A Redesign to Inspire Change

Samaritan’s Purse empowers users to connect with and contribute to meaningful causes through a responsive redesign.

5 Minute Read

Project Overview

My Role

UX / UI Designer

Project Length

3 Weeks

Project Goals

01.

02.

03.

Enhance the efficiency of exploring donation opportunities.

Simplify site navigation to improve the user experience.

Build users’ trust through transparency.

The Brief

Responsive Redesign

Context

Samaritan’s Purse is a nonprofit, known for its’ commitment to impactful spiritual and physical aid to those in need around the world, however the unintuitive website hinders users’ ability to explore causes and make donations.

Challenge

Redesign the site navigation to transform the user experience into an effortless and inspiring platform, that encourages potential donors to support the cause.

Deliverables

Heuristic Evaluation

Usability Test

Site Audit

Prototype

Wireframes

Before & After

The Problem

The poor organization hinders users’ access to donation opportunities and insufficient display of donation impact and financial statistics weakens users’ trust towards the organization.

The Solution

Simplify the donation process by making donation opportunities more prominent and accessible across the website, emphasizing tangible outcomes of donations with real-life stories, testimonials and impact.

Before

After

DISCOVERY

Comparing the site against proven usability principles.
Heuristic Evaluation
01.
Identifying areas where users struggle most.
Site Audit
02.

01. Heuristic Evaluation

I started my research with a heuristic evaluation, using Jakob Nielsen’s principles to identify usability issues and determine their severity.

This deliverable was essential to uncovering design flaws and prioritizing improvements strategically. It provided valuable insights that guided the rest of the project, ensuring an efficient and impactful design process.

Gathering real-world feedback from donors.
User Interviews
03.

Redesign Methodology

I began the discovery stage with primary and secondary research so I could better understand the severity of the navigational flow, before any designing took place. The main goal was to analyze friction points with the interface and discover user needs and pain points.

Critical Violations

Recognition Rather Than Recall:

The CTA to explore a comprehensive list of donations is buried in the navigation menu, with poor visual hierarchy.

Inconsistent placement of options like donation or volunteer links increases navigational errors and user frustration.

Aesthetic and Minimalist Design:

Filter menu displays projects and sub-categories without visual hierarchy, and the text is inconsistent with the nav bar categories, leading to confusion.

Consistency and Standards:

The tablet website is not responsive, causing text to run off the screen.

Menus, buttons, and action elements are inconsistently designed, leading to a fragmented user experience.

Terminology and menu labels are inconsistent and misleading, causing confusion about labels and actions.

Users expect access to donation options under "Ministry Projects," but are directed to informational pages, making them rethink how to accomplish their task.

Aesthetic and Minimalist Design:

Cluttered layout with images and text competing for users’ attention, making it hard for them to focus their task actions and navigate the site.

02.
1
Donation & Volunteer Navigation
All users expected to find list donations under “Ministry Projects.” After 3-5 minutes, they gave up frustrated.
2
Lack of Project Details
Users expressed need for visual aids to clearly convey project details, such as impact, how funds are used and progress.
3
Counterintuitive Checkout Page
Frictions with checkout page, as they easily overlooked which donation they added and where to input credit card information.
Site Audit
Before diving into interviews, I had participants briefly interact with the site to help me analyze the navigation and pages. This helped validate the heuristic findings and uncover other friction points.
Key Usability Issues

02. Site Audit

Before diving into interviews, I had participants briefly interact with the site to help me analyze the navigation and pages. This helped validate the heuristic findings and uncover other friction points.

All users expected to find the list donations under “Ministry Projects.” After 3-5 minutes of exploring the site, they gave up frustrated.
Navigation
01.
03.
User Interviews
With users now reconnected to their past donation experiences and preferences, I conducted user interviews to uncover what donors prioritize when choosing a nonprofit. This helped me identify key factors that foster donor loyalty and drive higher contributions.
Interview Approach
Number
5 people interviewed.
Age
40-55, all frequent donors.
Style
In-person & remote.
Duration
30-60 minutes each.
Goals
01.
Learn what donors value when choosing to support a nonprofit.
02.
Understand what encourages trust and drives return donors.
Affinity Map
Financial Transparency
Potential donors distrust nonprofits if they have to dig to learn how they’re using funds.
Donation Impact
They are hesitant to make a donation if the website does not portray their impact.

DEFINE

user Personas
The Analytical User
Mark is motivated by data and transparency, needing clear financial reports, project details and progress metrics to trust that his donation will be used effectively.
The Charismatic User
Jane is motivated by success stories, photos and testimonials, needing accessible impact visuals and control over where their donation goes.
Lengthy Project Descriptions.
Lack of Control Over Where Donation Goes.
Complex site navigation.
Limited Details on Progress and Impact.
Excessive Email Communication.
Difficulty Finding Financial Reports.
Key Pain Points
Key Needs
01.
02.
03.
04.
05.
06.
Ability to choose how their donations are allocated within projects.
Flexibility in Donation Allocation
Clear and accessible details on financials and donation allocations.
Photos, stories and data visualization on project progress and their positive impact.
Visual Impact Report
Financial transparency

IDEATE

Brainstorming Solutions
I developed user flows to map out how users would navigate the entire process of exploring donation options and completing their contributions. This helped ensure an intuitive and efficient journey from start to finish.


How might we… help busy middle-aged professionals with analytical mindsets build trust that nonprofits’ will use their contribution to effectively advance the project’s goal?
Detailed Project Page
In-depth details on goals, progress and opportunity for donors.
Data Visualization
Charts on finances, project progress, and donations.
Impact Report
Concise, report about the organization’s yearly impact.
User Flow

DEVELOP

Idea Generation
In this layout exploration, my goal was to create a design that powerfully highlights the organization's impact while establishing an intuitive navigation structure. The focus was on guiding users seamlessly to the various program categories, enhancing both engagement and ease of access.

01. Landing page

Low-fidelity wireframes

02. Program page

VALIDATE

Usability Test
I conducted a usability test to ensure the revised navigation structure improved and streamlined the end-to-end donation process.

This helped me ensure that the design decisions aligned with expectations and provide a seamless experience before finalizing the design for handoff.
Number
5 people interviewed.
Users Tested
Aged 40-55, all frequent donors.
Style
In-person ; Moderated.
Duration
30 minutes each.
OBJECTIVES
Evaluate if users can easily locate and explore projects within program categories.
SUCCESS METRIC
4/5 participants go to curated list of programs to access all projects with no missed clicks.
5/5
PASS / FAIL
0/5
2/5
Evaluate how users add donations items to their cart.
4/5 participants click the plus icon to add donations to their cart with no missed clicks.
Evaluate if the checkout process aligns with what users are familiar with.
4/5 participants can input their card information without confusion or needing assistance.
Key Needs
Test Approach
Test Goals
Took up too much space and distracted from more critical information.
Distracting impact report
The checkout page did not reflect the process they’re familiar with.
Expected the "Donate" button to add items to cart, not the “+” icon.
“Donate” CTA Misinterpretation
Cluttered checkout process
01.
02.
03.

Iterations

01. Project Details Screen

Version 1

Version 2

01. Donation Checkout Screen

02. Donation Checkout Screen

Version 1

Removed “+” Icon

Refined add to cart action to only the button, increasing consistency and reducing confusion of next action.

User Insight

“I saw the plus icon but I honestly didn’t think it had anything to do with adding it to my cart.”

Changes Made

Removed the plus icon and reworded the CTA button text with language more familiar to users, increasing the clarity of their next action.

Added Value

These minor adjustment improve the usability by reducing confusion of key actions and aligning function with user expectations.

Version 2