Savie Asbl NGO is an LGBT+ nonprofit in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Their mission is to help those who face anti-LGBTI+ harassment, oppression & sexual and gender-based violence. Due to limited funding, the TRT Productions UX Design team did this web redesign project pro bono.
My Role
UX/UI Designer
(Team of 4 Designers)
Constraints
Mobile Website,
Desktop Website
Timeline
13 Weeks
Project Overview
Objectives:
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Fix donation page link
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Redesign gallery page
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A streamlined way to store videos and photos
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Update contact information
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Inform users about what they’re doing and how they’re doing it
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Show the history of the organization
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Show future projects
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Information on how to volunteer/get involved
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Create a mobile-first design with accessibility considerations for developing countries
Challenges:
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Communication with the organization leader while dealing with poor internet connection
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Privacy for individuals who don’t want to risk exposing their faces/identities online
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Safety concerns from the government and society
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Language barriers
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Site maintenance with consideration for the technological constraints within a developing country
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Finding members within the organization to conduct interviews/testing
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Determining whether the platform is support-facing or public-facing
Current Website
Homepage
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A lot of unused white space
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Stock image related to LGBT+ but not connected with the DRC
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Large spacing between the title and information
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Mission breakdown could be clearer
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Large blocks of text make it overwhelming to read through
Gallery Page
No clear organization of the gallery page; pictures are posted with no context
Resources Page
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Unclear why Albinism support is so prominent
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No clear organization of resource information
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No information about these resources
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LGBT+ resources are smaller and at the bottom
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Link to the older version of the site with no context
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Small and vague CTA at the bottom
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Accessibility issue with color combination
Contact Page
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Address provided but no visual provided to show user the location
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Blurred pictures does not create much of a connection with the organization
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No information about what volunteering entails
Donation Page
When the user enters their donation amount, both "Donate" buttons do not work
Research
Kashindi - Savie founder
Our team spoke with Savie founder Kashindi on 3 occasions to understand the organization, its challenges, and goals for the redesign.
We also received a wealth of information about the culture of the DRC and the dangers that LGBT+, women, sex workers, and people with Albinism face from the general public and the Congolese Government.
Based on our stakeholder interview and the information they provided, we concluded that the project had 2 audiences:
Public
Support
People outside of the DRC who might like to contribute in some form. Our research for this audience was based on 10 user interviews, with participants using Savie's website and providing feedback. Some takeaways from those interviews were:
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There needs to be clear and specific information about their advocacy work
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Showing the impact of donations is important
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Providing context and details for volunteering would be more motivating
Individuals who are local to the D.R.C. and are in need of their services. For this audience, we used secondary research since we were unable to speak with individuals in the DRC other than Kashindi due to language barriers, connectivity challenges, and safety.
Our findings heavily reference the UHAI - DRC Research Report Landscape Analysis of the Human Rights Situation of L.G.T.I. People and Sex Workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Website Must-Haves
Event Information
Picture Gallery
Mission Statement
English-French Translation
International Reach
Resources
Contact Information
Donation Option
Website Should-Haves
Success Stories
Links to other local LGBT+ groups
Website Could-Haves
Staff pictures and information
Live Interviews
Surveys
Comparative Analysis
From our comparative research, we used certain resources like AQYI's 2020/2021 Annual Report to inform us about what is going on in specific parts of Africa
Personas
The Redesign: From Paper ...
Sketch - Landing Page
Sketch - About Us Page
Sketch - Volunteer Page
Sketch - Gallery Page
Sketch - Donation Page
Sketch - Resources Page
...To Screens
(Mobile Wire frames in Figma)
Copy was added to the wire frames to accurately stage the information as well as accurately communicate to our stakeholders what each page would contain.
High Fidelity Prototype
Style Guide
Next Steps
Our team was unable to secure a development team to implement our designs into a live website, so the project is on hold now. The next step would be finding a bilingual developer who speaks French to help translate and carry out our site and provide materials for hand-off to Savie so they can maintain the site with minimal assistance.
Savie has also expressed the desire to incorporate a learning platform onto their site to help educate their users on subjects like sexual health, safety, and finances. The learning platform is still in development with Savie and an outside organization in the Netherlands and was unable to be included at this time.
This was my first volunteer project working with a brand new group of designers. It was a positive experience creating a bond that was strengthened through ambiguity, and through out the project we learned to communicate ideas effectively and pivot when necessary. Most of the project had various obstacles to push through, whether it was communication and connectivity issues with our stakeholder, or adapting our process and changing direction when we were unable to find information necessary to move forward with certain ideas. As the one of the UI leads, I found it challenging to begin any sort of design process when we did not have research to back up a potential solution. But I am grateful for the experience, and I am now more confident in my ability to assess and investigate a project in order to create a well thought out and impactful user experience.
