Managing, Mentoring, and Motivating Youth through Redesigning a Nonprofit’s Digital Identity
Non Profit Organization Website
B2C - Web
Overview
Imagine a platform meant to inspire and support youth but held back by design limitations. The New Millennium Movement (N2KM) aimed to be a beacon for mentors, mentees, and donors, fostering meaningful connections and actions. However, its website faced critical challenges: low donation rates, unclear user flows, and a disconnect between its mission and user engagement. This is the story of how a user-centered redesign transformed their digital presence.
Key Results
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Donation Rate: Increased by +7.75% in 3 months.
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Bounce Rate (Donations Page): Reduced by 35%.
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User Engagement: Time on site increased to 3:20 minutes (up by 2:05 minutes).
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Mentor/Mentee Signups: Grew by 20% due to streamlined signup flows.
Metric | Before Redesign | After Redesign |
|---|---|---|
Avg. Time on Site | 1:15 min | 3:20 min |
Bounce Rate (Donations) | 85% | 50% |
Donation Rate | 24.25% | 32% |
My Role
As the lead UX designer, I drove the project from discovery to implementation. My key responsibilities included:
Research: Conducted heuristic evaluations, data analysis, and competitive benchmarking to identify pain points and improvement opportunities.
User-Centered Design: Created personas, mapped user stories, and developed high-fidelity prototypes to improve donation flows and navigation.
Collaboration and Delivery: Worked with stakeholders and developers to align design goals, ensure implementation feasibility, and support post-launch refinements.
The Challenge
The N2KM website faced several challenges:
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Low engagement and donations: The donation rate was stuck at 24.25%.
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Frustrating user experience: Navigation was unclear, with high bounce rates (85% on the donation page).
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Untrustworthy design: Users struggled to trust the platform due to inconsistencies and poor visual design.
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Inefficient user flows: Mentors and mentees faced barriers in signing up for services.
Objectives
I focused on:
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Increasing donation rates by redesigning the donation flow.
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Enhancing navigation and trust with a modern, accessible design.
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Simplifying mentor/mentee signup processes.
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Highlighting the organization’s mission and vision through improved content hierarchy.
Research & Insights
To understand user pain points and opportunities, I conducted a comprehensive heuristic evaluation, analyzed website analytics (bounce rates, time on site, donation completion rates), and performed competitive benchmarking against similar nonprofit platforms. Additionally, I created user personas and mapped user stories based on stakeholder interviews and surveys.
These insights shaped the redesign strategy, focusing on improving usability, accessibility, and trust in the platform.
Discovery & Research
Data Analysis
Key takeaways from data analysis:
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Bounce Rates: Donation page (85%) and "Get Involved" page (62%).
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Time Spent: Users averaged only 1:15 minutes on the site.
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Usability Issues: Heuristic evaluations revealed major issues like poor user control, inefficient CTAs, and unclear visual hierarchy.
Discovery & Research
User Persona & Stories
I identified key user groups:
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Donors: Want a seamless donation process they can trust.
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Mentors/Mentees: Need clarity on the organization’s mission and an easy signup flow.
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Organization Owners: Aim to increase donor engagement and showcase impact.
User Story Example:
"As a donor, I want a fast and easy flow for donations so that I can support the organization’s mission without frustration."
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Discovery & Research
Competitive Analysis
I benchmarked similar platforms (YMCA, BuildOn) and identified strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
Minimalistic designs | Accessibility issues (color contrast) |
Clear calls-to-action | Inconsistent component styles |
Simple donation forms | Lack of fixed navigation |
Design Solution
The design process began with brainstorming and translating research insights into wireframes and prototypes to streamline user flows and improve navigation. Usability testing informed iterations, resulting in a solution that featured a simplified donation flow, fixed navigation, and a consistent, trust-building layout. Close collaboration with stakeholders and developers ensured alignment with goals and seamless implementation.
Design Solution
Design Process
Ideation and Prototyping
We started with brainstorming workshops, then created high-fidelity wireframes to:
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Simplify the donation journey (Homepage → Donation Page → Confirmation).
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Add a fixed navigation bar for better user control.
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Improve the CTAs and content hierarchy.
Testing and Iterations
Usability testing with stakeholders and users helped refine:
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Donation forms for speed and ease.
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Signup flows for mentors/mentees.
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Navigation for clarity and consistency.
Design Solution
Redesigned Website
The redesigned website included:
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Streamlined Donation Flow
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Redesigned forms with fewer steps.
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Clear CTAs and trust-building visuals.
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Improved Navigation
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Fixed navigation bar for easy access to key pages.
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Simplified sitemap and content categorization.
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Modern, Trustworthy Design
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Consistent styling and color contrast improvements.
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Minimalistic, user-friendly layout.
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Before Redesign
Redesigned Website:
Customer Understanding
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Created customer personas based on research findings to align the team on user needs.
Impact & Results
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Donation Rates: Increased by 3.5x in three months post-redesign.
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Bounce Rate Reduction:
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Website: 24.13% decrease
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Donation Page: 60% decrease
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Average Time Spent on Donation Page: Increased by 2.7x, indicating higher user engagement.
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System Usability Scale (SUS): Improved from a 32.5 (Not Acceptable) to a 75 (Good), with the next target set at 85.
What I Learned
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Iterative user testing was invaluable in uncovering pain points and refining the donation flow.
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Close collaboration between design and development teams ensured a seamless implementation of the design.
Prioritizing accessibility led to a more inclusive and user-friendly platform.
What I Would Do Differently
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Expand the user testing pool to include more diverse perspectives for better insights.
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Define success metrics earlier in the process to track progress more effectively.
Next Steps
This project was a testament to the power of user-centered design. By addressing pain points and aligning the digital experience with user needs, we helped N2KM better achieve its mission.
Next steps:
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Continue tracking metrics to ensure sustained growth.
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Expand usability improvements to other parts of the platform.