Boys to Men of Virginia
Improving content design and site usability metrics.
Impact: Facilitated donations and participant signup through improved information architecture design.
Key Themes
Working with this mentoring program for young boys was such a fun experience and a great opportunity to dive into design for community relationships.
The organization told me that they received too many calls and requests from parents and volunteers for information that was already available on their website.
They wanted to make sure that users knew where to find information, while also keeping them informed about how to donate.
They also had several key themes to highlight.
Safety
A safe place for boys to express their feelings.
Community
Mentors and peers who support boys’ well-being.
Growth
Emotional growth for kids and mentors.
Leadership
Positive structure for developing kids and teens.
Personas
What were the primary concerns for volunteers or parents?
I interviewed local parents and residents who were interested in the BTMVA or similar programs.
Giving Gabriel
A soccer coach who knows the benefits of the program and is looking to donate his time or money.
Parent Patricia
An interested parent who has more questions before enrolling.
Content Audit
How the site’s content and structure compares to competitors.
Initial Testing
Was the information organized in a way users could find it?
Where did users expect to find information?
Solutions
I structured all content around a common pattern used on other organization’s sites:
- Introduction: Introduce whatever the subject is
- Emotional plea: Appeal to users on a human and empathetic level
- Call to action: Direct users to what they can do to support the cause
Below are a few pages from my guideline document:
Website improvements
I handed off the guideline document to the organization for further internal work.
Here are some of the immediate changes that were made before the contract ended.
