Chicago Scholars
Type:
Bootcamp Project
Tools:
Figma, Paper, Illustrator
Roles:
Graphic Designer, UX Designer, UX Researcher
Timeline:
4 Weeks
Your Zip Code Shouldn’t Dictate Your Future
Project Overview
When we first looked at the Chicago Scholars website it was very obvious that it was in need of a redesign as accessibility and responsiveness were two of the major issues that were most apparent. The colors used on the website for backgrounds and fonts were very difficult to distinguish, the branding and theming of the website was very bland using a lot of grays and whites with some blues and reds to mimic the Chicago flag, and it was not clear as to what the website was for from the homepage. After further inspection of the site we also found that much of the information architecture and grouping of like information was not well put together.
User Research: Establishing A Meaningful Connections
After looking over the problems with the website, we began working on developing an idea of what our users would be. While we originally were torn between whether to focus on designing for both potential mentors and mentees, we ultimately decided it would be best to focus on designing the experience for the mentors and educating users on what Chicago Scholars is and what they do.
What also helped shape this persona was interviews conducted with people who fit our target audience and competitor analysis of four separate websites. In total we conducted seven interviews with various different individuals who were between the ages of twenty-one to thirty-five. These individuals all had different backgrounds with some of them being teachers and students to some being in the service industry and another who was a journalist.
Definition & Synthesis: Nurturing Those Connections
As for competitor analysis there were four websites we used to compare Chicago Scholars with, those being Mentor.com, Triplethreat.org, Champs Male Mentoring Program, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. While each website had its pros and cons with stand outs being that Champs had an issue of clearness and readability with its branding, conversely Big Brothers Big Sisters had strong branding and was very consistent. Another thing that all of these websites had that Chicago Scholars did not have was that it was much clearer as to what these websites were about and how you could get involved. It was from this research that we were able to understand what different elements we wanted to include in our redesign of the website.
Ideation:
When it came time to help make sense of some of our research one tool we used was a storyboard to help explain why someone might want to use Chicago Scholars and what they might get out of it.
Along with we also had to find what needed to be done to change and simplify the onboarding experience for a new user. This leads to a user flow that you see in all of the prototypes.
Prototyping (Lo-Fi)
From there we got to drafting different ideas for what we wanted to do for prototypes of the redesigns. Some of these redesigns focused more on simplicity and form such as helping people understand the who, where, how, and why of the organization while others focused more on who and the what of the organization and their accomplishments. In the end, we went with a design that took aspects from both and prototypes with a greater emphasis on showing what Chicago Scholars does and what they have historically done.
We tested the prototype and found that the different versions of the website was that “infinite” scrolling navigation on mobile was too much and that the sign up process on mobile was confusing. Other insights we received were that users thought information was very clear and that they liked the layout of the website. As for the mobile version of the website, the design was very different from the desktop with the decision being made to have the mobile version of the website have this ‘infinite’ scrolling aspect to it as you learn more about the organization.
User Testing + Outcomes
Conclusion + Future Opportunities
In the end, what we learned from this project in general was the importance of accessibility and testing, but also that having a clear idea for what you want your website to look like early is very important whether it be when it comes something as general as layout to more specific aspects like the font size and theming.
If I were to continue this project, I would…
Strive for greater design consistency
Push for clearer visual signposting
Expand scope of the redesign to the rest of the website