Background
Aid to Children Without Parents (ACWP) is a San Jose-based non-profit incorporation whose mission is to help disadvantaged children gain self-sufficiency and give back to, both local and global, communities in need. Their various programs and events further progress education, health, economic development, and more.
Overview
Recently partnering with Sourcewise and World Central Kitchen for the “Great Plates Delivered” program, a nutritional meal delivery service for homebound seniors, ACWP struggled with their search for potential candidates. This sparked broader conversations regarding their outreach strategies and program awareness, with a particular emphasis on reaching and engaging intended demographics. Specifically in this case, the elderly.
Role
Lead UX Designer and Developer
Duration
6 months
Problem Statement
The current website lacks structure and cohesion, resulting in negative user experiences and lower task completion, ultimately inhibiting ACWP's ability to successfully share up-to-date information about new programs, events, and services.
How might we redesign ACWP's website to ensure new programs, services, and events are successfully shared with the elderly while optimizing user experience and engagement?
Research
One-On-One Interviews
In order to better understand the needs of those who have and or would benefit from program outreach, we sought out a small group of six participants who could share their experience with information retrieval and program enrollment, three participants were from ACWP’s network while the other three participants were from elsewhere.
Findings
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Many individuals are interested in assistant programs but don’t know how to find them or where to start.
Word of mouth was the most common way that people learned of specific programs for themselves / their parents.
The elderly commonly rely on their children to handle the end to end process of program involvement.
Secondary Research
Although the interviews revealed that the elderly heavily relied on their children, considering the small scope of participants, I was intrigued to learn on a broader scale, the relationship between the elderly and their internet capabilities.
Findings
68% of those 65+ receive their news through phone / computer / tablet
85.5% of those 65+ use emails
Of adults 50+, 64% get news from both television and digital devices. 86% of Americans get their news from digital devices.
Current Site Analysis
Analyzing ACWP's primary communication channel, their website, through user first impressions and a comprehensive site analysis enhanced my understanding of the organization’s current practices of information sharing.
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New programs were lost in an abyss of cluttered pages that lacked proper distinctions of text hierarchy and content type.
The absence of intuitive information architecture causes redundancy and information overload.
Outdated design and inconsistent format.
Although the overall structure needed improvement, the content provided highlighted what ACWP values most and wants to communicate about its brand.
Pages from Current Site
Findings
User Personas
To better refine our research insights, two personas were created for scope guidance and reference. Each persona reflects a unique yet realistic scenario.
Ideation
Already establishing the need for a web redesign, we began to brainstorm features that could assist with information sharing. After weighing the pros and cons of each opportunity, organization leaders expressed their bandwidth for implementation, ultimately narrowing down our options: 1) text or email subscription and 2) program jumbotrons.
Iterations and Usability Testing
Round One
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Opportunities
Tabbed and layered information can be tricky for the elderly to navigate
Opportunity to build brand awareness and inform new users of charity purpose
Round Two
High-Fidelity Prototype
Feedback
Spiral text may not be the most appropriate for the given scope
Users found the ease of enrolling for text and email subscriptions because of the various placements based on their unique journey
The list of ‘Our Work’ needs more visual divide as it appears text-heavy and monotonous
What Users Liked
Sections are clear and help distinguish the divide
Jumbotron has CTA and allows users to learn more about feature
Design System
Reflections and Takeaways
Organizational bandwidth precedes creative ideas
Although I had many ideas that I wanted to potentially execute, the final implementation was left up to organization leaders. Given my interim role, other colleagues would have to familiarize themselves with the process which was not a current priority. We started with small digestible and manageable updates.
Information Architecture is a timely yet imperative step
Charities have a plethora of activities (ie. projects, events, news, etc), therefore, the absence of IA since the beginning made the final duration of the project a lot longer than expected. Roughly a month was spent organizing and defining what was essential, while slow approvals also prolonged the process.
Teams help with task division and efficiency
This project was quite the long haul, and as the sole UX designer and developer, I at times felt burnt out and frustrated. Being in this position amplified my desire for a team to collaborate and solutionize with in the future.
Accessible design does benefit all!
It is known that accessible design benefits more than the intended target audience, and this project proved just that! In the beginning, the solution was aimed at the elderly. Through research, interviews, and KPI metrics, we found that the website redesign improved the experience for others who are interested in ACWP as well!