Summary

Bridge is a mobile-first platform designed to help people experiencing housing insecurity connect to essential local resources, such as housing assistance, food banks, healthcare, and legal aid. This project centers on human-centered design, intentional research, and accessibility, while acknowledging the realities of inconsistent tech access and digital literacy among its user base.

Challenge

People facing housing insecurity often experience a fragmented and confusing landscape when trying to access critical services. Many rely on smartphones with limited data or seek help through libraries, shelters, or public agencies. However, inconsistent access to technology, language barriers, and trust concerns with official platforms frequently create further obstacles.

Approach

To ensure the design process was grounded in lived experience, I conducted mixed-method research:

• Semi-structured interviews with 2 individuals who had recent experience with housing insecurity.

• Conversations with 2 case workers from local shelters.

• Usability audits of existing nonprofit and government sites.

Key research themes included:

• Overwhelming websites with complex information

• Heavy reliance on word-of-mouth or social workers to navigate services.

• High levels of frustration due to eligibility confusion and unclear contact information.

Process

Design Principles

• Mobile-first: prioritizing performance on smartphones with low data usage

• Accessibility: supporting high contrast, large text, and text-to-speech

• Trustworthiness: displaying clearly verified, recently updated resources

• Indirect use: making sure case workers, family, or friends can use it to assist others

Key Features

• Category-based browsing for common needs like housing, food, and medical care

• Resource verification indicators (e.g., ‘Last verified on April 2025’)

• Printable versions of listings and downloadable PDFs for offline use

• Plain-language descriptions