Adventure Bags
I worked in a team of seven as the Lead Designer and supporting research efforts. Together we were able to give the 2005 website a modern makeover with the goal being to attract people to volunteer with the organization.
User Research
Process
Strategic interview questions were developed as a team. It was decided that interviews were valuable from not only potential volunteers, but also from the stakeholder as well to ensure their vision and purpose was executed in the design. Each team member conducted 2 interviews, and I was responsible for conducting the interview with stakeholder Executive Director, Misty Manus.
Findings
- 50% of people prefer donating money and goods to support non-profits
- 75% of people prefer volunteering or participating in fundraising events
Interview with Stakeholder
After interviewing co-founder of Adventure Bags, the following quotes were captured and emphasized to drive home the goal to others gain a better and broader knowledge of Adventure Bag’s mission to serve GA children:
•Kids are traumatized from neglect, state's custody, and now they are having to travel around everywhere with just the black trash bag...self worth is changed in an instant with a simple backpack.
•“I don't think the current site really grabs the audience's attention to the trauma that we are trying to address. Not gloom and doom but I want it to be real.”
The Original Design
Pain Points of the original design were identified:
•All of the content is on one page; the user has to "scroll for miles" to get to the footer
•Too much text content
•Inconsistent typography
•No set color scheme
•Navigation is difficult
With easy access to information, simple navigation, and volunteer involvement being the highest priority, these pain points were used as a guide while building out strategies for effective wireframes.
User Flow + Site Map
Two direct competitors and two indirect competitors were identified and analyzed through torough research, which was documented in a Google Sheet.
Wireframes
Each team member created wireframes to help brainstorm the ideas for the layout of the website. The following wireframes were the foundations for the rest of the prototype build.
Usability Testing
After testing five potential users, the following changes based on comments and challenges were made:
Iterations:
•The “Learn More” button was not very effective and did not inspire a call-to-action.
Solution: The button text was changed to “Volunteer with Us” and linked to the Volunteering Page
•It’s was confusing for users to find out how to volunteer as part of an organization.
Solution: Clear instructions were added at the top of the Volunteering page, which clarified the steps for volunteering as an individual or as part of an organization.
•Users were unable to find the Annual Report easily and intuitively.
Solution: The Annual Report became reachable in multiple ways, from the navigation bar under “About Us” as well as a direct link on the “Who We Are” page. This gave users multiple pathways to find the information they were looking for.