Reimagining cashless collections

Background & Challenge

The ongoing shift towards a cashless society in the UK has left many charities relying on cash donations struggling. Dundee Refugee Support, a volunteer-run charity, needed an innovative way to connect with supporters and accept donations in the changing landscape. Their main challenges included a lack of presence on the high street and limited resources for fundraising efforts.

My Role & Process

As the Product designer, I carried out the entire project from discovery to launch, including:

Requirements gathering: I conducted meetings with Dundee Refugee Support board members to understand their operations and gather valuable insights that informed the project goals.

Discovery: I engaged in interviews, surveys, and secondary research to identify key insights into people's perceptions of non-profit organisations, their motivations for charitable giving, and the importance of placing the solution in a public setting.

Concept ideation: I designed and ran co-creation sessions to brainstorm ideas around the problem statements created from the research. Developing the concepts, I designed an interactive poster that would collect contactless donations and allow for supporters to take away more information about their campaign.

Prototyping: I developed a fully working prototype of the interactive poster that was showcased at the New Designers exhibition in London, where it received positive feedback.

Exploration of next steps: I leveraged contacts from the exhibition to explore potential opportunities for further development and implementation of the project.

Solution & Impact

I designed an interactive poster that collects contactless donations, allowing Dundee Refugee Support to occupy a place on the high street and open a new channel for donations and connection. The solution not only addressed the challenges faced by the charity but also provided an engaging and emotionally resonant user experience.

By creating a story that users could relate to and sympathise with, I was able to foster a more meaningful connection between the charity and its supporters. The project demonstrated the potential of innovative, human-centred design solutions to address real-world challenges faced by charities in a rapidly changing environment.

If you're interested in learning more about this project or would like to discuss similar opportunities, please get in touch!