UX/UI & Product Designer - Care Partners #019

About ImpactKits

The ImpactKits Project is a student-led community service initiative working to make compassion actionable by mobilizing communities to collect essential supplies, assemble care kits, and support individuals and families facing hardship throughout Orange County.

We are developing ImpactKits Care Partners, a community benefits program intended to connect approved ImpactKits members with participating local businesses and community organizations.

Participating businesses will be able to provide benefits of their choosing, such as discounts, free items, or other forms of support. Members will be able to view available benefits and use a simple verification process when redeeming them.

The first version of Care Partners is being developed as a responsive web application with three primary user groups:

Members, people approved to participate in Care Partners.

Businesses/Partners, organizations offering benefits.

ImpactKits Administrators, people responsible for reviewing applications, managing accounts and offers, and overseeing the program.

About the role

We are looking for a UX/UI & Product volunteer who can help make Care Partners understandable, accessible, and easy to use.

This role goes beyond visual design. You will help the project team think through how people actually move through the system, where users may become confused, what information they need, and how the application can remain simple as features are added.

You will work closely with the Care Partners product/vision lead and technical volunteers.

Responsibilities

You may be responsible for:

• Reviewing the existing Care Partners MVP from a user-experience perspective.
• Designing and improving member account and benefit-discovery experiences.
• Designing clear member verification and redemption flows.
• Improving business/partner application and account-management experiences.
• Improving administrator workflows.
• Creating wireframes, user flows, mockups, prototypes, and interface designs.
• Establishing consistent design patterns across the application.
• Reviewing existing pages and identifying confusing or unnecessary elements.
• Considering accessibility and mobile usability throughout the design process.
• Helping determine how information should be organized and presented.
• Conducting lightweight usability testing when appropriate.
• Gathering and organizing feedback from members, businesses, and project volunteers.
• Translating user feedback into practical product improvements.
• Working directly with developers to ensure proposed designs are technically realistic.
• Helping prioritize new features based on actual user needs.
• Identifying features that should not be added yet because they would unnecessarily complicate the MVP.
• Reviewing new functionality before release from a usability perspective.
• Helping maintain basic product/design documentation for future volunteers.

Qualifications

We are particularly interested in applicants with experience in:

• UX/UI design
• Product design
• Web design
• User research
• Information architecture
• User flows
• Responsive/mobile-first design
• Figma or similar design tools
• Accessibility and inclusive design
• Usability testing

Experience designing applications with multiple user roles, such as member portals, marketplaces, administrative dashboards, or community platforms, is especially helpful.

Experience with nonprofit, civic, education, or community-focused projects is a plus but is not required.

What we're looking for

The ideal volunteer:

• Thinks about the user's needs before the interface.
• Can simplify complicated processes.
• Is comfortable designing for different types of users.
• Can explain design decisions clearly.
• Is willing to work within technical and financial constraints.
• Understands that a good MVP does not need every possible feature.
• Can collaborate effectively with developers and nontechnical volunteers.
• Is comfortable receiving feedback and revising designs.
• Can work independently while communicating consistently with the project team.

Technology and resource constraints

ImpactKits currently has no dedicated technology budget for Care Partners.

Design recommendations should therefore take into account the project's actual development constraints. We are not looking to create elaborate designs that require expensive software, complex infrastructure, or features that cannot realistically be maintained by a volunteer team.

The initial application is intended to be a responsive web application. Native mobile applications and other major expansions may be considered later if the pilot demonstrates that they are necessary.

Collaboration

The Care Partners product/vision lead will provide the overall program direction and requirements. The UX/UI & Product volunteer will help turn those requirements into practical user experiences.

The technical development team will be responsible for implementation, while the ImpactKits Executive Leadership Team will provide organizational direction and major approvals.

This is a collaborative volunteer project, but we do not currently have a separate UX department or product-management department. The volunteer should therefore be comfortable taking ownership of their area of the project.

Time commitment

6–10 hours per week.

This is intended to be a long-term volunteer role. We understand that volunteers have other commitments, but we ask applicants to maintain a reasonably consistent weekly contribution.

What you will gain

This role provides an opportunity to:

• Work on a real nonprofit digital product.
• Design for multiple user groups.
• Build practical UX/product experience.
• Work alongside volunteer developers and nonprofit leadership.
• See designs move from concept to a functioning application.
• Contribute directly to a community-focused initiative.

How to apply

Please provide examples of relevant UX/UI or product work. This can include a portfolio, case study, website, application, prototype, or other project.

Please explain what your specific contribution was to the work you submit.