Social housing CMS
Consolidating social housing workflows under one roof
2 PMs, 4 designers, 5 engineers
Product Design Lead
20 weeks
impact
Reduced client intake time from 40 → 20 minutes
Unified personal history, housing records, case notes, and identification documents
Enabled consistent client engagement, supporting sustainable personal growth
Context
How it all began
Los Angeles has one of the largest unhoused populations in the country, where individuals often struggle to navigate complex bureaucratic systems alongside educational and language barriers. Our client, Inner City Visions (ICV), works on the frontlines to help people regain stability through housing and support services.
However, their internal processes were fragmented and heavily manual, limiting their ability to consistently support clients. To address this, my team partnered with ICV’s staff and volunteers to design and build a cloud-based client management platform that streamlines workflows so they can focus on their clients.
TImeline
20 weeks, 3 teams, 1 product
Operating on a tight timeline, we adopted a lean, iterative approach with alternating cycles of testing and development. I led cross-functional coordination by maintaining transparent communication between design, engineering, and stakeholders while tracking deliverables in Notion to keep development aligned and on schedule.
Discover
In our 2-week research sprint, my team and I set out to first understand ICV's workflows and user stories, then identify their needs, pain points, and opportunities.
Methods
Competitive analysis
User interviews
Affinity diagramming
User journeys
Current Landscape
Client information lives across multiple systems
Paper files
Case managers refer to intake forms for client background and medical information
Dropbox
Managers write and save check-in case notes into Dropbox folders
Excel
A master spreadsheet tracks all client metadata
Competitive Analysis
Other products in the market
User interviews
Surfacing personal emotions and frustrations
I drafted an interview script including a mixture of think-alouds and quantitative questions to interview 4 staff members.
First of many stakeholder meetings!
Affinity Diagramming
Sorting and organizing interview insights
Through this exercise, we identified 3 core phases in ICV's client management process.
Takeaways:
Their touch points included a paper intake form, dropbox files for each client’s case notes, and an Excel database.
We needed to design responsive screens since ICV planned to conduct their on-site work on tablets
They measured their impact through number of check-ins and new clients in their quarter reports
User Journey
How to service an ICV client
After sorting our insights, we mapped client intake, check-in, and data analysis workflows, pinpointing key frustration zones and opportunities for improvement.
Takeaways
Pain points
Redundant forms
Forgetting check-ins
Manual analysis
Wants
Tablet-friendly screens
Flexible time filters
Ideate
After conducting user research, I led my team through ideating and solution exploration. We brainstormed features that directly address pain points, weight risks and workload against impact, and maintained a focused scope to avoid feature creeping.
pain point: redundant forms
How might we expedite the intake process with digital intake forms?
SolutionS
Risks / Tradeoffs
Automatically create and populate a client profile upon form submission
Uneven internet coverage
Trigger referrals to selected services when a client profile is created
Inconsistent referral processes across programs
pain point: Forgetting CHeck-ins
How might we track check-ins and flag inactivity?
SolutionS
Risks / Tradeoffs
Display clients requiring follow-up directly on the dashboard
Increased workload for devs
Display most recent check-in beneath each client profile card
Lower visibility
Schedule check-ins via a built-in calendar that automatically updates client activity
Higher complexity due to multiple calendars, risk of feature creep
pain point: Manual Analysis
How might we organize diverse data in a simple yet scalable manner?
SolutionS
Risks / Tradeoffs
Store and manage client data in a structured, queryable table that supports filtering
Unconventional filters, varied data types, and reliance on cloud storage
View trends and insights through embedded charts and visualizations
Balancing usability with flexibility and customization
Define
We outlined our product: a unified, cloud-based client management platform that streamlines intake, centralizes client data, and simplifies data. Then we presented our research, product, and the rationale behind decisions to stakeholders
features
Key features included in the MVP
Dashboard
Displays daily schedule, recent clients, and key metrics
Intake Form
Collects client background, family, and medical history, with file upload
Client profiles
Automatically store client info, files, and case notes
Database
Displays client information in a queryable, filterable table
We also proposed several potential features for stakeholders to consider:
A calendar to schedule client check-ins and view other staffs' calendars
Data visualization that can generate and export charts for clearer data analysis
process maps
Visualizing the journey
Information architecture
User flow
Design
Translate concepts into wireframes through iterative design
1st goal: Plan design-development collaboration and delegate designs to team
2nd goal: Iterate on designs in close communication with stakeholders
3rd goal: Ensure designs are intuitive and accessible across platforms
Wireframes
Low-fidelity screens
Design Challenge: INtake form
New implementations in the intake form
Through close collaboration with stakeholders and engineers, we transformed a paper process into a digital experience, unlocking new capabilities along the way.
Original intake form
Dynamic calculations
ICV determined a client’s total income by adding earned income with public assistance, introducing friction and opportunities for human error. We implemented dynamic calculations within the digital intake form to automatically compute total income in real time.
ORIGINAL
No space to add cash amount
Income is split across page
NEW
Automatically sums total income
Flexible family representation
Because families do not fit a single structure, we needed a way to capture household composition without intaking minors. We solved this by using conditional logic to link spouses and associate dependents, preserving the data accuracy ICV needs to track impact and allocate resources.
ORIGINAL
Families are scattered across separate papers
NEW
Spouses are linked together
Accounts for multiple types of family dynamics
Error! Double-counting clients
Since a client's household includes all the dependents in their family then for each adult, the dependents of their household would be duplicated when tallying total impacted clients.
Count: 6
Solution: Head of Household
We introduced the Head of Household label to host the dependents.
After discussing with the client, it was decided that the wife or mother would be the Head by default.
Design Challenge: Case notes
Disconnected systems disrupt caseworker flows
During client check-ins, staff had to juggle paper files and Dropbox notes, causing constant context switching and slowing critical conversations. This led to repeated context switching and slow task transitions.
Check-ins page
Each client’s profile page depicts their upcoming check-ins alongside their past check-ins, with associated case notes. My goal was to give staff a flexible way to refer to previous case notes.
Case note row
When designing how a case note row, I considered which information needed to be accessed frequently and how to effectively communicate it.
Final design
After incorporating feedback from ICV, we prioritized clearly labeled and filterable case notes reduced visual clutter over prominent upcoming check-ins.
Colored labels
Reduced visual clutter
Design Challenge: Check-ins
Supporting multiple check-in types
ICV conducts three types of check-ins with varying levels of complexity and volume. Thus the duration of user interaction should scale with the required amount of effort put in.
To assess the efficacy of our solution, we conducted user testing and measured the task success rate and duration.
Solution 1: Handout clickers
One-tap counters allow handouts to be tallied in real time, matching their high volume and simple process.
Task duration: 8.6s
Solution 2: Wellness check pop-up
Easily accessed through a clear CTA button on the dashboard with a shorter flow than a scheduled check-in.
Task duration: 38.2s
Solution 3: Scheduled check-in event
A multi-step flow ensures all required fields are completed for higher-importance scheduled check-ins.
Task duration: 67.2s
styling
A scalable design system
I created a simple design system with reusable components that can be adapted to multiple uses in a system.
Test
Validate designs and new workflows through usability testing
1st goal: Evaluate usability across in-office and outreach contexts on responsive screens
2nd goal: Test clarity, accessibility, and ease of use for key workflows
3rd goal: Refine solutions through continuous staff feedback
round 1
On the field
To stimulate a day on-site, we asked 14 ICV volunteers and experienced users to perform an unmoderated user test consisting of on-site tasks on tablet screens.
MISSION
SUCCESS RATE
MISCLICK RATE
AVG DURATION
1
76.9%
55%
737.1s
Use the intake form to create a new client profile
2
100%
72.6%
86.3s
Add 3 hygiene kits, 5 hot meals, and 2 snack packs
3
100%
65.8%
38.2s
Create a Wellness Check for Kylie Bach
round 2
In the office
For the second round, we asked 10 ICV volunteers and users to perform in office tasks on desktop screens. Since our product had features unique to ICV’s processes, we wanted to examine how intuitive they were for our clients to interact with.
MISSON
SUCCESS RATE
MISCLICK RATE
AVG DURATION
1
90%
83.8%
67.2s
Schedule a client check in
2
87.5%
50%
17.7s
Use database filters
3
100%
23.6%
21.9s
Link a client’s spouse through their profile
Reiterations
Implemented changes
The menu expands to reveal the tab names
Increased button size allows better accessibility on tablet mode
Final product
Ready to explore ICV’s client management database?
Dashboard
The staff start their day with what needs attention: upcoming check-ins, recent clients, and handout clickers for in-the-moment support.
Intake form
Designed for live interviews, the intake form adapts to each client while simplifying data entry through clear structure and smart automation.
Client profile
Client profiles centralize client data and make it easy to review history, log notes, and track engagement over time.
Calendar
A shared calendar keeps check-ins visible and coordinated across the team.
Database
Built to scale with ICV’s work, the database supports fast filtering, analysis, and reliable access to organization information across the team.
Next steps
The expansion pack
Given our limited timeline, we focused on delivering strong core functionality. With more time, I would expand the product with the following features:
Voice transcription
Automatically convert check-ins into case notes so staff can focus on the client.
Notifications
Alert staff of inactive clients to prompt timely check-ins and follow-up.
AI summaries
Generate concise summaries of client case notes so staff can quickly get up to speed before each check-in.
reflections
What I learned
By working closely with ICV’s team, we designed a client management system that simplifies intake, tracks client progress, and generates meaningful data for reporting. Even with trade-offs, our user-centered approach helped ensure that the final product was practical, intuitive, and aligned with their mission.
This project not only strengthened my ability to coordinate across design, development, and client teams. It also reminded me of the role thoughtful design can play in supporting organizations doing critical community work.