Design Process

The design process for each project varies, and PHIG was certainly no different; I followed the 5 step design thinking process to have a solid reference point to where I was at during each stage of development while also remaining flexible enough in case I needed to go back to a particular stage that I felt needed to be retooled.

Research

Through market research, competitive analysis, and user interviews, I set out to gain a deeper understanding of the market and the customers for education and nonprofit organizations.

In preparation to dive into my research, I first set some clear goals and created a research plan that would guide my research process.

Heuristic Evaluation

Market Research

I started with market research to understand the general market, consumer, and business trends in order to gain a deeper understanding of the market PHIG might be part of.

Competitive Analysis

User Interviews & Key Findings

Now, it was time to validate the market research through user interviews with the consumer base of similar websites. During these interviews, I asked open-ended questions to learn as much as I could about their experiences and identify what the user’s needs truly are.

User Research

surveys have indicated that users brought up purpose of donating as a frequent issue. To understand the problem further, in-depth user research emails were set up with our top clients who use similar websites often.

Guided us to the right design strategy, and the right workflows. Every new customer that comes in now has first heard of us through our website.

Anonymous - Oct 23, 2023

"To volunteer, a love of gardening and teamwork is crucial. Donating requires clarity on fund allocation and a reliable method to track impact. Concrete examples of outcomes are good for assurance and understanding the tangible good resulting from contributions."

Anonymous  -  Oct 10, 2023

"A better understanding on the home page of what the garden is, why it is important, and where it is. I suggest starting with a succinct goal as one of the focal points of the homepage- why does this garden organization exist? In other words, who are you and what is your mission?"

Anonymous -  Oct. 14th 2023

Define & Ideate

Defining the Problems

Now that I've got a grasp of each user type, my next step was to consider the issues we aim to address for them. Using the insights and needs gathered from the empathy map, I delved into a more detailed exploration, crafting point-of-view (POV) statements and How Might We (HMW) questions. These served as guides to fuel my brainstorming process and gain a deeper understanding of the problems at hand.

Information Architecture

Site Map

I formulated a site map for PHIG's brand, focusing on the most realistic layout. It helps determine how everything is organized.

Prototype & Test

Building a Prototype

In order to make sure the design decisions I made in the lo-fi wireframes effectively help reach our project goals, I wanted to get to a point where I could test the design with real users.

Mid-Fidelity Wireframes

Now that I have refined the overall structure of the PHIG website based on what I learned from testing, the question now was - what will it look like? Taking the information provided, I turned them into mid-fidelity wireframes and condensed what was on the original site into basic interactions. These mid-fidelity wireframes would serve as the foundation to the highly revised high-fidelity wireframes.

Branding

Branding

Before working on the UI design, I worked on refreshing PHIG’s branding to effectively communicate their unique brand personality through their website.

Style Tile

Now I worked on compiling everything together and defining the specific direction I will be taking for Glyde's branding. Each decision I made for the branding elements were based off of effectively communicating their theoretical brand attributes.

Final Prototypes

Incorporating visual elements in line with Glyde’s branding, I worked on the UI design of the app and created high fidelity wireframes.

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