post-Secondary Education team to map out our raw insights before synthesizing into key insights.
Our research led us to focus our product to that of a social/resource hub, leveraging MNO's existing support and infrastructure with the benefit of consolidating it all into one place.
By breaking down user patterns and features of existing social platforms, we explored features/patterns that would provide the most value to the target groups' needs.
Given the timeline and technical feasibility of the project, we prioritized essential features we believe best addressed our user needs and goals for the product's initial release; leaving additional enhancements for future updates.
And now with the release of the mobile platform, we're happy to have shipped a product that serves.
130,000+
Métis identified individuals across the nation of Ontario with a subsequent language and translation project greenlit for 2025.
Product Showcase
As a platform focused on informing and engagement, we decided on 4 key features to roll out in v1.0.
Home Hub
Events
Discussions
Resources
Feature Showcase
Home Hub
Stay Connected in the palm of your Hands
Announcements
News
Highlights
A space where announcements greet the user with the latest pieces of information about their community, alerting events to join and resources to enrich their lives with.
Design Problem
Discovered that a large majority of prospective users were not used to using complex apps.
Design Action
Kept the design of the home screens simple; focusing on highlights and announcements
Events
Stay Engaged Wherever you may be
Tags
Time
Location
FIlters
An ecosystem of upcoming and past events bringing a sense of togetherness and awareness to the scattered MNO communities.
Features such as filters and tags help users narrow their searches to improve result relevance.
Design Problem
Awareness of events needed to be improved with transparency on eligibility and sign-up.
Design Action
Kept navigation and accessibility in mind, keeping filters colour-coded and CTAs clear.
Discussions
Discuss Hobbies, Discoveries and Find New Friends
Comment Boards
Topics
Media Support
An open moderated feature that opens the floors to any user who has a topic to discuss about.
Whether it is a serious topic about the upcoming changes to the community or something more laid back like the NBA finals, we designed this feature to be a space for anybody who just wants to have a good time.
Design Problem
Fostering engagement comes from the people and though discussion boards can facilitate that, there should also be a form of moderation.
Design Action
Designed a flexible discussion feature that implements an approval-based system; keeping discussions productive and engaging.
Resources
Combined Efforts & Communal Support
Clear Navigation
Tags
Media Support
Link Support
Open to all, the Resource tab consolidates numerous previously scattered resources into one source of truth.
From procedures on how to apply for grants/bursaries to getting financial aid, it’s the one spot that all the users can gain a sense of unity and community from.
Design Problem
MNO resources were scattered and difficult to navigate from the main website.
Design Action
Focused on building out a clear navigation and tagging system for each resource category, consolidating resources all in one place.
Branding & Identity
Heritage in Colour
I wanted to strike a balance between MNO's official branding as well as paying respect to the rich, colourful nature of the Métis arts. Using the flower beadwork as motifs, we curated a vivid but recognizable brand identity for our product.
Reflections & The Future of the MNO
From the beginning, building communities and helping people connect has always been at the forefront of my philosophy as a designer. That’s why I was excited to bring impact to a visible minority and design something truly special for them.
The insights from the usability workshops were crucial in ultimately shaping the overall design language of the product. As simple gestures and a refined navigation looked to reduce points of friction to the overall experience.
From a visual perspective, paying homage to the Métis culture through the use of cultural patterns and colours resonated with the MNO team; solidifying an everlasting extension of their culture in digital form.
To convey a sense of belonging in the palm of their hands was gratifying and was just proof that we could achieve more. The ability to bring together a community through creativity and product was an amazing learning experience and makes me hopeful for the future for the Métis people in Canada.
