Building a website for NGO
Projects carried out with NGO Amaar
Introduction
In 2018, I discovered Amaar, an NGO dedicated to the cause of animal rights. Amaar operates in the city of Maringá and carries out collaborative actions with an all women team. On August 6, Amaar announced the cancellation of the animal rescue program on its Facebook page, citing the lack of resources as the reason for shutting down the program.
I tried to make a cash donation to help Amaar. However, it wasn’t so easy. You can donate in person at the adoption fairs that take place every Sunday. You can ask them for their bank account by sending a direct message on social media. Or, you can try to find Vakinha Virtual’s website by searching their Facebook timeline. This is not a straightforward process. Making this process easier would probably help Amaar receive more donations.
Challenge
Improve the way of sharing Amaar’s information with the community and facilitate Amaar’s actions.
Methodology
CSD Matrix
I always start my projects with the documentation of certainties, assumptions, and doubts. It’s a good way of looking at which path to follow.
To complete my matrix, I searched for information on Amaar’s social networks and news on the internet, and I got in touch with one of the volunteers. Giovanna was very kind to help. She introduced me to the other volunteers and explained her day-to-day at Amaar.
User interviews
On 07/14, I traveled to Maringá to go to the adoption place and start my face-to-face interview. It wasn’t easy to find the place where the adoption was happening. The address on Facebook was “Praça do Bem” next to the “ATI” in “Parque do Ingá.”
I searched for “Praça do Bem Maringá” on Google Maps. However, it didn’t recognize the location. And, by putting “ATI do Parque do Ingá” on Maps, it indicates a different place from where the fair was happening.
Because of the lack of information about the address, it took one hour more to find the fair. The project could be an excellent opportunity to resolve this issue.
When I finally got to the fair, I interviewed the volunteers, the foster families, and those interested in adopting a pet.
The interviews were informative. I discovered that the community could help the organization in 5 ways:
1. Volunteering: It takes time and dedication. The volunteers must take care of social media, deliver food, take the animals to surgeries, and help with the Sunday fairs. You must contact Amaar through social networks or in person to be a volunteer.
2. Donating: You can help by donating newspapers, toys, collars, beds, food, and/or money. To make a cash donation, you must go to the adoption fair on Sundays or do it by bank transfer (account number available on their social media pages), or on the “Vakinha Virtual” website.
3. Fostering pets: Amaar does not have a place for the animals. It counts with the help of the community. If you want to give a pet a temporary home, the NGO will be responsible for all expenses. But first, they will check if your place is suitable for receiving a pet.
4. Partner: Some veterinary clinics help Amaar by providing discounts on surgeries and shots for the animals.
5. Adoption: It helps free up space for rescuing new pets. You can go to Amaar fairs, show some form of identification, and sign a commitment term to accomplish an adoption.
Online survey:
I needed to understand the motivation that made people donate and what makes a person choose an NGO instead of another.
To get the answers, I did an online survey, and I had the help of Giovanna to spread it to the community. I also posted the survey on different NGO groups.
I got 27 responses. Some of the most relevant data were:
- 66.7% of the participants knew about the NGO through friends and family, and 28.6% through the internet.
- 66.7% of the participants believe that transparency in results brings more reliability to an NGO, and 19% think it is essential to have a website and presence on social media.
- 50% of the participants don’t make donations because it’s too complicated, and 33.3% don’t have money to donate.
- 36.4% of the participants knew Amaar by visiting adoption fairs, 36.4% through the internet, 18.2% through acquaintances, and 9.1% through reports.
- 66.7% of the participants donated to Amaar at the fairs, and 33.3% through the internet.
At the end of the survey, I left a space to give suggestions to Amaar. The most common comment was about the delay in responses on social media, and others said about the difficulty of donating.
Personas and Empathy Map:
After the survey and the interview, it was possible to create 1 of 2 types of personas: volunteer and adopter.
Benchmark
I searched for reference NGO sites around the world.
Most of them have a button on the top right that invites the user to donate. Amaar doesn’t receive financial assistance from the government. All funds come from the community. The call to action (CTA) button will facilitate donations.
Many sites also have photos and videos that show how the NGOs used the donations. Having a before/after register brings more transparency to donors.
Another common practice is that the donation page usually has a progress bar. It allows the user to identify the step they are in. They are also clean. Reducing the amount of information requested for registration is a good practice. Anything that is not relevant should come out of the checkout layout.
Wireframe:
I prioritized making the information about helping the NGO more accessible and easier to understand. According to the research, people who know Amaar are not aware of all the ways to help them. The conjunction of these five ways of assisting allows the NGO to work effectively.
I added a FAC section on the website. One of the common complaints in the survey was the delay in answering the messages on social media. The volunteers receive a lot of direct message questions. Sometimes, they take a while to answer. Some questions keep being asked, and putting the answers on the website will reduce the number of messages received.
Usability Test:
I applied the usability test to ten people: five used mobiles and five desktops.
The desktop prototype had one main problem. The “Do you want to help?” button was confusing. Users didn’t get it. They thought it was a help page for navigation issues.
Going back to the benchmark, I noticed the NGOs didn’t present the call to action as a question. Instead, they used an affirmative sentence. Therefore, I changed the “Do you want to help?” to “I want to help.” This simple change was enough to get better results.
Two users suggested simplifying navigation with a home button. Although the logo itself leads to the homepage, It wasn’t intuitive for everyone. The solution was to add breadcrumbs to the inner pages. The breadcrumb has the home in the path, and it also shows the hierarchy and makes it easier for the user to find where they are.
The usability test on mobile devices was successful. Users navigated the site easily and completed all tasks efficiently.
Final result
The result was an organized website. The main actions present on all pages were the five ways of helping Amaar.
Users can scroll down the page to find the story of Amaar, with before/after photos of the rescues, and testimonials showing the great work that Amaar is doing.
The social networks and the address of the adoption fair can be found in the footer.
Each and every page has a FAQ section about each category and also call to action buttons to volunteer, become a partner, an adopter, a donor, or give a foster home.
The adoption page allows filtering the pet by species, gender, size, and age. You can read about their story, share the pet’s profile through social networks, and register your interest through the “I want to Adopt” button.
The users can donate on the Amaar website and see where the NGO will use this money.
Do you want to see more of this project?
Click here and check out the desktop and mobile prototypes.
Conclusion
The project was intense. I was lucky to have excellent professionals to guide me through the entire process. I am grateful to Lucas Otsuka, Andressa Siegel, and Fabio Muniz. And also Amaar, especially the volunteer Giovanna. I want to thank teacher Franck who helped me translate this text into English. Without all these professionals, it wouldn’t have been possible to complete this project successfully.
References
- Muniz, Fabio — Curso de UX Design Awari. 2019
- Teixeira, Fabricio — Introdução e boas práticas em UX Design. 2017
- Krug, Steve — Não me faça pensar. 2014
