Feed the Children Website Redesign

Usability Testing Overview

  • 10 participants

  • 3 areas tested

    • Sponsor a child by making a trustworthy donation

    • Find and sign up for volunteering opportunities

    • Learn more about the organization

  • 7 tasks

  • 15 usability issues found

A horizontal diagram illustrating a six-step user experience design process. The steps are: 1. Heuristic Evaluation, 2. User Interviews & Research, 3. User Journey Mapping, 4. Persona Creation, 5. User Testing, 6. Wireframes & Prototyping.

Steps Taken

This redesign will not only enhance the overall user experience on the Feed the Children website, but also create a more intuitive and accessible environment that fosters user confidence and trust in the organization’s impact. Ultimately, these improvements are expected to increase engagement, extend time on site, and drive more meaningful contributions to support children in need.

Why Redesign?

The website was evaluated using guided usability heuristic principles to identify key usability issues and uncover opportunities for improving clarity, efficiency, and overall user satisfaction. One violation found that was used in the redesign was regarding the search feature.

Search page showing no results for the query ‘How do I stop my recurring donation?’ on Feed the Children website.

Heuristic Evaluation

Heuristic Violated: Help and Documentation

Issue: There is not easily accessible FAQs for users that have questions about their donations or those who may need assistance if it is their first time donating.

Suggestions: Create an easily accessible FAQs section where users can see commonly asked questions regarding their donations or improve on their search engine to aid in answering users questions.

Recommendation: Update search engine functionality/ capability to pull relevant searched information

User Interviews & Research

Key Findings

90% of participants donated to a non-profit organization before.

60% of participants completed their goal on the site.

70% of participants mentioned that they expect easy navigation on the site.

40% of participants mentioned that they expect easy navigation on the site.

10% of participants visited Feed the Children's website before.

100% of participants spend 20 or more hours online per week.

50% of participants prefer information presented as short summaries with visuals.

23 users participated in a survey

Surveys were conducted to better understand the needs of potential users on the website and organizations alike by gaining feedback on their current experiences.

Pie chart showing survey results with four categories: 'Definitely Recommend' at 27.8%, 'Recommend' at 33.3%, 'Moderate' at 38.9%, and one unlabeled segment.
Bar chart titled 'Main Goal in Visiting a Non-Profit Website for Ending World Hunger' showing the number of participants for each goal. Goals include 'Make a Donation,' 'Volunteer/Get Involved,' 'Learn about the Organization,' 'Sponsor a Child,' 'Learn and Inquire for Employment,' and 'Pro Bono Legal Hours.' The highest number of participants is for 'Learn about the Organization.'
Pie chart showing 60% Yes and 40% No in response to whether goal on feed the children's website was completed.
Pie chart titled 'Content Preferred' showing categories like 'Data & Impact Reports,' 'Stories of Children & Families Helped,' 'All of the Choices,' 'Ways to Get Involved,' 'News & Updates about their Work,' with respective percentages.
A bar chart titled "Information Presented Preference" shows the number of participants preferring four types of information. The tallest bar, representing "Short summaries with visuals," has 13 participants. "Infographics or quick stats" is next with 6, followed by "Videos and testimonials" with 3, and "In-depth articles & reports" with 1.

User Journey

Flowchart illustrating a smooth, transparent online donation process for Feed the Children, involving four phases: Find, Explore, Select, and Donate, featuring a scenario with a user named Emily who navigates through social media, website promotion, confirmation, and payment steps.

This user journey follows Emily, a potential donor, as she moves from discovering the site on social media to completing a donation. Initially motivated by empathy, she becomes more cautious as she explores the website, seeking clarity on how her contribution will be used. Her experience highlights key opportunities for improvement: clearer transparency about fund allocation and more flexible payment methods to create a smoother, more satisfying donation process.

Personas

Profile of Emily Reid, an audiologist, with a photo of a woman in a white coat on the left and her personal details and goals on the right.
A professional profile or resume page for Mikayla Henderson. It features a photo of her smiling with crossed arms, along with sections detailing her personal information, goals, hobbies, and qualities. The page highlights her as a married Sr. Marketing Coordinator from Vermont, aged 34, interested in community volunteering, dancing, arts and crafts, and content creation.
Profile of Elizabeth Stone, a 37-year-old lawyer from Florida, with her hobbies, goals, and personality traits listed on the side.

User Testing Participants Included:

  • 5 most like Emily 

  • 2 most like Elizabeth 

  • 3 most like Mikayla

Three personas were created to represent specific groups of users with different demographic backgrounds, goals, frustrations, motivations, and pain points.

User Testing

Key Insights

44.4% of participants stated it was difficult to find what they were looking for.

89.9% of participants mentioned the difficulty in finding what they were looking for on the site.

44.4% of participants reported that nothing surprised them about the website.

66.7% participants reported finding confusing terms, labels, & buttons.

44.4% participants found the website trustworthy.

Blocker Issues Found:

  1. A participant was unable to find a hyperlink to get to volunteer opportunities because it did not look like a clickable button. 

  2. The search feature is not yielding relevant data, and it also takes up the whole screen and doesn't look trustworthy.

  3. Participants had a difficult time finding the relevant mission statement and important information because it was not seen on the front page, since the page is full of just a child's photo, and you have to scroll or look under other tabs.

An evaluation of qualitative and quantitative data by observing users perform tasks on the website.

  • Nature of Research

    • 8 total participants

    • Test conducted via Zoom (virtual) and in person

    • Participants provided consent to record their screen and audio while using the website

    • Participants recruited from researcher’s professional and personal networks 

Wireframes & Prototyping

Low-fidelity wireframes were developed to visualize proposed design concepts and outline potential solutions to the identified usability issues. These wireframes helped refine layout, functionality, and user flows before moving into final design.

Low-Fidelity Wireframes

Redesign the homepage layout to prominently feature the organization’s mission and values, ensuring they are easily discoverable for users. 

A website homepage layout for a nonprofit organization focused on ending childhood hunger. Contains navigation menu, main image placeholder, sections about organization and work, call-to-action button, footer with social media icons, links, and informational text.
Comparison of a website wireframe in light mode on the left and dark mode on the right, showing header navigation, main content sections, search box, frequently asked questions, footer with social media links, and sign-up button.

Enhance the search experience by refining the page’s visual design and incorporating a dedicated FAQ section to support users in finding relevant information more efficiently.

Elevate the visibility of the volunteer call-to-action by converting the existing hyperlink into a clearly identifiable button and placing it in a more prominent location to improve access to the volunteer page.

Three versions of a website homepage mockup, with a navigation menu, an introductory message about ending childhood hunger, a large placeholder image, and additional sections about the organization and ways to help.

High-Fidelity Wireframes

Young boy wearing a light blue jacket, smiling outdoors with blurred people and trees in the background.

These redesigns streamline access to key information and make it easier for users to navigate the site, ultimately improving usability, time on site and potentially reducing bounce rates.

A digital scheduling interface showing location, day of the week, and time of day filters with options selected for Bethlehem, PA, Monday, and Morning. The interface includes a date and time slot, address, available slots, and a sign-up button.

Children website is vital to advancing the organization’s mission and values. A thoughtful redesign strengthens the connection between volunteers, donors, and the communities served, ensuring that every visitor can easily access the information and opportunities they need to make an impact.

By increasing the visibility of volunteer opportunities, presenting essential information in a clear and intuitive way, and improving the search experience for quicker and more accurate results, the website becomes a more reliable and user-friendly resource. These improvements not only build trust with supporters but also encourage deeper engagement and long-term involvement.

Creating a user-centered digital experience that reflects Feed the Children’s commitment to transparency, accessibility, and compassion ensures the platform continues to serve those who rely on it most and supports the organization’s ongoing efforts to end childhood hunger.

A group of four smiling volunteers wearing blue t-shirts with the 'Love OKC' logo, participating in a charity event for Feed the Children. They are standing outdoors in front of stacked boxes labeled 'Feed the Children,' with some volunteers giving thumbs-up gestures.
A laptop screen displaying a FAQ webpage with a search bar at the top, followed by a list of four questions about donations, security, sponsorship cancellation, and impact.

Prototype

This project was completed in collaboration with Jazmine Bryant over the course of 15 weeks.