The Client
The Social Work Way is a newly established start-up with a mission to empower social workers by providing them with innovative, user-friendly tools for day-to-day practice.
Their goal is to streamline workflows and amplify the impact of professionals who support vulnerable children and families. The app they envisioned needed to reflect these core values and provide practical solutions for practitioners across the sector.
The Challenge
The founder of The Social Work Way identified a gap in the market for a comprehensive digital tool that could support social workers in managing their day-to-day responsibilities while ensuring the best possible outcomes for their clients.
They required an app that could enhance efficiency, provide access to key resources, and simplify administrative tasks such as referrals, all while maintaining a high level of data security. With a clear vision in mind, they approached us at Copper Bay Digital to transform their ideas into a fully functioning mobile app.
The Thinking
Our team began by collaborating closely with the founders of The Social Work Way to deeply understand their vision. We held workshops to extract detailed insights about the features they wanted, understanding the challenges social workers face on the ground.
Leveraging our experience in developing complex mobile applications, we focused on designing an app that could not only meet the immediate needs of users but also evolve alongside the ever-changing demands of social work. Key to this was balancing innovation with practicality, ensuring the app would be both powerful and intuitive for users across different experience levels.
The Solution
Copper Bay Digital designed and developed The Social Work Way mobile app with a range of tools aimed at empowering social workers and improving their daily workflows.
Key features include:
Referral Management: A streamlined, intuitive referral system that simplifies the management and tracking of cases. This feature enhances collaboration between teams, ensuring timely and effective service delivery while maintaining the highest levels of data security.
Opportunity Connect: A platform where training providers, resource creators, and service suppliers can connect directly with social workers and local authorities. It allows users to showcase training programs, resources, and services, offering a space for continuous professional development.
Community Connect: This feature simplifies the process of finding relevant local organisations. Users can easily access contact details, opening hours, and essential information for support organisations in their area, using a quick search function and filters to locate the services they need. This drastically reduces the time social workers spend searching for local resources.
Toolkit Toolbox: A comprehensive library of resources and worksheets, categorised by age group to ensure relevancy to users. Social workers can now access a tailored range of tools directly through the app, offering practical solutions during their direct work with children and families.
Job Directory: A simple yet effective listing of jobs within the social work industry, allowing users to explore new career opportunities without leaving the app.
Articles & Guides: A hub for social workers to access articles, guides, and posts focused on wellbeing, legislative updates, and theoretical frameworks. This section helps professionals stay informed and supported in their roles.
Training Logs: This feature enables social workers to record and track their training activities, providing a clear overview of their professional development.
My Voice, My Journey: Introducing a transformative tool for empowering children and young people! Our interactive personal outcome measurement tools are designed to help each individual realize their potential. These innovative tools offer a dynamic, engaging platform where personal experiences, goals, and progress can be captured in meaningful ways. Through interactive activities and carefully crafted questions, children and young people can express themselves authentically, promoting personal growth, self-awareness, and a deeper understanding of their own journeys.
Additionally, we implemented key offline functionality, ensuring that users can access vital features and resources even when they are not connected to the internet—crucial for social workers who may be in the field or working in areas with limited connectivity.
These features were crafted to not only meet the immediate needs of the users but also to provide a flexible, scalable solution capable of adapting to the future demands of the social work profession.
The Result
The Social Work Way app has been launched to great acclaim, receiving positive feedback from social workers, local authorities, and even government bodies. Early adopters have praised the app for its intuitive design and functionality, highlighting how it has streamlined referral processes and enhanced access to essential resources.
By offering a tailored, user-friendly solution, the app is now helping social workers across the country to focus more on the people they serve, knowing they have the tools they need to be effective in their roles.
It was an incredible experience working closely with The Social Work Way team and leading the design process for this innovative project.
Collaborating with Matthew, the Director, was a real pleasure – this enthusiasm and responsiveness throughout the design phase made the project flow smoothly. His vision and dedication to creating a tool that truly empowers social workers and the people they serve inspired us to push the boundaries of what we could deliver. Together, we crafted a solution that we’re all really proud of.
Jordan Stiens-Magill – Digital Lead
Copper Bay Digital
