Redefining YouthCare's Online Presence.

01

INTRODUCTION

My team and I redesigned the marketing website and branding for a homeless youth shelter. As a result, their volunteer and donor engagement shot up by 50%.

Team

Me, Sai Ma, Saumya, Yani

Tools

Figma, Optimal Sort, Atomic Design

Duration

4 Months

Youthcare process flow

Who are YouthCare?

Youthcare, a nonprofit founded in 1974, works to end youth homelessness by engaging volunteers, donors, and business sponsors. Over the years, it has expanded its efforts, educating and upskilling more than 1,800 homeless youth with the help of a community of 1,500 volunteers, partners, and employees.

UX Goals

  • Refine the 30 page website.
  • Provide a cohesive, true-to-brand experience.
  • Align website to marketing goals.

Overall Marketing Goals

  • Recruit 1100 one-time donors and boost monthly donor sign-ups.
  • Expand partnerships by 20%.
  • Build trust and credibility in brand messaging.

Digital Marketing Goals

  • Increase organic website traffic by 30% through brand recall as a result of the luncheon event.
  • Build trust and credibility in website messaging.

Business Constraints: Limitations in manpower for updating and maintaining new content, compounded by constraints for implementation from the IT team.

Who did we Design for?

We followed the Alignment Personas Methodology to target our research and design. Here are the 3 personas.

Persona Type
What makes them different?

Cause Supporters

People who support the cause out of goodwill. They actively browse opportunities and stay up-to date with compliance training.

Reputation Seekers

People who seek to help because of some materiliastic benifit. They actively look for proof of mutual benefit.

New Comers

Anyone curious about the brand and wants to explore the site. They are passive, but curious about Youth Homelessness.

02

CAUSE SUPPORTERS

"I know the organization pretty well, I actually volunteer sometimes, because donating is very difficult. I usually love giving small gifts, but if not through the newsletter it is so difficult to keep track of what they want." - P5

Research

Design Intervention - Content Audit

03

REPUTATION SEEKERS

60% of traffic originates from Partner Websites but the information architecture does not help in finding information quickly to. It was important to make the information easy and quick to find. - Site Metrics Analysis

Research

Design Intervention - Information Architecture Update

We conducting 10 Usability Studies. We neglected the third persona. Our wireframes failed. New users struggled to understand what YouthCare was about and how to find the information to donate, volunteer, etc.

04

NEW COMERS

If I am exploring a cause I really want to help, and if I have heard of it before, I sometimes donate - otherwise it is very trust based for me.

Research

Design Intervention - Revert IA and Update Branding

INTRODUCING THE NEW YOUTHCARE

Styleguide and Atomic Design System

A cause supporter trying to donate

A reputation seeker trying to see latest news

A new comer trying to see testimonials

06

FEEDBACK AND TOUGHTS

Christine, CMO Youthcare

They did a great job brining a youthful look to the website and brand messaging. We really appreciate the hands on experience they had with the project.

My Thoughts

Rapid iteration of your wireframes and brainstorming ideas is humbling.

I learned the importance of effective communication and collaboration for a project's success.

Also check out..