Role:
Sole Contributor
Duration:
April 2023 - May 2023
Link:
Final Mockup
Tools:
Figma, Coolors, Material Design Resources, Coursera, Illustrator, Photoshop
This fundraising plant store was established as a social-media-based project but, creating a mobile app and web platform allows for scalability and increased fundraising capabilities. This product will function as the online retailer for the fundraising project where users can purchase plants, learn about, and donate to the project.
Research and interview potential users to define user needs and expectations
Brainstorm and workshop design layouts with wireframes and prototypes
Conduct usability research, identify and implement actionable insights to improve designs
To launch this project, I conducted interviews with potential users as well as interviews with my Casa Marianella partner, Gabby Nelson. Research intended to show what users would desire from a plant-retail platform, and more specifically, what users expect from a fundraising retailer. Partner interviews helped establish what information, values, and styles from Casa Marinella the designs would need to include.
“I might be a shop-a-holic, but at least I can say my habits are also philanthropic.”
About
Nancy is a widowed grandmother living alone in an apartment in downtown New Orleans. She recently sold a very successful bakery and now has an excess of time and money on her hands. Nancy enjoys spending her money on her family and often browses the internet for things to buy her grandchildren. Nancy values philanthropy and charity so she seeks to purchase from organizations that share her values, which usually requires a certain amount of research and time. She often struggles with online shopping due to her progressing vision impairment and lack of internet literacy. Since she lives alone and doesn’t have easy access to assistance, if she struggles to with a specific website she will often give up on the site altogether and look elsewhere.
Goals
Easily browse online shops and confidently purchase items from genuinely charitable organizations without doing extensive research
Frustrations
Having difficulty reading websites or finding information about the products for purchase
Unclear Impact
Users want to know specifics about what their contribution will go toward and they don’t want to search for that information. They also want a clear financial breakdown of profit use.
No Follow-Up Communication
Users want to be encouraged to contribute by seeing what the progress looks like in real time as well as being kept in the loop in the future.
Unrealistic Expectations
Users aren’t willing to contribute to projects that are overcharging for products or selling products they would not like to have (bad marketing)
After prototyping the digital wireframes, I conducted a moderated usability study on 6 participants which were recruited at a coffee shop in Austin, TX. The study aimed to determine what design changes should be made improve functionality and support intended user flows. Participants were asked to utilize the platform's 3 main features: purchasing from an existing product selection, creating a customized product, and making a donation.
Research also showed that users felt that it was more difficult to utilize the customization and donation features than it was to shop from the existing product selection. In response, the contribution page was redesigned to more clearly communicate all three contribution features.
Participant survey responses expressed that one of the initial pain points established for this project has not been satisfactorily resolved by the platform. Research found that many participants were unsure of the fundraiser's purpose and Casa Marinella's values as a NPO after completing the usability study. This problem was addressed by changing the first call-to-action button users see to navigate to an informational page. So, instead of users traveling from the home page to the contribution page, users were directed to read about the organization before contributing.
After prototyping the mockup designs, I conducted a moderated usability study on 6 participants which were recruited at a plant store in Austin, TX. The study aimed to determine if the visual design styles and earlier design iterations maintained functionality and supported user flows. Participants were again asked to utilize the platform's 3 main features: purchasing from an existing product selection, creating a customized product, and making a donation.
User error rates showed that study participants expected products listed in their cart to open when clicked. To meet these user expectations, interactions were added so products listed in the shopping cart would open when clicked and a shortcut button was created to allow users to make donations from the cart.
Conversion rates showed that users were able to complete actions even when all the necessary input was not provided. To resolve this issue, I added pop-up messages to communicate the user-errors and edited the prototype so users could not proceed with actions without providing all the necessary user input.
Findings suggested that users were unsatisfied with button options throughout the platform. In a number of areas, participant data expressed that returning to a previous page was desired but the function was not immediately accessible. It was also made clear that some buttons did not appear to subjects as clickable but rather just information sections or images. To resolve these issues, back buttons replaced menu buttons on some pages and clickable items were redesigned to indicate functionality more clearly.
