Lions Befrienders
Lions Befrienders is a Social Service Organisation which was founded in 1995. The website is in need of a refresh and major overhaul. Our content strategy and photography art direction created a website that gives donors the assurance and affirmation that they need, by helping in the right cause through donation and volunteering.
Created at: General Assembly User Experience Design Immersive Course
Duration: 2 weeks | Team: Dawn Ho, Matthew Cai, Tesshire Chan
My Role: Researcher, Art Direction, UX Strategist & Product Designer
Duration: 2 weeks | Team: Dawn Ho, Matthew Cai, Tesshire Chan
My Role: Researcher, Art Direction, UX Strategist & Product Designer
The Challenge
Redesign Lions Befrienders website to encourage visitors to volunteer and charity donation.
Market Research
Understanding the Competitive Landscape
We conducted a competitive analysis and feature comparison against The Lions Clubs International Foundation, Touch Community Services, SPD and Fei Yue. Some highlights:
• No obvious Call to action buttons to direct users (usefulness & relevance)
• Lack of global search function (usability & find-ability)
• Lack of social engagement, just a small Facebook logo (influence & engagement)
• Shop link to just a catalogue of products, not a functional e-commerce shop (usefulness & relevance)
• There is no newsletter sign up (influence & engagement)
• Valuable and relevant information is not present on the website, but hidden in the annual report (find-ability & relevance)
• Lack of global search function (usability & find-ability)
• Lack of social engagement, just a small Facebook logo (influence & engagement)
• Shop link to just a catalogue of products, not a functional e-commerce shop (usefulness & relevance)
• There is no newsletter sign up (influence & engagement)
• Valuable and relevant information is not present on the website, but hidden in the annual report (find-ability & relevance)
Heuristics Evaluation & Content Audit
After conducting a heuristic evaluation and content audit on the current site, we did a tree test to see if users able to find some of this information easily:
• Core values • Volunteering Criteria • Donate • Befriender Sign Up • SAC Programme Info
Upon investigation, we realised that our users expected to find information about the SAC initiative and Be a SAC volunteer on the same page. If users enter from services, they will be able to go to the volunteer page. However, if they enter from the volunteer page, there’s no direct link that goes to the volunteer programme page.
Our usability testing on the current site further validated the tree test findings. Users also feedback that their first impression of the current website is that it’s plain, boring and looks really dated. The photos also don’t tell them much about LB’s cause and the beneficiaries. We concluded that although all the information is there, they are not presented in an engaging way to hold users interest.
Stakeholder Interview
From the interview and going through their annual report, I realised that they have enough income from grants, donations and their fundraising effort. Their current volunteers often come from schools, companies, events and roadshows, but mainly are short-term volunteering. What they really need are people that are able to commit on a regular basis to support their Befriender and CAN carer programme.
Understanding The Users
We need to find out how might we design a website to encourage users to volunteer and do charity donation.
1. Identify information users need to make a donation or volunteer
2. Identify pain points users have when donating or signing up to be a volunteer
3. Identify the motivations of users when they volunteer/donate
4. Identify the current behaviours of users who currently volunteer/donate
2. Identify pain points users have when donating or signing up to be a volunteer
3. Identify the motivations of users when they volunteer/donate
4. Identify the current behaviours of users who currently volunteer/donate
Synthesise Research: Affinity Mapping
Key findings from our 9 user interviews, aged 22-35, 4 female and 5 male. All of them have previous volunteering and donating experience.
Personas & Customer Journey Map
From the findings, we identified 2 personas. Tina, a mother that not only want to believe in Lions Befrienders cause, and also the organisation. The other personas, Theo, is a university student, who believe in the cause, but he wants to enjoy the giving process so that he will continue to support the cause.
We have also created customer journey maps for our 2 personas from our users and secondary research. We know that people generally won’t bother to find out more details about a charity organisation if their donation is just a small amount. I.e. if we give them more information, they might be willing to give more.
Problem Statement: Defining the Problem
Users want assurance and affirmation that they are doing the right thing by donating and helping in the right cause, they need that little push and to feel valued and appreciated because they truly want to make a difference.
Hypothesis
We believe that by redesigning our website to help users feel more confident and valued, we will be able to attract new givers and increase recurring givers.
Approach: Content Strategy
We believe that by integrating assurance and validation into the website, it will improve the overall user experience, thus also help to facilitate word of mouth and exposure of Lions Befrienders. With this three-prong approach, it will help start a chain reaction with compounding growth.
We adopted the Nomensa Charity Donation framework. This framework is built on the idea that givers must be rewarded for their contribution.
• Engage: During this stage, the potential donor becomes emotionally engaged with the charity. This can occur offline (for example through a television advert or appeal) or online (through case studies, online videos or other content);
• Nudge: At this point, the donor is tipped over into actually deciding to make a donation. This typically occurs on the “Donate” landing page and is supported by a range of subtle features, such as suggested amounts, imagery and wording. Messaging is important and should be consistent with other online and offline messages;
• Support: This refers to the support that the donor needs while stepping through the donation process. If this process is designed well and reflects user expectations it will feel shorter, more intuitive and ‘right’;
• Reward: Having completed the donation, the donor should be rewarded with a positive thank you message and encouragement to engage further.
• Relate: We added this stage to help achieve our Word of Mouth objective.
Content Map and Gap
By stacking our existing customer journey against the charity donation framework, we saw where are the area with possible opportunities.
Closing the gaps for users on Donation Page:
1. Transparency - Include the breakdown of donation dollar on Donate page – to build credibility
2. Engagement - Include case studies and stories of how donations have helped the seniors – to attract
3. Social Proof - Include social sharing – for that extra push and influence
4. Appreciation - Should be clear to reduce mental load – to encourage and retain
Closing the gaps for users on Volunteer Page:
1. Transparency - Include requirements and what to expect – to build credibility
2. Engagement - include testimonies and stories of volunteer experiences – to attract
3. Social Proof - Invite a friend feature – for that extra push and influence
4. Apply - Should have a low initial commitment
5. Tone of Voice - Sound friendly and inspiring
Website High Fidelity Prototyping
Mobile Responsive High Fidelity Prototyping
