Volunteer Portal
Compassion International (CI) has not only those that want to give with sponsor ship and as donors, but as volunteers. In the past users have only been able to volunteer if they have an existing user account. This has made obtaining new volunteers tedious but has created unnecessary roadblocks for CI staff and users.
Role
UX / UI Designer
Contribution
User Journey Mapping
Wireframes
User Flows
CI would like to open up volunteer opportunities to all users, with or without an account. With specific requirements and limited back-end resources, CI needs to make a public volunteer portal where users can complete an in-depth volunteer sign-up process all in a few minutes.
The Problem
Analyzing the User Flow
The original user flow for volunteering was hindered not only by having to sign on to the Compassion site, but unnecessary steps. Users had various exit points which would hinder them from volunteering, like locating an event near them even if they want more displayed.
The new flow creates a seamless experience utilizing location services to help users identify events nationwide. Users are also not prompted for personal data until they are ready to commit, keeping them on the site to view volunteer events.
The Journey Beyond UI
To better understand the user’s journey from conception of the idea of volunteering to completing the process, a journey map was created to reflect some key moments for users. This encompassed many touch points beyond just the web interface and revealed friction.
User Feelings
It was very apparent the there were more negative thoughts and feelings for users throughout the journey than peak positivity.
Missing Expectations
A few points in the flow were laboring for users. In particular, when locating and event users needed to interact with a list of data and no maps. Users are used to maps when locating places or events, and this feature would be helpful. Additionally, using phone data such as user location or autofill data could assist in completing forms and actions.
Cumbersome Data Capture
Some forms require family data if more than one person will volunteer, and this data comes up later after sign up during the consent to attend forms. This data was redundant, yet users had to supply it multiple times. Caching the necessary data or saving in the user profile would streamline these forms.
New Experience Wireframes
After working through user types. key needs, and various user scenarios, I began creating wireframes. These were broken up into three stages to better understand and work through the users process. Search, Registration, and Waivers/Submission help users to break the steps down and reduce cognitive overload.
The inclusion of “Featured Events” and easy to interact with search filters gives users an easier experience in addition to removing the biggest hurdle, the necessary site login.
Future Outlook
Next steps include high-fidelity and design mockups. This will be followed by user testing and revisions to create a complete product with user experience at the forefront.
