App for Ukrainian refugees

Volunteering ·

It was a marketplace of help with volunteers on one side and people in need on the other. We built & launched it in 3 weeks, in pre-AI times.

We were two designers, three developers and an SMM manager.

What we built

Turbota worked on the web and on iPhone. Volunteers signed in with a text message and posted what they could offer: water, medicine, food, help for kids, a place to stay, transport, help for animals, clothes or anything else.

People who needed help could start right away, with no account. They picked what they needed, saw how far away each volunteer was, and called or messaged them on Telegram.

  • Turbota’s start page with two cards: I want to help, with a quick sign-in by text message, and I need help, with no sign-up.

    Two doors: “I want to help” and “I need help”.

  • The list of volunteers, filtered to a place to stay. Lera offers a bed, more than 100 km away. The search address is blurred.

    Offers of a place to stay, with the distance to each.

  • Lera’s offer from Pyriatyn, Poltava region: a double bed in the living room, for as long as needed, with buttons to call or write on Telegram.

    One offer, with buttons to call or message.

“There’s one double bed in the living room. You can stay as long as you need.”

An offer of a place to stay, from a town in the Poltava region. Translated from Ukrainian.

Spreading the word

At first, our goal was to get as many volunteers into the app as possible. We made stories and asked people to repost them.

  • Story in Ukrainian: Hi everyone! My friends and I built a volunteer platform for mutual aid by location. Right now our goal is to get as many volunteers into the app as possible.
  • Story in Ukrainian: If you’re a volunteer or want to become one, follow the link and post an offer. People looking for help will be able to write to you.
  • Story in Ukrainian: If you’re in trouble and need help, follow this link. Soon there will be more volunteers, and we plan to add requests for help.
Our stories: a hello from the team, a call for volunteers, and a link for anyone who needed help.
volunteers signed up
1,197
offers of help posted
865
in Lifestyle on the App Store
No. 7
rating
4.6

Testing it myself

I tested Turbota by using it myself. Here’s a chat with a volunteer, translated from Russian.

The original chat on Telegram, in Russian. Her phone number is blurred.
  1. She: Thank you so much ❤️🙏🇺🇦
  2. She: Maksym LevshynDnipro
    Nova Poshta, branch 15
  3. Me: Got it! I’ll send it tomorrow!
  4. She: Thank you!
  5. Me: If it’s not too much trouble, once you get it, please post about the turbota.io platform in your stories or wherever you can
  6. Me: So that as many people as possible join
  7. She: OK, of course!
  8. She: Could you add our volunteer hub to it?
  9. She: Let me explain how it works
  10. She: Are voice messages OK for you?
  11. Me: Yes

Looking back

I worked on Turbota from March to July 2022. We retired it in 2023, once the acute crisis was over.