DIFFICULT
DIALOGUES
Designing a safe space for conversation in higher education
Summary
Difficult Dialogues National Resource Center (DDNRC) is a non-profit organization located in Ann Arbor, MI, that helps facilitate conversations around equality in higher education.
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Because most of DDNRC's revenue comes from consultations with students and institutions, events, and memberships, DDNRC wanted a redesign of their website in order to represent the organization's shifts as well as raise revenue through the site.
Goal of Interview
Discover the leading message the site is supposed to convey and help prospective visitors understand their purpose as well as incentivize new customers.
Takeaway
Consultations are the highest bringer of revenue, while the second is memberships, and third being donations. Most people book consultations by phone, not website due to lack of information and site organization
PERSONA
Simi Johnson
Foreign studies grad student
Biography
Simi is a queer dog-loving graduate student at the University of Michigan. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her friends and reading at her favorite cafe.
Core Needs
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Learn how to start a Difficult Dialogues conversation at her school.
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Learn how to apply for funding
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Book a consultation
Frustrations
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The site looks overwhelming upon entering
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Some information is out-of-date
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Some buttons are unclickable or lead somewhere else
"I want to be able to get the information
I need to start a conversation about LGBTQIA2S+ at my university."
"I want to feel like I'm choosing the right organization to help me and that I can trust them based on what they offer and how they represent themselves."
GOALS & DISCOVERY
It was clear the homepage lacked visual structure and an objective when visitors entered. Upon entering, a user may not know what the site entails.
Because consultations are the number one money-maker for DDNRC and the number one reason for users to visit the site, it was imperative that booking a consultation was seamless for users
Based on user interview and site analysis, I wanted to answer 2 questions:
1. What does the user journey look like right now when booking a consultation and finding more info on facilitating dialogue?
2. What is the site trying to convey?
The resources tab houses a resource page that houses a podcast card,
old articles, links that don't work, and hidden resource links within paragraphs.
A task analysis showed that 4/5 users came to the resource page but still did not know how or where to book a consultation.
Not only that, the color blue was used for clickable links within text and did not pass the accessibility test.
Buttons were also placed in close proximity with their bidirectional parts in the main navigation bar instead of placed somewhere further down the page
Buttons are different shades and text is different colors.
Incorrect padding between elements reoccurs throughout site
The hero image shows a lack of hierarchy with text and improper padding
When entering the Conference page, the main navigation disappears and there is a separate menu. All 5 test users clicked on the conference menu in an attempt to go back to the homepage.
DESIGNING
A SOLUTION
The first thing I wanted to do was curate a design system based on the given assets by DDNRC's marketing team that would help the site look inviting and cohesive. Improper use of UI can lead to visitors not being sure if a site is legitimate. It was imperative to create organized content that would easily lead a user to the result they were looking for, without questioning whether something was a link or not.
According to client research, a lot of the inquiries about Difficult Dialogues and consultations don't come from the site due to lack of visitors. Because a clear goal needed to be established, I added the non-profit's statement and mission into the hero and lower section, so that is the first thing visitors would see upon entering the site.
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Because consultations are the number one money-maker for the client, I added a clear call-to-action next to the navigation as well as at the bottom of every page. The second and third ways the organization makes money were also added to the top navigation: donations and memberships.
Originally, "Become a Member" and "Donate" were too close in proximity to the primary navigation. I decided to move the buttons and create their own cards for the bottom of each page as an encouragement to contribute to the cause.
I also decided to organize content into containers against darker backgrounds in order to draw attention.
A lot of the pictures throughout the site were outdated and unrelated to the site's mission, so I replaced them with photos that represented equality and unity.
