An interactive humanitarian platform!

The Needs Map is a map-based digital demand and supply bridge based on in-kind transfers that directly connect those in need with those who want to help! — All without a third-party organization in-between!

The current platform lists all humanitarian needs of individuals and all the necessities for NGOs, public schools, cooperatives, voluntary groups, sustainability platforms, and community centers, while allowing other individuals and corporations to access the data and choose to help directly. It is an online platform that tackles poverty, social injustice, and socio-economic problems through non-monetary supply-to-demand contributions.

Help for the people, by the people.

We are proud to lead and finance the designing and developing a website that allows humanitarian aid exchange and scalability on a global level. We designed, developed, and launched the Needs Map in Turkey, providing roughly more than a million dollars in services. We gifted the platform to IDEMA in Turkey for managing the local operations. 

It drove our strategists, engineers, coders, and designers to go far and beyond the expected norm. From the start, we collected a great deal of data for months. As part of the process, we then re-strategized the entire user experience and user interference (UX and UI) and re-designed the website platform for the desktop and mobile devices. In addition to that, we added a new suite of features such as Security Upgrades, Social Media Connect, User Profiles, Feedback, Human-Centric Help Categories, Individual and Group Scheduling Capabilities, Project Management and Alert Systems.

Design

Design is a journey of discovery. I believe that the journey in creating a design of any user interface should include thorough research, flawless functionality and effortless usability and content; the key to conveying emotions.After assessing the previous design of Needs Map V1.0 website, our primary experiment was to revitalize the site by developing a much simpler platform for friendly users.

Responsive

The design has a purpose and that purpose must be responsive. The Needs Map V2.0 is designed with a responsive, modular and adaptive infrastructure. Not only the back-end of the site is capable of input and output mass data through the cloud, but the front-end has also been designed to display on a broad range of devices such as desktop computer, mobile, and tablet. Users have the freedom to access the Needs Map anywhere!

Color

Sometimes, all you need is a little splash of color and simplicity. Our first task for the color aspect of the Needs Map was to avoid the clutter and create a more unified aesthetic. The emphasis on rigid colors and more harmonious palette were made to help the users navigate smoothly without any frustration. Choosing the correct tone is crucial and essential in interface design. Common users are exposed to primary colors constantly, as a result, we decided to deviate from saturated hues by softening the tone. After utilizing our basic color theory knowledge and playing with different tonal variations, we decided to use blue, red, and green to accommodate the users’ psychological impact on decision making. Each color was selected for a specific reason. The soft red was chosen to alert the “needs” element of the Needs Map. The mint green was chosen to represent the “support” functions, which transcends a sense of safety and harmony. The light blue color was adopted to “resolve” needs” as it is the original brand color and indicates tranquility and calmness. As for the background, white and a subtle grey were utilized to put an emphasis on the main colors; blue, red, and green.

Iconography

The Needs Map V2.0 includes 18 “support” categories for users to choose from. Our goal was to develop universal icons which would be easier for the users. In alignment with our color scheme, these icons allowed us to create a visual system, further simplifying site navigation for users.

Giving is caring!

Needs Map brings transparency and visualizes street level data in terms of need and support. For local authorities; it is easy to see the needs in their own district and act accordingly. For companies, it is easier to implement CSR projects for any target group (women, children, etc) by locating the needs provided on the platform. 

Needs Map empowers people in need by letting them express their own needs and enables the supporters to help people in their neighborhood or in any location thus increasing solidarity and building trust amongst people. 

Needs Map brings people together to cover the needs around their community and makes good use of unused resources. 

We are proud!

After we have finished this significant project, we were honored by The Golden Spider Awards with a Gold Award, becoming the Category Winner of Social Responsibility Projects. The award ceremony’s main sponsor donated the entire proceeds to Needs Map to take care of the listed needs on our platform.

More to come!

We are proud to be a part of this initiative and created the Needs Map 2.0 and launched it entirely pro-bono.