UX Research—local Nonprofit

From September–December 2020, I worked with three UX researchers to analyze the communication channels and volunteer recruitment for a local nonprofit in southeast Michigan.

 
 
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Overview

Role: UX Researcher

The team and I met with three stakeholders from the nonprofit to gather information on the pain points they had identified and other relevant information for us to be successful in this inquiry. The nonprofit had noted issues relating to the content and layout of their website, their social media communication channels, and the process flow of volunteer sign-ups.

Methodologies

We began our inquiry with a background research report, comparing different aspects of recruitment, retention, communication, and website organization of more well-known nonprofits such as the Red Cross or Big Brothers Big Sisters. Once compiled into an initial report, we conducted six contextual interviews with various stakeholders. When the interviews were finished, we reviewed each one as a group. We created affinity notes used to categorize issues into an affinity wall (pictured right, blurred to protect the client's privacy). The affinity wall provided us with a roadmap to provide actionable recommendations that could improve stakeholders' current experiences interacting with the organization through communication platforms (e.g., the website) and processes (e.g., volunteer recruitment).

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Findings and recommendations

At the end of the process, we put forth ten recommendations based on our findings to streamline the volunteer process and create a more cohesive messaging strategy through their communication platforms. While the client initially thought there was an issue with the website's content and layout, through our interviews, we did not find evidence to support this statement. The following recommendations, if implemented, were found to have the highest impact:

  • Create a more streamlined volunteer application form

  • Share application timeline and steps on the website

  • Leverage a nonprofit constituent relationship system

  • Consider using an Application Tracking System

  • Implement a more targeted social media strategy/use of a social media management platform