Author ORCID Identifier

Khushnood Z. Naqshbandi: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2646-2372

Abstract

With the advent of digital technology, many individuals completely or partially transition to digital platforms for volunteering. Many of these platforms do not take volunteer needs, values and experiences into account in design. Additionally, many online experiences are different to face-to-face ones as volunteers find it challenging to relate to the beneficiaries or to express/feel gratitude. In this paper, we used generative methods and tools in two codesign workshops with volunteers in an educational program involving both online and physical modules. Based on findings relevant to the mode of volunteering, people, self and future desires, we identified four areas of design opportunities to foster relatedness and gratitude in online volunteering and reduce disparities between online and physical volunteering experiences. We contribute new directions for improving the design of digital volunteering platforms through personalised solutions that support gratitude, social bonding, better communication of shared experiences and goals, and community building.

Keywords

Prosocial; volunteering; generative tools; codesign

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Share

COinS
 
Aug 11th, 12:00 AM

Designing for Helpers: Identifying new design opportunities for digital volunteerism

With the advent of digital technology, many individuals completely or partially transition to digital platforms for volunteering. Many of these platforms do not take volunteer needs, values and experiences into account in design. Additionally, many online experiences are different to face-to-face ones as volunteers find it challenging to relate to the beneficiaries or to express/feel gratitude. In this paper, we used generative methods and tools in two codesign workshops with volunteers in an educational program involving both online and physical modules. Based on findings relevant to the mode of volunteering, people, self and future desires, we identified four areas of design opportunities to foster relatedness and gratitude in online volunteering and reduce disparities between online and physical volunteering experiences. We contribute new directions for improving the design of digital volunteering platforms through personalised solutions that support gratitude, social bonding, better communication of shared experiences and goals, and community building.

 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.