DemocracyLab
Helping volunteers connect with tech-for-good projects they care about
DATE
2017
CLIENT
DemocracyLab
RESPONSIBILITIES
UX Design
Responsive Web / UI Design
Interaction Design
WEBSITE
Using tech to solve civic problems
DemocracyLab is an organization dedicated to connecting citizens, tech workers, leaders, and donors to help solve civic problems. They provide a platform to allow the civic tech sector to display their projects, and find volunteers to work on those projects. When I learned about the mission, I realized that DemocracyLab was building a critical component in civic technology; a platform to help passionate, highly skilled people give back to their communities. I wanted to do my part to contribute to the success of this important project.
As a volunteer, I worked as a UX designer for 14 months to create the platforms initial architecture, wireframes, interaction design (including prototypes and testing), UI design, as well as print materials for corporate funding requests.
I was in charge of creating the initial platform and many of the flows within the currenty site. As the project grew, more designers came onboard and eventually DemocracyLab had the help of a design manager. This experience helped the team improve interactions and build a better product.
After building an MVP, I recommended a design upgrade with new colors, logo, and typography to modernize the DemocracyLab platform. Those upgraded screens are shown here.
A platform built by volunteers, for volunteers
DemocracyLab was founded in 2006 but it wasn’t until 2017 that founder Mark Frischmuth pulled together a team of volunteer developers, designers, and other pro-bono professionals to create a platform to host tech-for-good projects. With a team of motivated volunteers, DemocracyLab needed to build software that could easily host projects, connect volunteers, and scale for the future.
Part of the challenge of building a platform by and for volunteers is the ever changing nature of volunteerism. Volunteers come and go based on availability. As a volunteer not for profit, the team is a revolving door, making consistency and progress difficult.
When I came onto the project, I was one of two active UX designers. The leadership group at DemocracyLab has backgrounds in business, fundraising, and marketing but design thinking was something new. I worked closely with Mark and the lead developer to ensure we were aligned in our work. I took the lead on the UX of DemocracyLab for much of my time on the project. It took care and effort to stay focused on best practices and high quality outcomes and communicate the why behind design decisions.
"
Nick's work was critical to our successful launch. His inquisitive approach ensured that he was asking the right questions, and he displayed the patience and persistence to distill insights from the answers he uncovered. He worked well in a team and delivered work products that were easy for our software engineers to work with.
"
Mark F. - Executive Director, DemocracyLab
Crafting the user experience
The benefit of stepping into a project that had been in the concept phase for so many years was plethora of research that had been done, both by Mark and by volunteer UX researchers. The existing research made it easy to jump in with confidence in our understanding of the end user and how we could deliver a usable solution. We expanded on the research through user requirements and stories. Using this information, we started the information architecture process by building a sitemap and detailing out key user flows. Additionally, we ran user journey mapping sessions to better understand how users would interact with DemocracyLab.
With a blueprint to guide, I built out a full set of wireframes to start the skeleton of the site. We did rapid a/b testing within the team to improve these early designs.
With wireframes in place, and several rounds of improvements, we moved to testing the interaction of the platform with users and a prototype. Using insights from the testing, we were able to identify design flaws and further improve the usability of DemocracyLab, balancing the right amount of features to make the product usable without anything we didn't need. The core of the platform centers around project owners uploading their projects, and volunteers being able to apply for those projects.
Putting it all together
With an extensive amount of UX work under our belts, we moved to polish the wireframes into a final UI and work with developers to handoff. I created a set of UI screens that were designed to be easy and familiar for users.
Building for the future
DeomcracyLab is all about connections. We built a set robust set of features for future implementation including an internal messaging hub to help owners and volunteers communicate, project activity updates, and a find volunteers function for project owners to search for available volunteers.
These features were intended to be part of the product roadmap for future development, and to help guide the team as time went on and new volunteers came on board.
Making the case for funding
As the platform moved towards an MVP launch and community support gathered, fundraising became an increasing need. As a completely volunteer built platform, resources were limited. I worked with Mark to design a poster along with other print marketing materials to help secure funds to support DemocracyLab. Fundraising was secured with several large corporate partners and the platform has continued to grow.
Recommending Upgrades
After the MVP launch, I created a style guide including a new logo, colors, typography and refreshed UI screens. I recommended these updates to improve the product marketability. Not long after the creation of this work, my time volunteering at DemocracyLab came to an end, and I was unable to see these changes come to pass.
Using tech to help society
Since the launch of the platform in 2018, DemocracyLab has been used by dozens of project owners across the country to connect with skilled tech workers and solve issues. The team has gone on to secure additional funding with more partners, and the platform continues to improve.
In 2018, as my circumstances changed, so did my availability to be deeply engaged in the project as a volunteer. I stepped away from the DemocracyLab team to focus on other projects. The site has changed and adapted since then. Other designers have stepped in to take up the work, and while changes have been made, the core experience of using DemocracyLab has stayed the same. I am so excited to see how the team has grown into a more mature organization and the improvements they have made. DemocracyLab is doing great things, and I expect them to continue to see success as they leverage technology to improve our world.
Working on DemocracyLab helped me focus delivering results with extremely tight constraints. The biggest challenge of this project was working with developers to find solutions that could be done without a budget. We were able to create a product that works well despite the challenges. I learned a lot about delivering cost-effective solutions for businesses and clients. When you can cut out the waste and deliver effective designs that users love, it's a win-win for everyone.