TARGET AID 

TARGET AID

Is a global digital meeting place for social engagement and philanthropy. The donors and organisations meet through aid projects that are published on the platform. Users can search and donate directly to a specific project on the platform, as well as create an account to access their dashboard with tools to follow their donations and progress. 

It's a unique platform that enables transactions without any direct costs for the organisations, unlike putting money into advertising which is one of the most expensive costs for organisations.

Target Aid is a global digital meeting place for social engagement and philanthropy. At Target Aid, donors and organisations meet through aid projects that are published on the platform. Users can search and donate directly to a specific project on the platform, as well as create an account to access their dashboard with tools to follow their donations and progress. 

It's a unique platform that enables transactions without any direct costs for the organisations, unlike putting money into advertising which is one of the most expensive costs for the organisations.

SUMMARY

I helped to identify ways to simplify the user experience of Target Aid's platform and executed improvements as well as established trust and credibility through an updated design.

SUMMARY

I helped to simplify the user journey and improved the user experience of the site as well as established trust and credibility through an updated design.

THE CHALLENGE

We needed a lot of empathy to understand the psychology of how to make users feel more confident about donating money to organisations on the platform. Another challenge going into this project for our team was scope, so we had to be incredibly resourceful with where we focused our time. The site had been built on a custom platform, which was limited in terms of scalability and preventing growth. 

THE CHALLENGE

The challenge was to redesign the digital platform to be more user friendly and help users to feel more confident about donating money to organisations on the platform. Another challenge going into this project for our team was scope, so we had to be incredibly resourceful with where we focused our time. The site had been built on a custom platform, which was limited in terms of scalability and preventing growth. 

DESIGN METHODS

RESEARCH METHODS

DISCOVERY WORKSHOP

To help the client to solve business challenges through design I followed a systematic process of Discovery and Strategy. In other words, we spent a lot of time brainstorming with the client to capture their ideas before designing anything to ensure whatever we design aligns with business goals. Through insight, we discovered goals, scope, users, pain points, and the required look and feel of the end product. The output of this workshop helped me to act as an advocate for the users which lead to designing successful, meaningful, and engaging experiences.

DISCOVERY WORKSHOP

To help the client to solve business challenges through design I followed a systematic process of Discovery and Strategy. In other words, we spent a lot of time brainstorming with the client to capture their ideas before designing anything to ensure whatever we design fills a purpose. Through insight, we discover business goals, scope, understand the users and pain-points, and the required look and feel of the end product. Combined with the business goals the output of this workshop helped me to act as an advocate for the users which lead to designing successful, meaningful, and engaging experiences.

Discovery is a fun, strategic planning session that will help us:

1.   Learn the Business
2.   Prioritise Goals
3.   Understand the Users
4.   Define the Brand

 Discovery is a fun, facilitative strategic planning session that will help us:

1. Learn the Business
2. Understand the Users
3. Prioritise Goals
4, Define the Brand

PERSONAS & USER JOURNEYS

It is difficult to create a successful product if you don't know who you are talking to. Together with the client, we created personas designed to give a clearer picture of the users. The client already had a sound understanding of who their users were, which was of great help. We also gathered insight from data in Google Analytics. By using personas it's easier to structure conversations from the users' perspective and to create features and experiences that are useful to them. To empathize one step further we mapped out the user journey on the whiteboard.

These exercises formed a great foundation to move into ideation and validation.

PERSONAS & USER JOURNEYS

It is difficult to create a successful product if you don't know who you are talking to. Together with the client, we created personas, ie fictitious people designed to give a clearer picture of the users. The client already had a sound understanding of who their users were, which was of great help. We could also gather insight from data in Google Analytics. By using personas it's easier to structure conversations from the users' perspective and to create features and experiences that are useful to them. To empathize one step further we mapped out the user journey on the whiteboard. Demonstrating the way users:
1. Currently interact with the product  
2. Could interact with the product.

These exercises formed a great foundation to move into ideation and validation.

PROJECT GOALS

From previous research, we identified that the major concern users had was that they didn't perceive the platform trustworthy enough to donate to. This was obviously a deal-breaker as the main goal of the platform was to drive conversions through donations.

From a UX audit, we identified that the platform was quite dated and broken in some places with old code. There was also an opportunity to update the design pattern and style guide.

Together with research, combined with findings discussed with the client and users, we prioritised the following goals:

PROJECT GOALS

From previous user interviews, we identified that the major concern was that users didn't find the site trustworthy enough to donate. This was obviously a deal-breaker as the main goal with the platform was to drive conversions through donations.

From a UX audit, we also identified that the site was quite dated and broken in some places. There was also an opportunity to update the feature to use the new design patterns and be usable on mobile screens.

Together with research, combined with findings discussed with the client, we prioritised the following goals:

1. Establish trust and credibility through an updated design

2. Improve the user experience on mobile 

3. Clear up pain points discovered in stakeholder and user interviews

4. Implement a dashboard with tools for users to follow their donations and progress

5. Incorporate elements of gamification

1. Establish trust and credibility through an updated design

2. Improve the user experience on mobile 

3. Clear up pain-points discovered in stakeholder and user interviews

4. Implement a dashboard with tools for users to follow their donations and progress

5. Incorporate elements of gamification

IDEATION

By understanding the problem areas and the constraints we conducted an ideation workshop with the client, to contribute and pitch ideas, rank them and eventually - select the best of them for inclusion in the product. This ensured that the client's voice was heard and had a personal stake and say in how the product would be developed - allowing for a balance between user needs and business wants. By now we had gathered enough information to get started with the wireframes and prototype. 

IDEATION

By understanding the problem areas and the constraints we conducted an ideation workshop with the client, to contribute and pitch ideas, rank them and eventually - select the best of them for inclusion into the product. This ensured that the client's voice was heard and had a personal stake and say in how the product would be developed - allowing for a balance between user needs and business wants. By now we had gathered enough information to get started with the wireframes and prototype. 

TESTING

Before finalising the visual details of the design, I wanted to see how our users responded to our chosen direction and to evaluate the usability of the new features. We recruited 5 users from varying backgrounds and used prototyping software such as InVision. We started by asking the users to complete a set of different tasks and to 'think aloud' when they completed these. It's a good way to gather information on where the users might get stuck, and if there are things that are unclear. With the feedback gathered from the user tests, we iterated on the prototype with the required changes to improve the experience.

TESTING

Before finalising the visual details of the design, I wanted to see how our users responded to our chosen direction and to evaluate the usability of the new features. We recruited 5 users from varying backgrounds and used prototyping software such as InVision. We started with asking the users to complete a set of different tasks and to 'think aloud' when they completed these. It's a good way to gather information on where the users might get stuck, and if there are things that are unclear. With the feedback gathered from the user tests, we iterated on the prototype with the required changes to improve the experience.

USER STORIES

Working in an Agile framework I worked closely with the product owner to break down the epics into user stories with the help of user story mapping. Breaking it down and sorting them into two-week sprints meant we could start to deliver smaller portions that would give value to the client and we could reprioritise what to build if needed.

USER STORIES

Working in an Agile framework I worked closely with the product owner to break down the epics into user stories with the help of user story mapping. By breaking it down and sorting them into two-week sprints meant we could start to deliver smaller portions that would give value to the client and we could reprioritise what to build if needed.

DESIGN SYSTEM

Alongside the finished interface designs, I produced a sketch file documenting all elements to keep the designs as consistent as possible. This was an important tool for the development team to use and build an understanding of. I used Brad Frost Atomic Design Methodology. Adopting a design system early to establish reusable design patterns was beneficial in helping our team stay in sync.

DESIGN SYSTEM

Alongside the finished interface designs, I produced a sketch file documenting all elements to keep the designs as consistent as possible. This was an important tool for the development team to use and build an understanding for. I used Brad Frost Atomic Design Methodology. Adopting a design system early to establish reusable design patterns was beneficial helping our team stay in sync.

LEARNINGS

We were able to receive quantitative data from analytics but in a perfect world, we would have liked to gather more qualitative feedback and perform more user tests. This made it difficult to help our client to make evidence-based decisions with ongoing features. This isn't an uncommon issue and wasn't solved by simply raising these issues in meetings. Running more small workshops to discuss feature desirability of users and involve them more in the process could have been an effective way to expose important unknowns and encourage directional research.

LEARNINGS

With the pressure of a tight budget and deadlines, it was difficult to redirect the client to focus from the next feature and onto the user. We were able to receive quantitative data from analytics but in a perfect world, we would have liked to gather more qualitative feedback and perform more user tests. This made it difficult to help our client to make evidence-based decisions with ongoing features. This isn't an uncommon issue and wasn't solved by simply raising these issues in meetings. Running more small workshops to discuss feature desirability of users and involve them more in the process could have been an effective way to expose important unknowns and encourage directional research.