MoneyDay
MoneyDay is a mobile app for applying for short-term loans in just a few minutes.
CareNearby
An app that connects volunteers with older people who need care and companionship. Volunteers can find visits, sign up, and confirm when they’re completed.
You’ve arrived25 Stepnaya St · V. Ivanchenko
+10
You’ve earned 10 pointsFor your visit to V. Ivanchenko
Role
Product designersole designer on the teamTimeline and team
1 month to launcha team of 402 · Context
A volunteer program run through Telegram
Care Nearby is a GoTov.org program where volunteers visit older people at home.
Everything happened manually in Telegram: assigning visits, collecting reports, confirming visits, and awarding points.
The task
Bring the entire volunteer journey into one iOS and Android app:
- find a visit
- take it
- do it
- report
- get the points
CoordinatorWho can take Thursday’s visit?
VolunteerMe! DM me the address
CoordinatorDon’t forget to send photos after the visit
VolunteerDid last week’s points come through?
CoordinatorTuesday’s report hasn’t arrived yet
- 1find a visit
- 2take it
- 3do it
- 4report
- 5get the points
Programme chatcoordinator and 50 volunteers
CCoordinatorWho can take Thursday’s visit?
VVolunteerMe! DM me the address
CCoordinatorDon’t forget to send photos after the visit
VVolunteerDid last week’s points come through?
CCoordinatorTuesday’s report hasn’t arrived yet
All of this now lives in one app →
Here's why we decided against a bot and how we removed the coordinator from routine tasks.
03 · My role & team
Product designer
- Research
- UX
- UI
- Prototyping
- Design System
- Design Review
I was the sole designer, handling research, design, developer handoff, and design reviews. The PM managed development and priorities.
1designer for the whole product
6stages I ownedresearch to review
2sides of the processvolunteers and coordinators
04 · Problem
The problem was friction, not motivation
Volunteers wanted to help. But getting from accepting a visit to completing it involved too much manual work.
01
Assignments got lost
Visits got lost in Telegram chats, and finding the details meant digging through messages.
02
Reports were forgotten
There was no standard format. Everyone submitted photos and results differently.
03
The coordinator handled everything manually
Reviewed reports, confirmed visits, and awarded points.
05 · Research
Two sides of one process
I interviewed volunteers and coordinators. Their complaints differed, but the root cause was the same: everything went through the coordinator.
01
One bottleneck for both sides
Volunteers waited for coordinator replies, and coordinators waited for reports. A delay on either side held up both.
02
Remove the middleman, don’t speed up the chat
The goal was to automate visits, reports, and points so they no longer needed a coordinator.
Why not a Telegram bot?
A bot seemed like the obvious choice, but we ruled it out. It limited what we could do with maps, structured reports, and gamification.
It would also keep the product dependent on a third-party platform.
06 · Jobs to Be Done
Freedom for volunteers. Control for coordinators.
Volunteer
I want to take a visit when it suits me, without clearing it with anyone, and help right away.
Coordinator
I want to know the visit will happen, without manual confirmations.
Volunteers and coordinators need different things. One wants freedom, the other needs control.
Here's how we made both work together.
07 · Hypothesis
Take the coordinator out of the routine, not speed up the chat
H1confirmed
Ifvolunteers pick visits on the map and submit reports through a ready-made form, while push notifications remind them to submit reports, attach photos, or finish drafts
Thenvolunteering-related support requests will drop noticeably
Becauselost chats, forgotten reports, and waiting for coordinator replies will disappear
−70%
volunteering-related support requests, with only complaints remaining
08 · Double trust
Two independent signals instead of one rating
Age and gender don't tell us how reliable a volunteer is. We based trust on actual behavior and feedback from the people they visit.
01
Completing visits
Complete the visits you accept, and there are no restrictions. Multiple missed visits → temporary suspension.
02
Complaints from the people visited
A separate signal, independent of attendance. Repeated violations → permanent suspension.
Punctuality ≠ respectful behavior. That's why we tracked them separately.
09 · Volunteer journey
Once approved, volunteers manage everything themselves
Volunteers apply through the main portal. A coordinator approves them once. After that, each visit needs no further approval.
- Open the app
- Find a visit
- Take it
- Do it
- Report
- Get the points
Reliability is tracked in the background. Volunteers never see a rating.
10 · Solution
Five solutions to replace manual coordination
01
Fast sign-in
Phone, email, VK ID, Yandex, Sber ID, or T-ID.
02
Visits on the map
See nearby visits. Pick one → open it → take it on. No approval needed.
03
A structured report
Predefined options, toggles, and photos instead of free-form messages.
04
Automatic points
Submit a report → complete the visit → earn points.
05
Push reminders
Reminders for available and accepted visits.
11 · Sign-in & registration
Phone first: it’s also the contact for the visit
Volunteers can sign in with a phone, email, or in one tap with VK ID, Yandex, Sber ID, or T-ID. Phone with an SMS code comes first: volunteers visit older people at home, so their number has to be verified.
01
Why it is built this way
The coordinator and the person being visited need a number that truly belongs to the volunteer. SMS sign-in verifies it right away, with no extra step. VK ID, Yandex, Sber ID, and T-ID are faster but don’t always share a verified phone, so they sit alongside as alternatives.
02
What it gave
Phone sign-in gives a verified number for contact before the visit right away. One-tap sign-in with ID services stays for those who prefer it, and separate phone and email fields make autofill easier and cut errors.
Same approach for sign-up: less typing. Users select gender and community from predefined options, with other fields in a familiar order.
12 · Working with visits
The full visit flow: from selection to report
The home screen shows available, upcoming, completed, overdue, and canceled visits. Counters highlight what needs attention.
01
Everything important on one card
Date, time, person, address, and visit purpose are visible at a glance. No need to open another screen to understand or accept the task.
02
A report with no free text
Predefined actions and photos replace messages. Volunteers report faster, and coordinators get consistent, structured data for every visit.
13 · Three-step booking
One decision at a time
I replaced one overloaded form with three booking steps: date → time → confirmation.
01
Why it is built this way
Volunteers make one decision per step. A progress indicator shows where they are and how much is left.
02
What it gave
The flow is easier to follow, with fewer choices on screen, clearer next steps, and less room for mistakes.
03
Visits can also be created manually
Volunteers can book an available visit or create their own. Just four required fields, with notifications to the person enabled by default.
14 · Design system
A design system for the entire app
I built the design system alongside the screens and ran design reviews to keep the implemented UI consistent with the designs.
01
Components
Buttons, cards, forms, navigation, and reusable patterns.
02
Tokens
Colors, typography, and spacing. Consistent rules across all screens.
03
Documentation
Component states, usage guidelines, and examples.
04
Prototypes
Animated prototypes show UI behavior. Clickable ones help align on flows and hand them off to developers.
15 · Result
The coordinator was no longer the middleman
Tasks that once required Telegram and a coordinator now happen directly in the app.
−70%
support requests about volunteering
Bitrix24 data from three months before and after launch · about 50 volunteers and 200 visits per month. Only complaints remained.
coordinator workload
01
A reason to complete reports
Points are awarded after a visit is completed, giving volunteers a clear incentive to submit their reports.
02
Reminders are now automatic
Push notifications replaced coordinator messages. They remind volunteers about upcoming visits, missing reports or photos, and unfinished reports.
03
The coordinator got back to core tasks
Instead of reviewing photos, confirming visits, and awarding points, the coordinator can focus on running the volunteer program.
Next project
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Have questions?
Get in touch
Open to full-time and contract work. Tell me about your product and the problem you're solving. I'll reply on Telegram, LinkedIn or by email.
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