SOUP

Being a non-profit is a noble cause, but it cannot be easy to help when the offering is not communicated upfront. Here's how we helped an organization based in the Bay Area overcome that.

Project overview

Here's some quick context on this case study

I worked in a team of 4 alongside a community partner to create design solutions for their specific problem. The partner was SOUP. A non-profit based out of East Palo Alto, California.

Introduction

East Palo Alto is a neighborhood seeing economic hardship in comparison to its neighbors.
With housing and cost of living becoming increasingly unaffordable, SOUP aims to help existing homeowners build backyard homes to rent out to those in need and sustain themselves through the income.
They are, however, a new non-profit and are lacking in marketing and informative materials.

Context-East Palo Alto

Creative strategy
Brainstorming and conceptualizing the idea, as well as its execution.

Information Architecture and Content Strategy

Scoping through the data and writing the content, visualizing the flow of information, and executing the same.

Communication and collaboration
Served as a point of contact for the partner and ensured transparency in communication channels.

Storytelling
Strategizing the presentation flow to speak about the project engagingly and concisely.

Contributions

Creating materials to help SOUP communicate its objectives and help homeowners make informed decisions.

Solution

Here's some quick context on this case study

Project Dynamics

Team

Four designers- I worked on this particular feature

Timeline

1-year project. We started the project pre-pandemic, and it spanned the entire pandemic

1. Overview

In the Bay Area, there is a serious problem of affordable housing, where even those making six figures struggle.
But what about those who are not even making that?
For instance, in East Palo Alto, with an Average Median Income under $65,000
As opposed to San Mateo County $95,000
The average rent (1 bedroom) $2300

The disparity in incomes makes this problem very real in East Palo Alto.

2. The homeowner

Let’s tell you the story of Penelope, a homeowner who lived all her life in East Palo Alto.
With rising costs in the Bay Area, she has some serious concerns.

3. The renter

On the other side of town lived Sandra, a teacher in the school district.
Before Covid, she commuted to work daily and had always wanted to live near her workplace, but at her salary, that was out of the question.

4. The value proposition

In an ideal scenario, SOUP can help homeowners like Penelope as well as renters like Sandra.
How? By providing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU). Put simply, backyard homes!
These units aim to provide households with additional income through earned rent and serve as an affordable housing option for those in need.
Once the unit is built, it can be leased out at an 80% market rate, making it a win-win for homeowners like Penelope, who can get a supplemental income, and help renters like Sandra find an affordable space to live.
As a non-profit, SOUP provides free project management services to low-income homeowners for building an ADU.

5. The research phase

After visiting East Palo Alto and conducting a research study involving over 12 interviews and 75 survey participants, our research concludes that homeowners like Penelope have the following genuine concerns when it comes to building a backyard home.

A. The homeowner experience

Let's have a look at the average homeowner, Penelope. Her journey to build an ADU is somewhat like this..

As she browses online, she finds that the information she gets from multiple sources is very overwhelming.

However, a friend who works with local non-profit EPACANDO tells her about SOUP, and she is hopeful when she hears about it for the first time.

However, after reviewing the website and details, she is unsure if the service is feasible at her income level.

Since SOUP is relatively new in the area, she doesn’t know how well SOUP is connected with East Palo Alto.

She also has other concerns regarding finding a reliable contractor, which leaves her to question if she can afford to build a backyard home.

6. Opportunity Statement

So how might homeowners like Penelope make more informed decisions to go ahead with building an ADU in their backyard?

7. Website Re-design

We proposed and redesigned the website with more meaningful content to keep audiences informed and engaged, and a financial calculator that gives homeowners an idea of their cost and financial commitment, upfront.
Redesigning the website is more than a first thought, easy-peasy solution.
It would only make better sense when we observe the interaction from Penelope's perspective.

B.1 Website Design Decisions

On the homepage, she gets a sense of what to expect; she can see what the unit looks like. There's an immediate understanding of what the website is about.

The last section is one of Financial Incentive. Since SOUP is a non-profit, it is subject to certain grants. Here's where that information would reside. The CTA will take her to the calculator.

Here we wish to convey that SOUP is accessible to diverse homeowners.

Since Penelope aims to rent the unit she may be able to relate to at least to one of these stories.

Even though most visitors may be familiar with the term backyard homes, the exact term ADU may be lesser-known. Hence, it is essential to give clear information

Below is the overview of the detailed process.

This will give her a better idea of what it takes to build and lease a unit.

Here we aim to provide an overview of SOUP's services. Even if a homeowner wants to glance through this section, they should leave with an idea of how SOUP can help.

Even though most visitors may be familiar with the term backyard homes, the exact term ADU may be lesser-known. Hence, it is essential to give clear information

Since financing is the most important criterion for most people, we introduced the concept of the calculator upfront. Penelope can click here if she wishes or scroll below.

C. Calculator Integration

This demo shows how the calculator will function on Soup’s website. By typing your home address, you’ll get the essential information about your lot.

Next, it tells you what ADU projects the homeowner is eligible for, with individual unit specifications.

The calculator can generate an estimate of ADU project expenses. All the breakdown costs are listed as well. The same report can be downloaded and saved as a PDF.
Overall, the property evaluation calculator aims to tell homeowners upfront about their financial commitment.

D. Aftermath and sustenence

After a detailed discussion with SOUP, Penelope finally got started with building a brand new ADU.

As the work begins she began to think of leasing out.

D.1 The Renter 1/3

You’re probably wondering, what happened to Sandra,

A few weeks ago, she was in the neighborhood, and she saw this flyer at the EPACANDO office and thought that the building is pretty and the deal sounds really good

The Renter 2/3

Upon further inquiries, she discovered that the rent seemed reasonable.

The Renter 3/3

Soon after, she contacted Penelope, and Penelope showed Sandra around the ADU.

Things got moving from there onward, and within a few months, Sandra moved into Penelope’s brand-new unit.

Seamlessness

It’s this level of seamlessness in the process that we aspire to achieve. Through the websites, financial calculator, and printed materials such as the flyer, we hope to make housing solutions more accessible.

Seamlessness

We hope that our project and solutions can be hopeful to homeowners like Penelope, renters like Sandra, and more communities like East Palo Alto.

Challenges learnings and next steps

01

At each phase of the project, we encountered new challenges.

During the time we spent working together, we experienced the end-to-end process of launching a product.

02

Research phase

Finding homeowners willing to talk to us

Visiting ready units in East Palo Alto

User testing on Figma

Solution phase

Finding the right solution

Validating the solution with the client and other stakeholders

03

Most of us didn't come with a real estate background, and all of us were international students.

To build empathy with the target demographic, user research was essential, and both quantitative and qualitative research helped us tremendously.

04

We also had to check ourselves from getting over tempted by promising glamorous solutions.

However, we stuck to more rational solutions suitable for new age non-profit.

05

Overall, the project was successful when presented to the client, and we are pleased that we were able to navigate the challenges and deliver a compelling product.

A reasonable conclusion of why this interface makes sense.