Designing a Mobile & Desktop System to Help LA Track Homelessness During COVID
Collaborated on the end-to-end design of a mobile and desktop platform that enabled outreach teams to collect real-time health and wellness data from unhoused individuals - helping Los Angeles deploy resources more effectively during the pandemic.
UX/UI Designer & Product Manager
2020-2021
Healthcare
Wireframes
UI Design
User Flows
Prototypes
Dev Handoff
Feature Management
Challenge
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, stay-at-home orders left the homeless community in Los Angeles particularly vulnerable. With limited shelter, healthcare, or access to digital tools, the question arose:
How do we track the spread of the virus among unhoused populations - and respond quickly?
Housing authorities needed a way to collect health and housing data in the field and visualize risk areas across the city to prioritize care.
The Solution
The Solution
Our team designed a two-part solution:
A mobile app for outreach teams to survey individuals experiencing homelessness - collecting data on symptoms, shelter access, and general well-being.
A desktop dashboard that visualized virus hotspots throughout Los Angeles - helping leadership coordinate response efforts and allocate resources to the most at-risk regions.
Mobile App for Outreach Workers
Designed for ease of use in the field (previously pen and paper)
Survey workers could search for encampments, record symptoms, and update each client’s location or health status
A leaderboard feature was added post-MVP to encourage survey completion and engagement
Desktop Data Dashboard
Real-time data from the field fed into a visual system showing outbreak severity by region
Service providers could drill down into neighborhoods to view COVID test data, shelter status, or specific encampment conditions
Enabled more precise, data-driven deployment of resources
Impact
Over 36,000 surveys were conducted using the mobile app to date.
The platform empowered service providers to act quickly and thoughtfully - turning scattered, manual efforts into a coordinated response network. The ability to visualize virus hotspots gave leadership unprecedented clarity into where and how to help most effectively.