Watching the app designs (UX & UI) come together is exciting.
The first app I only had in my mind is becoming a reality. And I’m proud of the app’s goal as well – to make an app that volunteers can use easily. There’s still a long, long way to go, but I’m making progress.
Before moving on, I’d like to explain more about why I’m making this app.
The Korean app for volunteer work, run by the government, is called 1365. It means “volunteering 365 days a year”. I personally think it’s a nice name.
What’s not nice is the app’s design. I’ve noticed four major problems in this app:
- The UI/UX is awful
- There are way too many technical issues – infinite loading screens and errors
- It’s near impossible for foreigners or teens to find volunteer opportunities
- Most opportunities are a one-time jobs, and not recurring
If you have any doubt on how bad it is, just take a quick glance at the app store reviews.
With a rating of 1.6 out of 5, there are 96 reviews, most of it being 1-star.
Here are a few translated review highlights:
“I can’t check my volunteer history… Search doesn’t work, and if I keep pressing the search button, the page just refreshes like it’s reloading, and I can only check how many hours I did… I need to verify whether my hours were properly recorded, but the app is so poorly managed that I can’t. 😭 Please respond.”
“Isn’t the app supposed to make things more convenient? After setting search conditions and pressing the search button, I have to wait more than 10 seconds, then the results show up. When I press the button to go to the next page, it randomly shows volunteer programs I had looked at earlier. 😂 It’s like a random spin wheel deciding what I see.”
“Even a college student could probably make something better than this.”
Yes, there are some 5-star reviews too, but they’re mostly just:
“good”
The worst part is that there seems to be zero effort to change the app.
They act like, “Well, we connect volunteers and organizations, and it works (most of the time).”
But it’s clearly not good enough. People like me – teenagers who want to volunteer regularly, or foreigners living in Korea – are left out.
This is why I decided to build an app myself, even if it’s not as big or as official as 1365. If just a few people can find volunteering through my app, then that’s enough for me.
But to be honest, I couldn’t help but sigh when I looked at the 1365 app again. I’m thinking of informing someone in charge of these problems – directly.
Will anything change? Who knows. But I’ll have to at least give a try.