UX Strategy & UX Design
Optimizing nonprofit engagement & increasing donations by 15% through strategic website redesign
Project type:
Academic project with non-profit organization
Timeline:
9 weeks
Team:
Ana Ignatescu, Ishan Dutta, Tanvi Dalvi, Gurusha Raskar, and Han Tran
My role:
UX Researcher, UX Designer, UX Strategist
Project overview:
After losing her daughter to cancer, Lacey founded the Finley Forever Foundation to support families facing pediatric cancer. She needed a website that would better connect with supporters and drive donations.
Our team partnered with her to create a strategic platform that emotionally connects with visitors to increase donations and volunteer engagement.
Project focus:
Website restructure, redesign, and rebuild
Introduce new content of real people's stories
Improve the donation experience to increase inflow
My top contributions:
Donation Deep Dive: led research and redesign of the donation experience that increased donations by 15%
Assessing user performance: Performed 3 moderated user tests
Team collaboration: brainstorm and share ideas
Web design: Designed and built 3 (of 8) website pages on Wix, including web and mobile
Prototype of the Finley Forever Foundation website
my contributions & toolkit
Usability testing
Continued volunteer work
Redefining the information architecture with data-driven insights
Challenge: After assessing the original website, we determined the website was disorganized, lacked hierarchy and general design principles, had an inflated navigation that hid several pages within a "more" category. We also believed there was an information gap that needed to be filled.
Strategy: We conducted a competitive analysis of several national and local pediatric cancer nonprofit websites and leveraged a mixed-method research regimen to improve the website architecture.
Sample of original website - poor hierarchy
Research methods that helped build a strong website foundation
Competitive analysis
We reviewed competing websites like Alex's Lemonade Stand (national) and Warrior Wagons (local) to gain outside perspective to brainstorm ideas
Content inventory
A comprehensive content inventory revealed:
Lack of hierarchy
Inflated navigation
Bland persuasion
Missing calls-to-action
Open card sort
Using the inventory items as “cards,” we learned how people organize the content:
Participants: 6
Cards: 25
67% grouped all events together
86% grouped wish lists with donations
Tree test
We evaluated how easily users could find key information in the proposed sitemap:
Participants: 14
Tasks: 7
Success rate: 85%
Finalized Sitemap
The proposed sitemap consolidates all events into one category and introduces key pages to drive action: a "Get Involved" page for volunteers, a "Check Eligibility" page with FAQ section, and a dedicated donation page. We also added new content about pediatric cancer, featuring stories of real children and families the foundation has helped.
Impact: The intuitive navigation structure, validated through testing with an 85% success rate will reduce cognitive load and improves content discoverability
Audience segmentation & journey mapping—the website must work for various user motives
Challenge: A single approach couldn't effectively serve the diverse needs of the foundation's supporters.
Strategy: Working with the founder, we identified 5 distinct user groups with different motivations. We developed personas for each segment and created tailored experience pathways to optimize conversion for every audience type.
Potential applicant
Potential applicants must review the eligibility guidelines to determine how to request support
Medical Professional
Medical professionals must understand how to refer their patients to to this program
Community Member
The website must educate viewers, entice people to donate, attend an event, or inspire them to get involved
Business owners
Businesses often partner with the foundation and must locate sponsorship opportunities
Potential volunteer
The organization must show users the impact that they can make and be easy to apply as a volunteer
Impact: These personas formed the basis for our tree testing and usability testing scenarios. By understanding and testing different user motivations, we created personalized experiences that increase engagement
Leveraging emotional engagement to make connections
Challenge: The website lacked content about the families the foundation helps, never showing visitors where their donations would go. Testers said the donation process felt transactional and impersonal, which may have deterred potential donations.
Strategy: We applied the Inzovu Curve principle—people start at a neutral emotional baseline and progress through pain, reflection, and hope before taking action.
Increasing emotional connection to take action
Introduced emotional content
Added educational information about pediatric cancer
Foundation stats (# of families helped, # of Courage Kits supplied)
Real patients, real families
Created "Who We Support" section that highlights the recipients with heartfelt family testimonials
Personalized donation process
Developed a donation hub offering users a choice of where they want their money to go
Donation-specific software
Changed donation platforms from Square to Donorbox to introduce auto-donation, personalized messaging, donating in honor/memory of a loved one
Impact: Leverage audience emotions to inspire and drive action. Transformed the donation process from transactional to inspirational.
User Experience Validation Strategy
Challenge: Our design assumptions needed validation to ensure strategic decisions would drive results.
Strategy: We created a high-fidelity prototype and conducted comprehensive usability testing to validate design decisions and identify conversion barriers. Testing tasks were tailored to each of the 5 user types' unique motivations.
- Locate where to make a monetary donation
- Learn about real people the foundation has helped
- Check eligibility for assistance
- Donate to Stem Cell Courage Kits
- Learn about volunteer opportunities
Moderated user-testing
Key data
Participants: 7 potential users aged 22 to 56
Duration: ~30 minutes
Consent: Verbal
# Tasks: 5 scenarios and task-based prompts
77% Success rate
Overall, the testing achieved 77% average success rate with targeted improvements for problem areas
Identified critical insight
100% found general donations but only 42% found specific donation types
Impact: Data-driven recommendations led to a centralized donation hub strategy, improving donation completion rates
Accessibility & Clarity Strategy
Challenge: 63% of users found eligibility guidelines unclear, creating barriers for families needing support.
Strategy: Developed comprehensive information design approach to eliminate confusion and streamline access to services.
Check Eligibility
Created dedicated "Check Eligibility" page directly in the navigation that includes clear guidelines
FAQ
Added detailed FAQ section addressing common concerns
Referral guidelines
Included professional referral requirements and guidance text
Simplified process
Simplified application process with clear next steps
Impact: Reduced barrier to entry for families seeking assistance while ensuring proper referral protocols.
Implemented a unified brand strategy
Challenge: The existing website lacked visual cohesion and didn't follow basic design principles that led to inconsistent brand representation.
Strategy: Developed a system of brand guidelines, including colors, typefaces for headers and body copy, a favicon, and ensured it worked across mobile and desktop interfaces
Impact: Transformed the foundation's digital presence with cohesive branding to build trust and connection through consistency, patterns, and design principles
Wireframes and final design
Homepage wireframe
Homepage and supporting pages
Strategic Learnings
Design for impact
Emotional storytelling balanced with clear pathways to engagement drive people to take action
Specific tools perform better than general tools
My donation platform research taught me that nonprofit-specific tools outperform generic payment processors
Data-driven decisions
User research and testing revealed critical gaps between assumptions and reality, preventing design mistakes and ensuring strategic alignment
Stakeholder collaboration
Working directly with the founder ensured strategic priorities remained focused on mission impact while meeting user needs
"This was the best decision I have made in a long time. Thank you!"
— Lacey B., Finley's mother & Founder of the Finley Forever Foundation