A new way to help associations find volunteers

JeVeuxAider.gouv.fr is the French public volunteering platform. It enables anyone to find a volunteer opportunity that suits them, and helps organizations find motivated volunteers.

Product Design

User Research

Type

Marketplace

Industry

Public service

Role

Solo Product Designer with 1 PM and 2 Developers

Open website

Type

Marketplace

Industry

Public service

Role

Solo Product Designer with 1 PM and 2 Developers

Open website

Type

Marketplace

Industry

Public service

Role

Solo Product Designer with 1 PM and 2 Developers

Open website

Type

Marketplace

Industry

Public service

Role

Solo Product Designer with 1 PM and 2 Developers

Open website

A high-potential yet underused feature

At JeVeuxAider.gouv.fr, we want to help both volunteers and associations. Our key metric is: the number of volunteers applications.

When exploring how to increase this metric while answering our users needs, the PM and I identified a promising but underused feature: the reversed search, which allows associations to proactively reach out to relevant volunteers.

We chose to focus on it because:

adoption was very low, yet it answers an associations' need: to find volunteers for their missions
the experience was incomplete
we had several signals from support tickets and qualitative interviews: the need was there, the UX wasn't.

A high-potential yet underused feature

We chose to focus on it because:

adoption was very low, yet it answers an associations' need: to find volunteers for their missions
the experience was incomplete
we had several signals from support tickets and qualitative interviews: the need was there, the UX wasn't.

A high-potential yet underused feature

We chose to focus on it because:

adoption was very low, yet it answers an associations' need: to find volunteers for their missions
the experience was incomplete
we had several signals from support tickets and qualitative interviews: the need was there, the UX wasn't.

3 strategic sub-objectives to stay on track

As in any marketplace, improving the feature required acting on three complementary levers:

Increase supply: more volunteers with complete & visible profiles (only 13% of new volunteers at the time)
Increase demand: more associations using the feature and sending outreach
Improve matching efficiency: higher outreach → application conversion

This framework guided every design decision.

3 strategic sub-objectives to stay on track

As in any marketplace, improving the feature required acting on three complementary levers:

Increase supply: more volunteers with complete & visible profiles (only 13% of new volunteers at the time)
Increase demand: more associations using the feature and sending outreach
Improve matching efficiency: higher outreach → application conversion

This framework guided every design decision.

3 strategic sub-objectives to stay on track

As in any marketplace, improving the feature required acting on three complementary levers:

Increase supply: more volunteers with complete & visible profiles (only 13% of new volunteers at the time)
Increase demand: more associations using the feature and sending outreach
Improve matching efficiency: higher outreach → application conversion

This framework guided every design decision.

The volunteers search before (left) and after (right) the revamp

The volunteers search before (left) and after (right) the revamp

The volunteers search before (left) and after (right) the revamp

The volunteers search before (left) and after (right) the revamp

The volunteers list before (left) and after (right) the revamp

The volunteers list before (left) and after (right) the revamp

The volunteers list before (left) and after (right) the revamp

The volunteers list before (left) and after (right) the revamp

Increase the number of volunteers visible, with a complete profile

To make the feature valuable, we first needed more volunteers with complete and visible profiles.

I redesigned the volunteer dashboard to encourage completion, with mainly:

clearer nudges (completion gauge + todo list)
a dedicated, streamlined completion flow

Results: 13% → 55% of new volunteers with complete & visible profiles.
We doubled the total number of visible volunteers in 6 months.

The todo list and gauge completion to encourage volunteers to complete their profile

Increase the number of volunteers visible, with a complete profile

To make the feature valuable, we first needed more volunteers with complete and visible profiles.

I redesigned the volunteer dashboard to encourage completion, with mainly:

clearer nudges (completion gauge + todo list)
a dedicated, streamlined completion flow

Results: 13% → 55% of new volunteers with complete & visible profiles.
We doubled the total number of visible volunteers in 6 months.

The todo list and gauge completion to encourage volunteers to complete their profile

Increase the number of volunteers visible, with a complete profile

To make the feature valuable, we first needed more volunteers with complete and visible profiles.

I redesigned the volunteer dashboard to encourage completion, with mainly:

clearer nudges (completion gauge + todo list)
a dedicated, streamlined completion flow

Results: 13% → 55% of new volunteers with complete & visible profiles.
We doubled the total number of visible volunteers in 6 months.

The todo list and gauge completion to encourage volunteers to complete their profile

Increase the number of volunteers visible, with a complete profile

To make the feature valuable, we first needed more volunteers with complete and visible profiles.

I redesigned the volunteer dashboard to encourage completion, with mainly:

clearer nudges (completion gauge + todo list)
a dedicated, streamlined completion flow

Results: 13% → 55% of new volunteers with complete & visible profiles.
We doubled the total number of visible volunteers in 6 months.

The todo list and gauge completion to encourage volunteers to complete their profile

From the dashboard to the dedicated flow to complete our profile

Increase the number of associations using the feature

To scale usage, we improved the reversed search experience itself.

Through interviews, live and Hotjar observations and a survey, we identified two core use cases:

Targeted searches: associations needed more precise info & filters
High-volume missions: they needed quick bulk outreach

I redesigned the experience to include:

new relevance & sorting rules (availability + preferences + proximity)
clearer lists with key info surfaced up front
filters for specific needs (skills, certifications…)
qualitative signals (experience, motivations, past missions)
bulk selection & outreach

Increase the number of associations using the feature

To scale usage, we improved the reversed search experience itself.

Through interviews, live and Hotjar observations and a survey, we identified two core use cases:

Targeted searches: associations needed more precise info & filters
High-volume missions: they needed quick bulk outreach

I redesigned the experience to include:

new relevance & sorting rules (availability + preferences + proximity)
clearer lists with key info surfaced up front
filters for specific needs (skills, certifications…)
qualitative signals (experience, motivations, past missions)
bulk selection & outreach

Increase the number of associations using the feature

To scale usage, we improved the reversed search experience itself.

Through interviews, live and Hotjar observations and a survey, we identified two core use cases:

Targeted searches: associations needed more precise info & filters
High-volume missions: they needed quick bulk outreach

I redesigned the experience to include:

new relevance & sorting rules (availability + preferences + proximity)
clearer lists with key info surfaced up front
filters for specific needs (skills, certifications…)
qualitative signals (experience, motivations, past missions)
bulk selection & outreach

When an association wants to look for volunteers for their mission

Volunteers list with filters

Volunteer detailed information

Then I made the feature more visible and accessible.

Mainly within the mission page and through emails sent to associations at key moments in the mission lifecycle.

Also through a product tour and our monthly newsletter.

Results:

the share of associations using the feature increased by 51%
outreach emails sent were multiplied by 3.3x.

Note: outreach volume is capped for fairness: volunteers can receive only 2 emails/month, and associations are limited to 300 sends.

Then I made the feature more visible and accessible.

Mainly within the mission page and through emails sent to associations at key moments in the mission lifecycle.

Also through a product tour and our monthly newsletter.

Results:

the share of associations using the feature increased by 51%
outreach emails sent were multiplied by 3.3x.

Note: outreach volume is capped for fairness: volunteers can receive only 2 emails/month, and associations are limited to 300 sends.

Then I made the feature more visible and accessible.

Mainly within the mission page and through emails sent to associations at key moments in the mission lifecycle.

Also through a product tour and our monthly newsletter.

Results:

the share of associations using the feature increased by 51%
outreach emails sent were multiplied by 3.3x.

Note: outreach volume is capped for fairness: volunteers can receive only 2 emails/month, and associations are limited to 300 sends.

Mission view for an association - feature highlight when they are still looking for volunteers

Improve the conversion rate

The second conversion driver was the email itself. The previous message felt automated, not personal.

We considered:

letting associations write their own message
sending a generic message framed as if it came from the association

We chose the second option, since associations didn't express the need for customization and often send in bulk.

Result: the feature's conversion rate increased by 2.7×.

Improve the conversion rate

The second conversion driver was the email itself. The previous message felt automated, not personal.

We considered:

letting associations write their own message
sending a generic message framed as if it came from the association

We chose the second option, since associations didn't express the need for customization and often send in bulk.

Result: the feature's conversion rate increased by 2.7×.

Improve the conversion rate

The second conversion driver was the email itself. The previous message felt automated, not personal.

We considered:

letting associations write their own message
sending a generic message framed as if it came from the association

We chose the second option, since associations didn't express the need for customization and often send in bulk.

Result: the feature's conversion rate increased by 2.7×.

The email sent to a volunteer - faking a direct message from the association

Final impact — a step-change in performance

After improving each sub-goal, the feature’s impact increased dramatically — 8.8× more applications when comparing the first six months of 2024 and 2025. Another satisfying result: the application validation rate is +11 pts higher than the platform average.

What's next? I think the two best options for us is to continue improve the feature adoption and improve volunteers x opportunities matching.