ScholarCHIPS
Problem
Launched by a young entrepreneur, ScholarCHIPS is a charitable foundation that grants scholarships to children of imprisoned parents. The site, which acts as a landing page, showcase, case for support and giving portal, has started to outgrow its current site. Where visitors may find themselves on the ScholarCHIPS site for a number of reasons, understanding purpose and needs of the nonprofit's site is not easy.
Solution
Conduct User research and testing to inform recommendations and handoff to a design team.
Role
UX Researcher
Timeframe + Deliverables
7 days
Executive Summary, UX Research
Key Methods
Internal Review, User Testing
Introduction.
In addition to their scholarship fund, ScholarCHIPS is also a community actor, offering mentorship services as well as a hub for resources. As the organization has grown, their service have outgrown the capacity of the website.
Research.
I conducted a LEMErS heuristics evaluation in order to gain insight to possible pain points of the user.
Results of Heuristics Evaluation
I conducted a WCAG evaluation to gain insights on where the site needed to improve accessibility.
I created a proto-persona of a guidance counselor to guide user testing and recommendations.
Usability Tests.
Both informal and formal tests were conducted, with a total of 13 participants, completing the following tasks
After looking at the homepage for 10 seconds, what is the purpose of the website?
Find background information on the organization, and two specific benefits to recommending the scholarship to students.
Contact the organization to ask for more information.Find out where students can find eligibility requirements, and how to apply.
Findings
1
If users are unable to grasp the mission and foundation of Scholarchips, they will be less likely to engage with the rest of the site.
2
Users need to be able to contact the organization. Not knowing how to perform this function presents a severe issue for all users.
3
Underserved applicants/users need to know application expectations to prepare ahead of time for the application process.
Final Recommendations
1. Conduct more research in WCAG guidelines and make the website more accessible. As a scholarship fund, this is important for welcoming a variation of applicants, mentors, and any others seeking more information.
2. Pages should be reorganized so that there is not an inundation of information, deterring users from learning background details.
3. Contacting the organization should be easier. Adding a direct email capability, a phone number, and more prominent social media links can invoke better trust and entice users to take a further step in engagement.
Improving this user experience, the site can increase engagement with their outputs as well as with their programming, heightening their overall impact.