Automating Volunteer Management to Boost Operational Efficiency
Community Project • 4 min read
My Role
Lead UX Designer
Overview
Right now, signing up as a volunteer at BC Brain Wellness Program feels like a scavenger hunt—forms in one place, schedules in another, and a lot of back-and-forth emails just to get started. It’s messy, slow, and frustrating for both volunteers and organizers. We wanted to change that. This project is all about bringing everything together into one simple, seamless system. No more lost documents, no more confusion—just a smooth, welcoming experience from the start. Because volunteering should be about helping people, not struggling with paperwork.
Timeline
Sep 2024 - Apr 2025
Team
1 Tech Lead, 10 Developers, 3 Designers
Tools
Figma
Explore More
A Quick Overview
Background
Every week, volunteers help instructors run wellness classes and keep things going 🧘🏻
These classes are part of the BC Brain Wellness Program, which offers free programs focused on movement, mindfulness, and connection. It’s a small team doing a lot, and volunteers are a big part of making it all work.
Problem
Everything was everywhere, and nothing talked to each other 🧩
Volunteers had to fill out forms, check five different platforms, dig through old emails, and track hours on their own. There were Zoom links in one folder, schedules in another, and reminders that never came. On the admin side, every class assignment was matched by hand. If someone dropped a shift, the whole schedule had to be reshuffled. It was slow, stressful, and hard to keep up with.
Target Audience
We built this for the people quietly holding it all together 👫
Our focus was on two groups. First, the volunteers: mostly students with packed schedules, trying to help out. They wanted something that just worked: show them where to go, what to do, and who they’re working with. Then the admins: a small team handling a big job. They needed a way to see the big picture, assign people quickly, and know when something needed attention.
Goal
Take care of the boring stuff, so people can focus on what matters 🧹
We wanted to bring everything into one place. A dashboard for volunteers where they could see their shifts, get reminders, and check in. A panel for admins where they could match people to classes, track attendance, and handle changes without digging through 20 tabs. Our goal was to save hours of time, cut down on missed shifts, and just make things simpler for everyone.
Solution
So we bring to you...
a smarter system for volunteer management
01
Volunteer Dashboard
Everything you need in one place.
Volunteers can see their upcoming classes, who they’re working with, Zoom links, and any class details they need to know. They can check in, log their hours, and request shift coverage — all from one place, without needing to jump between emails, forms, and spreadsheets.
02
Admin Dashboard
From hours of sorting to just one click away.
Admins no longer need to manually match volunteers to classes. The system handles it, automatically pairing volunteers based on their availability and preferences. From there, admins can track performance, spot missed shifts, and manage changes.
The Team That Made It Happen
34,323 Lines of Code • 208 Wireframes • 102 PRs Merged • 41 Components • 1 Solution 🚀
A huge shoutout to my fellow teammates 🤩
Personal Reflection
Looking Back...
This was one of the most rewarding projects I’ve worked on. I got to design something that actually helped people in their day-to-day. Talking to volunteers and staff of the BC Brain Wellness Program made it clear how messy and tiring their old system was. Being able to simplify that, even just a little, felt meaningful. It also reminded me that good design is clear, thoughtful, and respectful of the people using it.
