Calling the banners on environmental education
Web redesign to increase engagement with EcoSchool Network
TL;DR
Challenge
Increase rates of volunteer sign-up and increase flow of donations to EcoSchool Network via their website
Solution
Parse down content, strategically feature ESN’s work, and provide messaging that inspires participation and donations
My role
UX Writer, UX Researcher
What I did
Affinity maps
Content strategy
Information architecture
Personas
User interviews
User surveys
UX writing for desktop
Tools
Maze
Miro
WordPress
About EcoSchool Network
EcoSchool Network (ESN) is a micro non-profit located in Portland, Oregon. At the helm are two directors who manage a network of volunteer project leaders. These project leaders teach lessons of environmental literacy and instill more sustainable initiatives within the schools themselves. Their projects range from school gardens, waste reduction in cafeterias, and carpooling initiatives.
Challenge
EcoSchool Network’s mission is to teach environmental literacy to young students in hopes that the ecological stewardship sticks. And this education takes resources (read: money). Was their site preventing them from recruiting new volunteers and donors?
Our analysis found that the main problems with their website to be:
Disorganization of site content and lack of obvious featuring of any of ESN’s actual work.
Confusing and overwhelming navigation.
No calls-to-action in any of their messaging.
Solution
Architect ESN’s site content for a smoother navigation experience.
Eliminate unnecessary, overwhelming site content.
Feature messaging that inspires potential volunteers and donors to commit to the cause.
Objectives
1. Remove content that obscures ESN’s work.
2. Highlight the impact of volunteers’ time and donors’ money.
3. Showcase ESN’s current initiatives.
4. Create copy that is compelling and inspires action.
Methods
According to 32 users on a survey about their donation habits:
25% report monthly giving to a cause.
Currently EcoSchool Network’s platform does not facilitate monthly donations.
58% say they donate to causes that they discovered via social media.
ESN does not have a strong presence on social media.
Top 4 categories of causes users donate to:
Crisis (65.6%)
Children’s Education (46.9%)
Environmental and Animal (43.8%)
Youth (43.8%)
All perfectly in line with ESN’s efforts (because yes, the state of the environment is a crisis).
There is an audience that is more than willing to contribute financially to causes like ESN, so what was the roadblock between intent and participation?
We asked 3 users to freely click through the website for 5 minutes and express their initial thoughts. All users agreed that:
They could get on board with EcoSchool Network’s mission and intention, however…
They were uncertain about the type of work that ESN does.
The layout was confusing and overwhelming.
These tests confirmed my team’s speculation: anyone could get behind ESN, but the organization of the website was a roadblock.
User interviews: What do you think of ESN’s website?
A round of affinity mapping revealed:
Users want to know the direct impact of their time and/or money before they donate.
Non-profits that take an active role in their community are more compelling to donors.
Users don’t want to read. They want the highlights without hunting for them. (As a UX writer, I can tell you that this is a near-universal truth.)
Now familiar with user motivations, frustrations, and goals, we created a persona:
Affinity mapping: Who is our user?
Surveying charitable behaviors
Persona: meet our end user
Now that we had Sustainable Susie, your friendly neighborhood climate warrior, we had a north star in which to reference for every design decision. If Susie wasn’t happy, then we had more work to do.
It was time to put pen to paper! Or, time to put pixel to screen? It was time to build ESN’s new website!
Deliverables
With the implementation of information architecture best practices and more concise copy, you don’t have to be an archaeologist to understand the lasting impact of EcoSchool Network.
Condensed, organized information.
ESN is a great example of community leaders who are working to tackle the climate crisis. Bold messaging is the way to inspire others to fight the good fight.
Inspiring messages.
When you see how, dollar-for-dollar, your donation can enrich the education of tomorrow’s leaders, the draw to give is stronger.
A reason to give.
Results
A 4-participant usability test, when asked to complete 3 tasks using our new site design:
9/10
Our design’s efficiency rating, according to 75% of participants.
100%
Percentage of participants who agreed our design was easy-to-use, well-organized, and streamlined.