Non-Profit Website Re-Design: GGRTF
The Global Gardens Refugee Training Farm (GGRTF) website redesign was initiated to address key challenges faced by the farm in enhancing its online presence, driving donations, and increasing engagement with its Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. The redesigned website aimed to streamline user experience, strengthen the farm’s visual brand, and make it easier for users to find information and support the farm’s mission.
Stack
Scope
Web Design, Research, Brand Design
Problem Statement
Garden Refugee Training Farm is a non-profit farm and garden that was started in 2012 by 42 refugee families from Burma and Bhutan. Now operated by over 100 refugee families, the farm generates over 7,500 pounds of produce, which helps support and feed their families. The farm's mission is to improve access to fresh vegetables for newly arrived refugee families and their urban neighbors, allow displaced farmers to reconnect with the soil, and foster new, refugee-operated farms.
The Challenge:
GGRTF, a non-profit farm operated by over 100 refugee families, was facing multiple challenges with its website. Managed solely by the farm manager, Haley Lerand, with limited resources, the site did not effectively support the farm’s goals of driving donations, Community Supported Agriculture program (CSA) sign-ups, and brand awareness. The website’s complex navigation, outdated content, and lack of a coherent visual brand made it difficult for users to engage with the farm’s offerings. Additionally, the site’s poor accessibility further alienated potential supporters.
Stakeholder Input:
Haley highlighted the need for a website that could better tell the farm’s story, develop trust with users, and ultimately increase financial support through donations and CSA program participation.
User Needs:
Users needed a website that was easy to navigate, trustworthy, and informative. They required clear pathways to support the farm, whether through donations, purchasing produce, or getting involved in volunteer activities.
Research
Gathering both qualitative and quantitative insights were crucial to better understand what users think about non-profits, how they prefer to get involved and why.
In-depth interviews were conducted with five participants who expressed interest in non-profits and community-supported agriculture. Additionally, a survey with 12 participants provided quantitative insights into user preferences and challenges when engaging with non-profit websites like GGRTF. I used an affinity map to synthesize user feedback and found that scheduling conflicts, trustworthiness and clarity and accessibility of information were the most important considerations amongst participants.
There are no direct competitors for GGRTF in the Chicagoland area.
I researched and analyzed eight organizations with similar missions or services across the US to identify strengths and weaknesses in their digital presence and provide more context for areas of opportunity for GGRTF. The analysis revealed that most competitors had a more established brand voice and visual identity but struggled with accessibility and content organization.
Process
After reviewing user feedback and indirect competitors' digital presence, there are a few clear goals that can solve for user painpoints and align with statekholder requirements.
Based on the research findings, the focus of the website re-design will be on creating a streamlined, user-friendly experience that would highlight the farm’s mission and offerings. The primary goals were to:
Increase visibility and accessibility of donation options.
Simplify navigation and content structure to improve user experience.
Enhance the website’s visual branding to reflect the farm’s values and build trust.
Information architecture is a problem for the GGRTF website, so I needed to restructure the website’s navigation to improve discoverability of essential information.
The website contained a lot of information that stakeholders wanted to keep, in addition to new content that they wanted to include such as recipes. Users also suggested additional content and information they would like to see on the website, such as impact data and reports, that would help build trust with the organization. With those suggestions in mind, I needed restructure the website and simplify the navigation. Ultimately, following a card sorting exercise, I organized website into five main pages: Homepage, About, Our Produce, Get Involved, and Contact.
Once the foundational structure was created, I created task flows to clarify user paths for the main tasks.
With the farm’s top priorities in mind–donations, CSA program sign-ups, and general involvement–task flows were mapped out to ensure that users could easily find the information they needed and complete key actions efficiently.
Developed wireframes with a focus on improving visual hierarchy and content organization
The goal with the mid-fi wireframes was to focus on resolving the underlying hierarchal issues that users described as overwhelming, in addition to reorganizing and highlighting important content like the organization's mission and CTAs for the CSA program and donations.
More transparency and accessible information about the organization
The original website had lots of information about GGRTF, but most of it (including the photography) was outdated, disorganized and not well written.
The new structure highlights the organization’s mission and story on the homepage, above the fold, and has a comprehensive history available for users on the “About” page that includes a short video to familiarize them with the farm, their growing principles, information about impact, the team and current funders.
Simplified page structure and easier navigation
The goal is to reduce the number of pages and organize the content needed intuitively and effectively.
I reviewed the content available on the website and discussed research findings with the GGRTF team, and placed each type of content within a bucket which lead to the 5 main pages on the website – Homepage, About, Our Produce, Get Involved and Contact.
Each main page has a submenu appear underneath the main nav with anchor links to each corresponding section to make content easier to find and navigation more seamless.
Easily accessible donation and CSA program sign up
I highlighted the Donate and CSA program in the top main navigation to attract more donors and sign ups. The current website hides the donation option under one of the navigation menus and only recently added a small “Donate” button at the bottom of the homepage.
Similarly, the CSA program is hidden under the “Buy our Produce” page on the current website's navigation. Most users were not familiar with the program or what CSA stood for, so more context needed to be included along with clarity on how it works and how much it costs.
Users expressed the importance of the brand in developing trust, especially with non-profit organization
GGRTF did not have a defined visual brand identity which resulted in their powerful story and impact to get lost in the sauce. It was important to develop a foundational identity that they could build on to display an even more established presence in the community.
Epilogue is a versatile sans-serif font created by ETC. Type. It is a clean and crisp go-to font that is familiar, making it comforting and easy to use but unique enough to be memorable.
The range of weights makes it easy to accommodate any size requirement, on screen and in print. It is an Open License Font, available on Google Fonts, that is free to install on as many devices and use on any platform needed making it a perfect fit for a non-profit.
Based on survey results, users favored natural colors and earth tones like greens and browns, and particularly favored green tones. Green is the color of nature and can represent growth, harmony, fertility, and freshness. It's often associated with renewal, new beginnings and rebirth and can improve mood. Green can also evoke feelings of vitality, peace, and revival.
After developing a stronger foundation for the organization's visual identity, it is time to design the high-fidelity protoype
Accessibility was top-of-mind when working on the high-fidelity wireframes. Although the color palette was simple, and included shades and tint of the primary green, this allowed me to utilize high-contrast text and backgrounds to ensure that the content is legible. Along with the color and typography, photography is a highly important element for GGRTF, similarly to other non-profit organizations, to build trust and foster community. It is important to show users and potential volunteers, donors and others, who they're supporting. Images, in a digital world, remind us that we are interacting with and affecting human lives.
I designed a total of 5 main pages–Homepage, About, Our Produce, Get Involved and Contact–with around 4-6 subpages each to support the wealth of information that needed to be included.
Testing & Iteration
Putting it to the test–usability testing revealed areas of improvement in the information architecture
I conducted usability tests with four participants, focusing on tasks such as finding farm events, exploring produce offerings, and making donations. The testing revealed areas for improvement, particularly in making the event information more accessible and donation CTAs more prevalent.
Building trust, fostering community and making it easier to support
Users expected to find a section or CTA on the homepage that would lead to donations and suggested including one other than the donation button that is placed in the navigation. Updated the homepage to include a donation section for easy access.
Additionally, some users expressed interest in seeing testimonials from the farmers to learn about their experience at GGRTF in order to develop trust with the organization.
More Transparency, it is!
According to user feedback, users expected more transparency when it comes to the farm’s impact that is more visible directly on the website, as opposed to a document they would have to download. Therefore, I added an impact section with clear impact statistics along with the downloadable impact reports to promote transparency.
Reorganized the "Get Involved" page to align more closely with both user and stakeholder needs
Moved the donation section higher up on the page since that is the farm’s priority and moved the volunteer section further down on the page since they already have a substantial volunteer community.
Key Learnings and Project Impact
The redesign process revealed significant insights about the GGRTF's audience, emphasizing the need for a simplified user experience. The original site's complex navigation and overwhelming content were major barriers to user engagement. By streamlining the site structure and reducing the number of pages, we made it easier for users to find information and interact with the website, aligning with our research that showed a preference for less clutter and more intuitive navigation.
One of the most significant impacts of the redesign was on the visibility of the CSA program, which are crucial for the financial sustainability of the farm. Enhanced content strategy and UI design now effectively highlight these programs, inviting more community involvement and support.
The updated visual branding, which includes consistent use of colors and thoughtful photography, now reflects the farm's mission and values, helping to build trust and connect with users on a more personal level.
Challenges Overcome
Addressing accessibility issues was paramount. The original site had several accessibility flaws that could alienate users with disabilities. Improvements such as better color contrast, use of alt text for images, and consistent text sizes have made the site more inclusive, aligning with web accessibility standards and broadening the farm’s audience.
Future Considerations
Looking ahead, the website will require ongoing updates to ensure content remains relevant and the user experience continues to meet the needs of GGRTF's current and prospective donors and supporters. Regular testing and feedback will be crucial in iterating the design, particularly in refining the donation and volunteer sign-up processes to further ease user interactions. Also, the visual identity could be expanded and guidelines standardized for a cohesive presence and future use-cases. Additionally, considering the importance of mobile responsiveness highlighted by competitor analysis, continuing to optimize the website for various devices will be a priority. This will ensure that users can interact with GGRTF conveniently, whether at home or on the go.
