Pocketed [HelloPocketed.io]

Although this competition was an extra-curricular “side project” through Humber’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, I was able to apply my advertising and strategy skills in order to solve the challenge presented to us – come up with a plan to improve Pocketed’s small business grant distribution system.

I took on a lead strategy and project management role in my group to propose a solution in improving Pocketed’s system, resulting in first place in the competition.

(Note: This project was done a couple years ago when Pocketed’s website was much simpler, so both the user feedback we collected and our improvement suggestions are based off the service at that time. It looks like some of our proposals for improvement have been implemented since then, and can be seen in the current website!)

The Approach:

Each one of the group members talked to as many entrepreneurs or small business owners as they could, showing them Pocketed and collecting feedback. This resulted in ten qualitative responses which led us to a summative conclusion that:

  • The website was difficult to navigate
  • The process was time consuming
  • Users struggled to find relevant information

Furthermore, there were some overall issues with the grants & application process:

  • People had a lack of trust in the platform (are there hidden terms?)
  • There were confusing and unnecessary restrictions regarding usage of funding
  • The process seemed cumbersome – that time can be used for improving their business instead

The Solution:

The core principle of our solution was to enhance HelloPocketed.io, making the website more user-friendly and easier to understand, particularly for new users. Changes would include:

  • A video on the homepage which explains Pocketed in a no-frills manner
  • Making the Frequently Asked Questions page easier to find and updating it with additional info
  • Describing what advantages you get from going with the paid plans more clearly
  • Adding a community forum on the website where both end users and Pocketed staff can help each other

“Offering a well-structured and easily accessible Frequently Asked Questions section would give new users a reason to come to Pocketed, and a community forum would give them a reason to stay.”

Projected Impact and Goals

Implementing changes that would facilitate growth and community engagement is the key to building the hands-off solution the Pocketed team is seeking for their platform.

Clearly illustrated breakdowns of how the application process works, paired with functional and ease-of-use website expansion are key pathways to helping Pocketed become the industry standard platform for connecting businesses to grant funding. If the process becomes streamlined and time-efficient enough, using this platform would be a no-brainer for both the end-user applying for grants and the organization offering them. A mobile app can also be created, making Pocketed even more accessible as a service.

Presentation video

The following video contains the above information in a narrated slideshow format, and was the original submission for the Humber CfE contest. 

(Note: Some of the mockup graphics above have been updated and may slightly differ from this original recording.)

Project credits:

Aaliyah Alexander, Maha Almehri, Tamara Brinckman, Alex Estermann, Meagan Jones, Daniel Kolyasa