Tackling Australia's Hidden Homelessness
A 2-day hackathon project focused on raising awareness about homelessness in Australia through digital initiatives designed to mobilise communities, boost engagement, and drive meaningful change.
INTRODUCTION AND BRIEF
During a two-day design challenged organised by We Are Mobilise, our team collaborated with software engineers and other stakeholders to create a digital solution to help tackle Australia's homelessness issue. After developing our solution, we pitched our idea to the judges and other participating teams. Our objective was to design a digital initiative to would help communities engage and be more proactive whether through volunteering or participation in programs to drive awareness and change.
MEET THE TEAM
Our team consisted of a UX Designer, a web developer, and a marketing and CRM expert.
Ella Ferreira
Web developer with 3 years of experience specialising in frontend development and user experience, using React, Next.js, Tailwind CSS, and GitHub.
What’s my why?
Passionate about leveraging my web development skills to create innovative solutions that address homelessness and improve accessibility for all.
Joanne Kim
Expert in CRM and lifecycle marketing, customer experience optimisation, campaign management, e-commerce strategy, and product marketing.
What’s my why?
Passionate about psychology and what motivates people, building communities and creating engaging content.
Lucy Gao
UX Designer with a healthcare background, skilled in user research, prototyping, design thinking, and business analysis, focused on creating exceptional user experiences.
What’s my why?
Curious about people, and motivated to make meaningful and positive impact in this world through tech and design.
REQUIREMENTS
Design an accessible and user-friendly interface that engages the Australian public in the issue of homelessness, making it a shared social concern. The solution must also capture real-time data on the causes and contributing factors of homelessness to inform awareness and action.
THE CHALLENGE
Much of the information around homelessness and its solutions is shaped by an educated demographic, that being NGO leaders, think tanks, and government bodies. This often narrows the focus to the 6% of people sleeping rough, overlooking the 94% experiencing hidden homelessness through insecure or temporary living situations. As a result, public reporting tends to miss the lived experiences and perspectives of everyday Australians who witness or endure this widespread issue.
Below are the key challenges we identified, along with strategic opportunities to address them.
The homelessness issue is like an iceberg. Australians don’t realise the majority of homelessness is hidden.
In fact, only 6.2% of people without a home are sleeping rough, and it neglects the 94% who are driven to insecure living arrangements.
Strategic opportunity
Raising greater awareness around the drivers and causes of hidden homelessness through our owned channels.
There is a shortage of staff, accommodation and services.
In 2021-22, ~300 people were turned away a day because of shortages of staff, accommodation or other services.
Strategic opportunity
Increase volunteer recruitment, source talent and boost community engagement.
People experiencing homelessness have significantly higher rates of chronic illness when compared with the general population (Morrison 2009).
This can reduce a person’s ability to sustain wellbeing, employment, housing, and personal networks.
Strategic opportunity
Use video content as a powerful storytelling tool to move Australians to act.
OUR APPROACH
Our team used Miro to collaboratively brainstorm and research the issue of homelessness in Australia. This helped us build a foundational understanding of the topic and identify key problem areas. We also conducted competitor and market research to explore existing digital solutions in similar spaces. This allowed us to see what approaches were already being used, what was effective, and where the gaps were, thus helping us shape a more informed and impactful solution. Additionally, we researched user behaviours, public perception, and barriers to engagement to ensure our design would be both relevant and actionable.
This led to our problem statement:
“A tool that educates Australians on the gravity of hidden homelessness and captures data on their volunteer super power.”
PROPOSED SOLUTION
After ideating a range of solutions, our team decided to design a “Hidden Homelessness Quiz” for the We Are Mobilise website. This approach was chosen for its accessibility, low cost, and high potential for engagement.
The quiz aims to:
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Educate Australians on hidden homelessness, how widespread it is, and the cost of inaction
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Serve as interactive content that naturally leads users to take further steps such as donating or volunteering
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Support volunteer recruitment, with a focus on attracting content creators to amplify the message through video
PRODUCT MARKETING STRATEGY
Tying it all together, through close collaboration with Joanne, our team member specialised in marketing, we roadmapped the full campaign journey by highlighting key timeframes, touchpoints, and strategic opportunities to maximise engagement and impact.
TIME TO DESIGN
Our user flow begins with visitors landing on the homepage, entering basic personal details, and starting the quiz. The quiz is designed to educate users through a mix of general questions, supported by key statistics and resources. Toward the end, a “cost of inaction” question prompts users to reflect on the financial and political implications of doing nothing. Finally, users can enter their postcode to view local homelessness statistics, bringing the issue closer to home and encouraging a more personal, emotional response that drives action.
Next, I created wireframes to visualise each screen and what features to include:
We walked through our design and user flow with our mentor via Slack Huddle, where she provided feedback and suggestions for improvement.
BRANDING GUIDELINES
OUR IMPACT: INCREASING PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS
The perceived impact of our "Hidden Homelessness Quiz" is an increase in program participants through the following pathways:
WINNING IDEA
After presenting our solution to the We Are Mobilise panel and fellow teams, our team was selected as the winner of the hackathon and invited to continue the conversation with the organisers via Slack.
NEXT STEPS
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Mobilise World is a gamified digital experience designed to help users understand the realities of homelessness. Through interactive challenges and learning journeys, users can explore the causes and impacts of homelessness in a simulated environment and are encouraged to translate those insights into real-world actions.
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Continue monitoring engagement with the Hidden Homelessness Quiz to track user interaction, identify drop-off points, and optimise for higher conversions and volunteer sign-ups.
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Monitor the number of program participants throughout campaign periods to measure impact, track growth, and inform future engagement strategies.
REFLECTIONS
Participating in the We Are Mobilise Hackathon was a valuable learning experience that allowed me to apply UX design principles to a real-world social issue. Working under time pressure pushed our team to think strategically and collaboratively while balancing user needs with campaign goals.
Through user research, rapid ideation, and prototyping, I saw firsthand how design can drive awareness, action, and community engagement. I particularly enjoyed collaborating with team members from different backgrounds in marketing and development, which strengthened our ability to approach the problem from multiple angles.
Winning the hackathon and being invited to continue the conversation reinforced the importance of designing with empathy and purpose. It reminded me that impactful digital experiences don’t just inform - they empower users to take action.