Overview
In the summer of 2024, I began a three-month design program at the University of Washington, Seattle, where I worked with clients on the redesign of a nonprofit website named “Acquiring Knowledge for Transcendence - AKT.” AKT is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people by providing access to education, scholarships, mentorship, and sports programs, empowering individuals to grow and achieve their goals. It creates opportunities for under-served communities, inspires positive change, and helps young people build brighter futures through meaningful support and guidance. I served as a UX Researcher and Designer for this project, taking responsibility for conducting research studies to identify issues with the existing website.
As part of the research, I conducted semi-structured user interviews with 8 leadership members and volunteers of the organization. The discussions focused on understanding AKT's goals, mission, how the organization was formed, how it serves the community, the role of the current website, and areas for improvement. Additionally, I conducted interviews with 3 individuals affiliated with similar nonprofit organizations to understand how they perceived the AKT website, what kind of information their websites provided, and what could be improved in AKT’s case.
During my time working on the AKT website redesign, I revamped several pages and designed a number of new ones. Unfortunately, due to confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements signed with the client, I am unable to share specific details about the individual project. However, I will be discussing the redesign process and additions to the AKT website in this case study.
Responsibilities
As a UX Researcher and Designer, I undertook several tasks to revamp the AKT website and align it with the organization’s goals:
Information Architecture Design: I restructured the navigation bar and added dedicated pages for AKT's four key pillars: AKT Sports, Education, Community Outreach, and International Outreach. Previously, only a sports page existed, and the education page was misrepresented as a separate scholarship page.
Page Redesigns and Additions: The homepage was redesigned to include a clickable “Our Programs” section, seamlessly linking to individual program pages and making navigation more user-friendly. The About Us page now features a History Section, chronicling AKT’s journey since 2017. To further enhance storytelling and emotional connection, a Leadership Passion Section was added to highlight the passion and vision of AKT’s founders, distinct from the general team information. Additionally, the Team AKT Section was introduced on the Sports page, spotlighting detailed profiles of players who have been supported by AKT through scholarships and other impactful programs.
Content Structuring: For all key pages, content was divided into sections: Program Mission, What We Do, Impacts/Accomplishments, Next Steps, and Call to Action.
Visual Enhancements: Improved the website’s visual design by updating the color scheme, typography, CTA buttons, and overall content alignment to ensure a cohesive and visually engaging experience.
Donation and Volunteer Features: Added a Donation CTA across all pages and a Volunteer CTA in the footer to maximize user engagement and encourage action.
Style Guide Development: Created a detailed style guide that included font choices, CTA designs, and typography standards to ensure visual consistency.
Content Writing: Authored content for several pages, including the newly added sections, to ensure clear communication of AKT’s mission and accomplishments.
Phase 1 - Understand
This section gives a brief explanation of AKT’S target audience, the research that was conducted to better articulate the problem and insights from it.
Target audience
The redesigned AKT website was tailored to meet the needs of diverse audiences. It serves current volunteers and leadership by providing streamlined access to information about ongoing programs, outreach efforts, and organizational updates. For potential donors and sponsors, the site offers clear program details, measurable impact stories, and an easy donation process to build confidence in contributing. It also caters to beneficiaries and program participants, such as youth and families, by showcasing opportunities like scholarships, sports initiatives, and community outreach programs. Lastly, it engages the general public and advocates by highlighting AKT’s mission, history, and accomplishments, encouraging greater advocacy and support for the organization.
User Research
To guide the redesign of the AKT website, a comprehensive research process was undertaken to address user needs and improve functionality. This included conducting 8 semi-structured interviews with volunteers and leadership members, each lasting 20–40 minutes. An interview script was developed to explore AKT’s goals, mission, history, challenges, and how the current website supported their needs. Additionally, 3 interviews with individuals affiliated with similar nonprofit organizations were conducted to benchmark best practices, focusing on storytelling, clear program information, and inclusive visuals.
All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and systematically coded to extract actionable insights. These findings emphasized the importance of enhancing the website’s storytelling, providing structured program details, and including diverse, impactful visuals to better represent AKT’s mission and engage its audience.
Click here to view interview script
Competitor Analysis
I did competitive analysis which was focused on identifying strengths and gaps by evaluating nonprofits, which align with AKT's mission of community development, youth empowerment, and education.
Phase 2 - Analysis
Hand-code the interviews to turn qualitative data into quantitative data. Each interview was transcribed and codes were derived from those interviews. The codes were later combined to generate four main themes.
Insights from User Research and Competitor Analysis
The research uncovered several critical insights that informed the redesign:
Missing Content Representation: The existing website lacked dedicated pages for key pillars like community outreach and international outreach, leaving users unaware of these programs.
Perception Issues: The over-representation of basketball-related visuals led users to believe AKT was primarily a sports organization, reducing visibility for other important initiatives.
Lack of History and Leadership Narrative: Users noted the absence of a history section and a leadership passion section, which could strengthen emotional connection and storytelling.
Navigation Challenges: Users found it difficult to locate information on the current website due to an unclear navigation structure and missing links to critical pages.
Call-to-Action Placement: Donation and volunteer CTAs were not prominently placed, limiting user engagement and action.
This table helps illustrate AKT's areas of improvements by contrasting the redesigned website's focus with the shortcomings of its previous version.
Phase 3 - Design
New Information Architecture
After analyzing the insights from interviews and competitor analysis, I gained a clear understanding of the shortcomings of AKT’s webpages and identified opportunities for improvement. I began working on a new information architecture, and after several iterations and collaboration with stakeholders, we finalized an architecture that prioritized intuitive navigation and clear representation of AKT's key programs: Sports, Education, Community Outreach, and International Outreach. This included dedicated program pages, a streamlined navigation bar, and a clickable “Our Programs” section on the homepage, ensuring users could easily access relevant information while aligning with AKT’s mission.
Click here to view New and Old Information Architecture of AKT website.
Story Requirement
Afterwards, I developed a detailed story requirement map for AKT. This map outlines the structure and content flow for the redesigned website, focusing on the organization’s history, current initiatives, and future goals to ensure clear storytelling and user engagement.
Style Guide
Keeping into consideration the importance of brand and brand identity as one of the points of AKT. I used the design elements defined by AKT brand book and created a style guide that was later used to create high-fidelity prototypes.
Using the style guide, I played around with different design variations of the prototype incorporating stakeholders feedback, and made sure the design is accessible, and illustrations and text make sense together.
Phase 4 - Build
This is the high-fidelity prototypes for key pages that I designed to enhance user experience and storytelling. The homepage highlights AKT's mission, programs, and impact with a clickable "Our Programs" section. The About Us page features a History Section showcasing AKT’s journey and core values. The AKT Sports page includes training programs, community events, and a "Team AKT" section with player profiles and modal pop-ups which provided detailed profiles for team members. Additionally, the Education page highlights scholarships, events, and future goals. Each design element aligns with AKT's mission to engage users and showcase its impact.
Click here to view Figma file of AKT high fidelity prototype.
Color variations were also provided at the client’s request, inspired by the organization’s logo to ensure consistency and alignment with AKT's brand identity.
Reflections and Takeaways
I feel fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to work for a nonprofit organization like AKT which is helping people by providing access to education, scholarships, mentorship, and sports programs. I was very inspired how these people are creating opportunities for underserved communities, inspiring them for a positive change, and helping young people build a brighter future through meaningful support and guidance so that they can grow and achieve their goals. It was a privilege for me to contribute to their mission and help them amplify their impact through thoughtful design solutions.
Here are some key takeaways from my experience:
Research Methods: I learned that the type of research methodology undertaken depends on the timeline as well as the type of information that we need to gather. Various qualitative and quantitative methods can be used to gather data based on the data needed and the time available to tackle the research.
Time Management: Balancing multiple tasks, from research to design, within tight timelines taught me the importance of prioritization, effective planning, and staying organized.
Collaboration: Working closely with AKT’s leadership and stakeholders gave me valuable experience in aligning their vision with user needs. It also taught me how to translate diverse perspectives into cohesive design solutions.
Design Process: Designing the new information architecture, revamping key pages, and creating engaging visuals gave me hands-on experience in crafting user-centered designs that should align with an organization’s mission and values.
This experience not only strengthened my research and design skills but also reinforced my passion for creating meaningful designs that inspire change and make a positive impact on people’s lives.
