RefVoice from the user’s point of view
We all have ideas that seem appealing in the beginning, but for some reason we luck in drawing the audience’s attention. The reason is quite simple actually: we do not ask them. Since our project is in its core an informative web platform, viewers are of high importance for its sustainability. Therefore we conducted a survey through interviews with our first users. We asked eight people, three of them were refugees and part of our team and the rest followers of the RefVoice page, and this is what we found out:
Name
To begin with the name of the site, it is actually quite catchy. When we asked our users what content they would expect to see in a website called RefVoice, most of them answered something about refugees. “I expect to see how refugees see our country and the initiatives made for their integration.” answered one of our users. Others focused on the means we could employ to communicate our information: “Videos, Podcast, Interviews and regular updates about the things going on to help the refugees.” Another user replied giving a double meaning to “Ref”: “The name could be a little tricky at first. Something about refugees probably or something about a referendum. A lot of them seems to happen these days around the world.”
Description
After the name we discussed about the short description: “RefVoice is an orchestrated effort, not only to help refugees, but also acknowledge them as fellow humans.” asking our users whether they would click “learn more” and why. Only two of them said that they wouldn’t be interested. Most of our users were satisfied with the description. One of them actually said “Most definitely yes. Because “acknowledging refugees as fellow humans” must be the core of every effort to help them. Also, this phrase and the way it is put together, gives you a positive first impression of the owners of the site and their professionalism”.
Photography
Next topic was photography. We wanted to see if people can see photography as a bridge between the cultures of the locals and the refugees’. “Image can hold a special kind of power sometimes. The kind of power that speaks to the heart of people and moves them. But also can be a tool of deception. In a word, photography can tell the story of refugees but it is in the hand of the storyteller (photographer) to be a story that promote refugees’ integration and not work in the opposite direction.” Apart from this answer the majority of our users focused on the trust issue, pointing out the advantage not only of reading a story, but also being able to see it. Moreover one user suggested hearing the refugees’ voices, rather than just an image. Another user preferred a written story than a picture. Generally speaking everyone said that photography is a good way to promote integration. Of course this is just one step in the integration ladder and more effort needs to be put, not only in art, but also in other fields.
Formation
Last but not least was the formation of the site. When our users were asked if our page is user-friendly and whether they would prefer it to have an app-form, they all agreed that an application is always better. “I think that RefVoice is as user-friendly as a facebook page be. An app form, especially if it is android compatible, could be useful and also help the whole idea spread faster”.
So our users appear to be satisfied for the time being, however some issues did come up from the survey. Surely we keep the name and the description. Maybe the last should be altered slightly in order to be more specific. Also photography is a good start, but we should consider adding sound and text at some point. Finally we could find a developer and turn RefVoice into an app. All in all understanding how our users think was really helpful.
