Orcasound
Investigating resource management to maximize marine conservation efforts
Overview
Call to Action
Orcasound is a non-profit marine conservation organization dedicated to studying and saving orcas. Limited time and resources are the main obstacles restricting the impact of it's passionate volunteers. With a team of dedicated UX designers, I am working to strengthen the ways of Orcasound helps volunteers and donors take action to maximize it's potential.
Non-Profit Organization
Role
User Research
User Testing
Wireframing
My Perspective
Looking beyond just the product to evaluate Orcasound holistically
Initial Goal
Improve the website of Orcasound's sub-project, Acartia
Orcasound was looking to improve their sub-project, Acartia, a marine animal sighting tracker aimed at assisting professionals in conservation efforts by providing aggregated behavioral data.
Opportunity
Developers are currently behind on implementing designs
My team and I chose to take advantage of this extended gap between the progress made by the designers and developers with a more holistic approach to identifying where to focus our efforts.
Opportunity Tree Mapping
Identifying opportunities for each key group that contributes to Orcasound
The public
Improve understanding of Orcasound to increase recruitment and fundraising
Volunteers
Funnel volunteers into the right teams based on their interests and skill sets
Scientists
Establish processes to ensure equipment is active and maintained correctly
The Focus
Strengthening recruitment and fundraising strategies
The public and volunteers need direction
Orcasound relies on the public for donations and volunteers to help maintain and build their websites, equipment, and projects. Strengthening this support would help ensure the longevity and effectiveness of Orcasound.
Opportunity 1
Improve the public's understanding of Orcasound to increase recruitment and fundraising
Opportunity 2
Funnel volunteers into the right teams based on their interests and skill sets
The Challenge
How might we improve the Orcasound homepage's ability to funnel potential volunteers, scientists, and donors?
The Plan
A three stage approach to deliver thoughtful,
targeted research and design
Discovery
Establishing a base understanding of Orcasound and its current funneling process
Research
Understanding how successful Orcasound is in funneling users and what could be improved
Design
Translating recommendations from the Discover and Research phase into tangible solutions
The Current Process
The methods to donate or volunteer on are either outdated or hidden in a wall of text
User Thoughts
Users struggled to understand what Orcasound does and what they can do to contribute
People need a clear understanding of Orcasound's mission with accessible ways to join or donate. The home site needs to help users recognize what type of contributor they are so that users are more likely to follow through with getting involved.
Participant Quote
“I don’t really know how I would help. I could either give them money, or do something like a wildlife count — but it’s not very clear.”
Coming soon
Users flows and home site redesigns
As my team and I complete the research phase, we will be transitioning into the design phase. We will be delivering a design system refresh, voice and tone guidelines, and home site redesigns that increase the likelihood of converting new users into Orcasound contributors.