Project Alpaca
Freelance
Project Alpaca is a non-profit with a mission to assist underrepresented young adults in establishing their professional careers through mentorship.
The design team provided a full web redesign focused on the experience of recruiting potential mentors and donors
Researcher
Designer
Contextual Inquiry
Competitive Analysis
Site Heuristics
Tree Testing
Usability Testing
3 week sprint
Figma / Figjam
Adobe InDesign
Keynote
Optimal Workshop
Zeplin
Expanding Resources & Building Communities
About the Project
Project Alpaca (PA) has an existing digital presence with distinct branding across several platforms, including YouTube and Instagram in addition to the primary domain, ProjectAlpaca.org. The main focus of this work is on the primary website, specifically the standard desktop interface (such as a laptop or large tablet). The design team focused in on the experience of potential mentors and donors, conducting robust research and prototyping of potential considerations for redesign.
Access to industry professionals and resources is often limited for young adults, making it difficult for them to establish themselves in their desired careers after college. The lack of financial support and resources can hinder their ability to achieve upward mobility and succeed in their chosen fields.
How might we optimize the experience of potential mentors and donors as they attempt to learn about Project Alpaca online?
Challenge
How is the existing
site performing?
Establishing a baseline
We conducted a usability test and tree testing on the existing site to evaluate its performance and identify areas for improvement. Through these tests, we gained insights into how users interact with the site and identified specific parameters that require improvement.
Users expressed that the finding the
program was easy but found the page
boring, too text heavy
Most users navigated to “get involved”
but had to navigate to the bottom of the page to find the application link
Users navigated to workshops
easily in drop down menu but
found wording confusing
Takeaway 1
Takeaway 2
Takeaway 3
Feature 1 : Program Page
Feature 2: Mentor Application
Feature 3 : Workshops Page
What do our target audiences need?
Interviews
“It’s as simple as saying, I know you don't believe in yourself yet. But I do see what you could do.”
“…creating a sense of connectedness to that mission, despite not being able to be there physically or in person”
3 Audiences
15 Interviews
10 Insights
To enhance their experience and cater to their needs, we engaged with 15 individuals - five mentees, five mentors, and five potential donors - who shared their perspectives on mentorship and non-profit donations.
What were the design
informing trends?
Research Synthesis
For each target audience, we collected the emerging trends and translated the findings into features for the website redesign.
Project Alpaca helps build students confidence
Impact Page
Being challenged is critical to emotional growth
There are certain skills necessary for STEAM jobs
Testimonials
Workshops
Mentee
Mentor
Mentors need to know what is expected from them
Honesty and clarity are necessary for mentee relationship building
Mentors understand what it feels like to not belong
Mentor
Application
Statistics
Testimonials
Potential Donor
People choose non-profits to donate to based on values
People donate at different frequencies
People expect their donations to make an impact
Mission
Statement
Donation
Options
Impact
The Steam Dreamer
Marcus |Mentee
Andrea |Donor
The Regular
Donor
Tatiana |Mentor
The Affirming Guide
Personifying the insights
Research Synthesis
The personas we’ve created are the embodiment of our research team’s collective insights. Each persona represents three key perspectives - the mentor, the mentee, and the potential donor - and serves as a foundation for our design approach.
Where did our research lead us?
Key Features
Our Mission
Mentorship
Impact
Get Involved
Our Program
Donate
Existing Site
Mid-Fi Design
Hi-Fi Design
Analyzing our success and shortcomings
Usability Test
Feature 1 | Program
You are interested in the 9-month program; find out some information about the program
Users navigated to program directly but struggled to understand program content and information
Developed a visual language to convey information to make it less text heavy
Mid-Fi Insight
Hi-Fi Takeaway
Feature 2 | Mentor Application
You’re interested in getting involved in a nonprofit as a volunteer mentor; apply to become a mentor.
Users were consistently split between navigating to “get involved” or “mentorship” tab
Provided a visual emphasis for mentorship on “get involved” as it is the most common path
Mid-Fi Insight
Hi-Fi Takeaway
Feature 3 | Workshops
You're interested in attending a workshop but don't know what subjects the workshops usually cover, find a past workshop.
Most users struggled finding “workshops” link within the program page
Provided a separate “workshops” page within the navigation bar
Mid-Fi Insight
Hi-Fi Takeaway
Expand Target Audience
Integrate Rebranding
Conduct Further Testing
In this current phase of the website redesign, we have focused on prioritizing our target audience, which includes mentees, mentors, and potential donors. As Project Alpaca grows and evolves, the audience will expand to corporate and non-profit partnerships.
Project Alpaca is currently undergoing a rebranding process. Upon finalizing the branding, we will integrate the colors, typography, and logos into the web design to establish a consistent style throughout their online presence.
We need to conduct additional testing on the latest hi-fi prototype to identify areas for improvement and understand the differences to carry forward into the next design iteration.
Moving Foward