A VIBRANT AND INCLUSIVE ORGANIZATION...WITH A SITE THAT DRIVES USERS AWAY
The Center, Central Florida's leading nonprofit for the LGBT+ community, recognized the need for a digital transformation. Its previous website was outdated and confusing and didn't reflect the organization's vibrant and inclusive nature.
In our mobile-first redesign, we transformed the site into a dynamic, user-friendly hub that aligns with the Center's mission and fosters a sense of belonging for its diverse audience. By prioritizing accessibility and community engagement, we redefined the nonprofit's digital presence.
The results were impressive:
- Bounce rates decreased by over 50%.
- Engagement increased by 35%.
- User satisfaction soared to 85%.
- Conversion rates grew by over 30% in the first six months following the launch.
This redesign improved usability and empowered the Center to connect more effectively with its community.
Beyond engagement metrics, the redesign delivered measurable benefits for the Center:
- Increased Donations: Online donations grew by 20% within the first six months, boosting fundraising efforts.
- Improved Operational Efficiency: Streamlined navigation reduced user support inquiries by 40%, allowing staff to focus more on community programs.
- Greater Community Reach: The website attracted 25% more unique visitors, expanding awareness and engagement.
- Enhanced Program Participation: Event sign-ups and volunteer registrations increased by 30%, strengthening community involvement.
This transformation was not merely about aesthetics; it generated tangible financial and operational benefits, ensuring the Center could better serve and grow its community.
A COMMUNICATION PROBLEM
The Center’s website did not effectively communicate its mission or the extensive resources available for the LGBT+ community. This disconnect resulted in a confusing and frustrating user experience, which led to high bounce rates and limited engagement. Consequently, the website hindered awareness, membership growth, and donations, preventing the organization from fully connecting with and serving its community.
We aimed to transform the website into a clear, accessible, and welcoming hub, informing users, inspiring deeper engagement, and enhancing their sense of belonging.
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THE TEAM'S JOURNEY
We enhanced user engagement through a user-centered design approach, leveraging user feedback and data to inform our decisions.
**Heuristic Evaluation** We began with a heuristic evaluation to identify usability issues and inconsistencies affecting user satisfaction. This revealed problems with inactive buttons and unclear icons that confused users.
**User Research** We conducted five user interviews and gathered 21 survey responses through Facebook, uncovering pain points and preferences. Users struggled with recognizing actionable elements, which guided our redesign.
**Usability Testing & User Flows** We outlined user flows to analyze navigation and tested how signifiers like button labels influenced user understanding of actions.
**Competitive Analysis** Examining five competitor websites revealed best practices and opportunities for differentiation in the marketplace.
**Persona Development & Empathy Mapping:** We created personas and empathy maps from user insights to better understand our audience's goals and frustrations.
**Analytics Review** We analyzed website analytics to identify high drop-off areas and areas for improvement.
**Information Architecture** A card-sorting exercise helped us redesign the sitemap, ensuring users can easily find resources.
**Wireframing & Prototyping** Using our research, we developed wireframes and prototypes for a user-friendly experience.
**Style Guide & Final Design** We established a style guide for consistency, and final prototypes underwent testing and refinement to solidify our design choices.
Through this data-driven approach, we transformed the website to enhance engagement and awareness effectively, aligning it with the Center’s mission!
VALUABLE INSIGHTS
Through our interactive user research and testing, we uncovered valuable insights that inspired our redesign:
**Awareness Building** – We've discovered that many users, particularly newcomers, are unaware of the Center and its incredible resources. Clarifying our mission and enhancing visibility is crucial to inviting more people into our community.
**Streamlined Navigation**—Users expressed challenges navigating our site, especially on mobile devices. This feedback highlighted the need for a more intuitive design to ensure a seamless experience that engages users and encourages exploration.
**Enhanced Content Accessibility** – Vital information can sometimes be complex to locate, leading to confusion. Improving our content organization and usability will make resource access much smoother and more enjoyable for everyone.
**Interactive Engagement**—Our users crave dynamic content on the homepage. We aim to create a more vibrant platform that connects emotionally with our audience, fostering more profound engagement.
**Fostering Belonging** Initially, we believed the community's needs were mainly physiological. However, we found that LGBTQ+ members deeply value connection and belonging. This insight is guiding our redesign to cultivate a welcoming and inclusive environment.
We posted a Google forms survey on 5 LGBT+ Orlando Facebook Groups and the 21 responses helped us understand the community and needs.
A diagram of renowned behaviorist and humanist Abraham Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs, showing the importance of love and belonging. Our first assumption was that needs would be physiological, like food and health, but when we synthesized interview and survey data we realized a sense of love and belonging in a community was just, if not more, important to people.
WELCOME MEMBERS
Welcome members and get people involved: We found through interviews and surveys that we needed to bring awareness to what The Center was and that a sense of community and belonging was most important to those surveyed, the team agreed that we must prioritize communicating who the center is and help make people feel welcome and included. We added an "About" section, a "Timeline" to show the organization's longstanding history, a "Welcome" section, and a "Get Involved" section.
Donation feature: Adding a prominent donate feature was a strategic move since The Center relies on most of its funding from donations. This is also another way for people to get involved.
Make navigation minimal and eliminate redundancies. With the hybrid card sort results, we were able to eliminate redundancies and streamline the menu and navigation. This eliminated cognitive overload and reduced time on task, and increased task completion rates in usability tests.
We wanted to encourage community involvement. Through interviews and surveys, we found that raising awareness about the Center and fostering community and belonging is crucial for those surveyed. The team agreed that we must prioritize communicating what the Center is and ensuring everyone feels welcome and included. To achieve this, we added an "About" section, a "Timeline" to highlight the organization's long-standing history, a "Welcome" section, and a "Get Involved" section.
Additionally, we implemented a prominent donation feature, as the Center relies heavily on donations for funding. Donating is also a valuable way for people to get involved.
To enhance user experience, we focused on making navigation minimal and eliminating redundancies. Based on the hybrid card-sort results, we streamlined the menu and navigation, which helped reduce cognitive overload, decrease task completion time, and increase usability test success rates.
MOBILE PROTOTYPE
Click on the arrow in the upper right corner to make this prototype a full screen.
CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS
The Center project highlighted the importance of challenging assumptions and staying open-minded during research. As designers, it’s easy to jump to conclusions, but our findings underscored the need to let the data guide our decisions.
Based on our early perceptions, we initially believed the website redesign should focus on meeting basic needs—like food and medical assistance. However, our research revealed that the community prioritized belonging and connection. Many felt marginalized by other organizations, making the Center a crucial space for inclusion and trust.
This insight transformed our approach. We realized our design needed to emphasize connection and warmth rather than just services. By prioritizing user insights, we created a website that captures the true spirit of The Center—a place for resources and belonging.
The results speak for themselves: The Center now boasts a digital space that amplifies its mission, increasing engagement, donations, and awareness while fostering a stronger sense of unity within the LGBT+ community.