Donor Link UX/UI Design
Why
As a significant amount of commerce is now completed online, donors want non-profit organizations to be able to receive donations digitally. Donors expect non-profit organizations to be able to use the most current technology, however many local charitable organizations don’t have the additional income to implement and maintain commerce features on their websites. While donating electronically is quicker and easier than ever before, many local charities are not able to offer this feature to their donors, creating a barrier to donate; this results in donors choosing non-local or alternative charities, meaning local non-profits receive less funding. Donor Link aims to remedy this by offering a free and easy option for local charities to increase donation revenue.
What
Donor Link is an Ecommerce startup for nonprofit organizations. It’s a product that charitable organizations can embed into their own websites to promote donations. The idea to be able to donate/fund specific items, instead of giving a general cash donation, was inspired by the “Giving Machines” — hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. While the “Giving Machines” require donors to donate in person, Donor Link is an entirely a digital platform. Donor Link's mission is to give virtual donors the opportunity to fund specific items that charities are in need of. This allows the donor to distribute their money to a need that is specific/tangible and it also gives nonprofit organizations higher opportunity for charitable donations!
How
Donor Link is a product that is intended to be embedded into a non-profit’s website. I understood this limitation from the beginning and acknowledged that the nature of the product would affect the design. I wanted much of the product to be fairly neutral and adaptable, to be able to look natural in many different websites. With that understanding, we first determined how we wanted the user to feel and what features our product needed to be effective and successful. I then established specific continuities we wanted across our platform. When I began prototyping, I designed the embedded product’s “home” page first. The home page was the most difficult to design but also the most important because we knew it would be the most outward facing side of the product. It was decided that there would be three essential sections to the home page, an introduction to the Donor Link product, a storefront, and a FAQ. After the home page we began prototyping the purchasing screen, as well as the administrative side of the product.