CHURCHED
PROCESS SITE
01_Design Breif
PROBLEM
Christians are having difficulty finding a church that fits their needs
BACKGROUND
A whopping 70.6% of Americans claim themselves as Christians yet many struggles finding themselves churches to attend. Many Christians have a hard time finding churches when they move to new areas, travel or just want to branch out to different locations & people.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Whether you are 16 and really love attending youth programs at church or 87 and go to hear the word of God this app will help you find a church that is within your denomination and convenient for you.
SOLUTIONS
Finding a way to introduce Christians to new churches close and convenient to connect like-minded people with each other to create the optimal church experiences.
02_Secondary Research
"Sundays were my busy day and when I stopped making time for church my relationship with God grew more distant"
Many people find their biggest struggle with having a relationship with God making it to church. In our modern society, Sundays are no longer considered the Lords day of rest. It actually has become peoples most eventful days of the week. "Not having time" shouldn't be getting in the way of your relationship with God, you can still worship you might just need to find a church close by.
"I try churches my friends recommend and I have been looking for years and haven't found the right fit for my family and I"
Taking the first steps to educate yourself will help you be better prepared to decide which church fits you and your personal faith best. Once you have decided you want to try a new denomination people struggle with locating a church that is intriguing but also conveniently close so you can maintain a healthy attendance.
"I move around every 6 months for my job and consider myself strong in my faith. I always struggle figuring out what to look for when finding a new church"
Some people have extremely mobile life stlyes weather they move around a lot or even travel every weekend for business. This can make it hard to attend worship but there are key characteristics to look for when researching which churches to go to.
03_Competitive Audit
Trip Advisor is similar to the "Churched" in a way that when you are traveling, you would use the app to be looking for something because you are unfamiliar with the area.
Yelp is similar to "Churched" because you can view ratings of places to see if they have a good reputation. You also can view photos of the place and read about features.
Airbnb is similar to "Churched" because you use this app when you travel or are looking for a new place to "try out". You can view photos and see other peoples ratings and reviews.
04_User Research
I developed five main questions to discuss with my interviewees with some subtopic questions to learn more about my users and what they like and are looking for. here is a link to the full in-depth interview script.
MAIN QUESTIONS
1 _ How was your last experience when you were trying to find something?
2 _ What are some of your preferred aspects that you look forward to at church?
_ What could have made this process easier?
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_How do they affect the rest of your week?
_How do you feel when you do not get to experience these things?
3 _ What are traits in a church that are most important to you?
4 _ How would you go about finding a church that encompasses all of these characteristics?
_ Why do these things matter to you?
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_Would you sacrifice some of the traits you stated earlier to find a church that is convenient?
5 _ What keeps you from attending church every Sunday?
_Why are these things taking precedence over going to church?
The Users
1_ The last time she was trying to find something was directions to Lands End, she used google maps and had a positive experience.
2_ Her favorite thing about attending church is hearing the service and understanding way to be a better human and how to apply them to everyday life
3_ What she looks for most in a church is people that are within her age group (early 20s) that she could see herself potentially connecting with because of common interests on top of having faith in common.
4_ When she first moved to San Francisco she went through the process of finding a church by first doing some internet research, then she emailed about 10 churches that seemed to catch her interest to see what they had to say. Then after taking a few months attending each that caught her interest she finally found one to settle down at to call her home church
5_ Sometimes she misses a Sunday because of homework or just needing a day to sleep in. She doesn't believe these are above her religion its just how it works out with her crazy schedule sometimes.
Alana Lucas
Age 21
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1_ The last time she was trying to find something was her friends lost phone when they were out at a bar. They ended up using find my friends
2_ Her favorite thing about church is the atmosphere she loves being around people who radiate God
3_ What she looks for most in a church is her connection with the people and the messages from service these are what help keep her engaged.
4_ To find a new church she would ask friends then go through the process of trying out multiple churches until she finds one that she is comfortable with.
5_ Some of her reasons for missing church are her college soccer team or being out too late the night before and needing to catch up on sleep on her only off day.
Katri Gifford
Age 21
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Tate Sprague
Age 21
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1_ The last time he tried to find something big was what he wanted to major in for college. After a lot of searching, he stumbled upon multi media communications and described it as "Love at first sight"
2_ His favorite thing about going to church is all the positive vibes, the sense of community and all of the genuine people there make it a fun place to be for Tate.
3_ What he looks for most in a church is a good pastor, someone who is relatable and makes things easy to understand because not all of the things in the Bible are easy to understand.
4_ He considers himself a picky person so he goes around and attends multiple churches but wont stick with them unless he loves them and they fit his needs.
5_ He doesn't think he attends church as often as he should but often is missing to catch up on homework or has plans with a friend. He doesn't believe these are a priority over his religion but sometimes it seems that way.
1_ The last time she was trying to find something she was looking for specific veggies at the grocery store and they did not have what she needed for the recipe so she drove to a different grocery store.
2_ Her favorite thing about attending church is worship time. She loves singing with others and hearing how loud all the voices are harmonizing together. She enjoys imagining if God could hear the worship songs and how he would feel if he hears them.
3_ What she looks for most in a church is humbleness. What she meant by this is she needs to trust who she is listening to and the people that are delivering the service. Them showing their vulnerabilities and being honest helps her connect rather than a person who is just trying to display themselves and the church as above others.
4_ To find a new church to attend she would physically attending services or checking out online services to see if these churches have the vibe she is searching for.
5_ Sometimes she misses a Sunday because she does her travelling on the weekends. She works 9-5 during the week and the weekends are her free time to plan things with family and friends.
Olivia Wirz
Age 23
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Makayla Godden
Age 22
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1_ The last time she was trying to find something she was trying to find her headphones and wasn't looking for them as hard as she should have and found them in her shorts pocket several days later. She said it was the best feeling ever.
2_ Her favorite thing about attending church is to restart her week. She finds attending church helps her overcome her internal battles.
3_ What she looks for most in a church is the community and the people that are there. She likes when people are fully themselves by being honest people. She needs to respect the pastor and the way he delivers the message.
4_ To find a new church to attend Makayla would ask around and use word of mouth.
5_ Sometimes she misses a Sunday because she needs to catch up on sleep from being out late the night before at work.
1_ The last time he tried to find something was his phone after cross country practice, It did not go well for him he couldn't find it for an hour.
2_ His favorite thing about going to church is the free donuts
3_ What he looks for most in a church is one with "modern" services that relate the scripture to present day
4_ He attends whichever church his parents recommended to him.
5_ He doesn't think he attends church as often as he should but misses because he has homework or work outs for cross country. He believes these are equal priorities to his religion.
Garrett Mitchell
Age 20
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Silvia Fernstrom
Age 20
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1_ The last time she tried to find something was her portable phone charger. She was in a rush to get somewhere and losing this item was stressful for her until she finally located it.
2_ His favorite thing about going to church is the music especially when there are live bands there.
3_ What he looks for most in a church is one with people around her age there so she feels like she can connect more with her church's community.
4_ To find a church she will reach out to friends in the area and ask around for their recommendations.
5_ She doesn't attend chruch as much as she would like to because she is in 5 college classes, works an internship and just runs out of time.
05_Research Insights
COMMON THEMES
While overviewing the interviews I conducted I started finding some common themes, they are listed below.
_ People all have developed their own ways to find churches because there is not a well known effective way to do so.
_ Trust is a huge factor when finding a church people have to trust the opinion of one church member.
_ Worship is a big deal to most, and some churches do not do it nearly as much as others.
There are many more if you would like to see the common themes I developed via my affinity map below
PERSONA
Lexi Larson
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23 year old female
_Enjoys spending time with like-minded friends on the weekends.
_Works for a non-profit called feed my starving children based in the midwest
_ Enjoys the Christian rock station on the radio.
_ Likes to attend church on Saturdays because Sundays are her busy days.
_ Recently moved to a new state.
_ Aspires to make a difference in 3rd world countries through her work with Feed My Starving Children and her mission trips she takes once a year.
_ Likes thinks clean-cut and concise when planning her days.
_ Struggles with branching out and making new friends.
06_Design Principles
EASY BREEZY
When searching for things the less hassle the better the experience. No unnecessary steps.
NO MR.MCJUDGEY
People are more themselves when they feel safe and accepted. An app that provides accurate feedback about churches with a review section where you can write a review but not comment on others.
ALL ARE WELCOME
Be useful to a wide variety of users across multiple denominations, not just for a small subgroup.
GET TO IT
Users are engaging from the start. They are instantly working through the interface to solve their problem with the apps solution.
MORALS AND INTEGRITY
An app that does just what it says it will do, find a church that fits their needs. Nothing more and nothing less.
07_User Journey
TWO USER PERSONAS
This app will have two different sides of users on that is searching for the church on the app and the church represenatives that will be responding to the user 1's questions in the messaging section.
CHURCH SEEKER
CHURCH REPRESENATIVE
08_User Needs
User needs are actions that a user must take while interacting with a system (i.e., app) to complete a task. The app must suffice them for the user to achieve the right outcome. User needs are learned through research.
09_ Features
MoSCoW IDEAS
Must have
Directions based on location
Church profiles
Preference based search
Rating capabilities
Service times
Features of the church
Should have
Messages
Saved / favorited churches
Link to individual church websites
Could have
Sharing to social media
Churches attended
"Following" capabilities
Won't have
Comments on reviews
Online services
Online marketplace
Online offerings (donations)
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10_ Sections, Features & Actions
FEATURES
ACTIONS
CHURCH PROFILE
MESSAGING
_Ask a specific church's representative a question you have about their church
_As a representative you have a list of all your current conversations with users
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Messaging with church represnatives
_Church profile
_Directions
_Service times
_Community board​ button
_Church denomination
ACTIONS
FEATURES
FEATURES
ACTIONS
LIKES
Churches that you have liked
_Visit the liked churches profiles
_Change your location setting
_Change denomination filter
Logout
HOME
Churches near you
_Visit the church's profile displayed on the churches near you slider
_View the star rating of the church
_View a preview image of the church
_Swipe through churches that have been selected based on your current location and the denomination you identified when you registered.
11_ Nav Structure
NAVIGATION FLOW / STRUCTURE
12_ Mobile Pattern Audit
HOME
SEARCH
CHURCH PROFILES
FAVORITES
MESSAGES
13_ Low Fidelity Sketches
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14_ High Fidelity Sketches
PAPER PROTOTYPE DIRECTION 1
While reviewing these paper prototype screens with three potential users that fit my persona I learned a few things
_ I need a back button
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_ I should have a flow for the church representative side of the app
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_The structure is familiar so I should keep things with traditional placement
USER 1 DIRECTION 1
PAPER PROTOTYPE DIRECTION 2
While reviewing these paper prototype screens with three potential users that fit my persona I learned a few things
_ The back button instead of just a hamburger menu made it easier to navigate
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_ Having a location/map screen helps a lot considering this app is to help find the church itself as well as connect users with new churches
_The wheel adds a fun game aspect to it.
USER 1 DIRECTION 2
16_ Clickable Wireframe Prototype
While doing a heuristic evaluation with 3 users within my persona I learned 3 major things 1_ I need to implement more "Prep" screens like before you log out and such 2_ I should have the google maps screen linked in so they know they are truly being taken to a directions page 3_ watch the negative type facing it might be straining to read all the time.
COMPONENTS
17_ Desgin Directions
I worked to develop three different feelings and design concepts for this app. Each has a separate name, icon, and design elements.