Boston Immigrant Resource Database

In partnership with BU Spark!, UniteBoston is developing the Boston Immigrant Resource Database (BIRD)—a digital platform designed to help immigrant-serving organizations find and share real-time, accurate information about available services. BIRD will feature a traffic-light availability dashboard, a searchable database, and a map-based interface focused on four critical service categories: legal services, housing, workforce development, and ESOL/citizenship classes. The DS488 UX team will enhance the provider-facing interface of the MVP and prioritize thoughtful user experience design that builds on existing development work. Strategy: • Prioritize the four key service areas for the MVP (e.g. Housing, Legal Services, ESOL, Workforce/jobs) • Focus on service providers as the main users to improve referrals. • Develop a dashboard that helps providers view and update service availability in real time. • Design for scale with a model that allows providers to self-update and potentially integrate automated reminders. • Partner with immigrant-facing organizations to ensure adoption, relevance, and long-term sustainability. Key Goals include: • Understanding user needs across immigrant-serving organizations through interviews and journey mapping • Designing an intuitive dashboard that allows service providers to browse, filter, and assess real-time availability of resources • Research update workflows that enable providers to confirm and revise their service status with minimal friction • Prototyping an interface, considering accessibility, mobile [a]usability, and multilingual readiness. See Overview section of BIRD for more details. Current Prototype & Development Progress: The current prototype, developed by Richard (a contracted developer), provides a foundational demo to explore the workflow and core features of BIRD. The intent of this is to test functionality and inform UX design work this semester. You can view Images of the prototype under the Client Meeting Notes tab. Key Prototype Features: Login • Support admin and provider roles • Admin accounts are invite only, providers can only edit their own services and resources Services Tab • Displays a list of services • Search tool which allows search by name, type, title, and description • Filters available for narrowing down by category • Service status options (traffic light): Open, Contact, and Closed Providers Tab • Search and filter providers by service type, keywords, language, and name Provider Details Page • Displays full organizational information and services offered Client Referral Form Page • Allows providers to refer other providers Alignment with DS488 UX Goals This prototype establishes the baseline functionality, but significant UX opportunities remain: • Refining the dashboard for clarity and accessibility. • Designing intuitive update workflows to reduce friction for providers. Prototype Access The demo is available at bird.softr.app/login [b](log in information to be provided by Parker and Richard) However, screenshots can be found under Client Meeting Notes.