• Poor Navigation Structure
The website’s navigation lacks clarity, making it difficult for users to find key information efficiently. • Similarities between Pages with Different Functionalities
Different pages share similar layouts about donation, which can lead to confusion and unnecessary nagivation loops.

• Redundant User Flows
The donation process has too many unnecessary steps such as “donate”, “donate online”, and “donate real help now”.

• Technical Break Points
Certain sections of the website experience functionality failures.

Methodology

Target User
Donors and fundraisers who have made online donations to the Pink Fund.

Additionally, target user include individuals who had difficulties donating online and sought help from the organization.




Interview Process
30-minute remote interview over Zoom. Participants were asked about their involvement in the organization, the donation/fundraising process, any difficulties they encountered, and comparison with other platforms.
Participants
5 participants

Age 45-59

Identities: lawyer, charitable event organizer, breast cancer survivor, community volunteer.

Data Analysis
We organize the data according to sections of the interview protocol and themes, making analyzing responses related to specific topics such as website navigation, donation process, and fundraising challenges easier.

Afterward, we used open coding analysis and axial coding analysis to extract key themes from the interviews.




Findings

Needs to Simplify Task FlowDonation process from the homepage has repetitive steps. This frustrates users, particularly those looking for a quick and straightforward way to contribute.

Lack of Sharing Options on Social MediaThe site lack an easy sharing option, which limits the ability to engage with a wider audience, particularly younger demographics.




Ambiguity between PagesThe similarities between fundraising pages with different functionalities has led to user frustration.
My fundrasing page


Fundraising Team page.




Recommendations
Direct Donation AccessNelson Norman’s Usability Heuristics states shortcuts helps streamline interactions for the experienced users (Nelson, 1994). So we suggest update "Donate Now" buttons for one-click redirection to the donation page, reducing clicks.
Social Media IntegrationPartner with social platforms for direct donations and one-click sharing to enhance donor experience.  
Clear Role DefinitionRedesign fundraising pages with distinct elements, color scheme, or clear labeling  to separate individual and team activities, with tooltips for guidance to align with "User Control and Freedom" heuristic by Nielsen.

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Methodology

Target User
Donors and fundraisers who have made online donations to the Pink Fund.

Design Research Questions
The survey's objectives are to understand how users interact with the Pink Fund website, identify any barriers they face, and gauge the perceived impact of their contributions.

To achieve the objective, the questions is structured into distinct sections addressing motivations, user experience, and desired improvements, incorporating diverse question types to enable quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Sampling
• Convenience Sampling:
Distributing surveys on Pink Fund’s weekly newsletter & to client’s contact lists.
• Snowball Sampling:
Encouraging participants to send out survey to known contacts who have made online donations to Pink Fund.

Justfication
By initiating with convenience sampling, we targeted a direct subgroup of donors and fundraisers, followed by extending our reach through snowball sampling. This dual approach not only improves response rates but also minimizes sampling bias and cultivates valuable insights by engaging an extensive network of the Pink Fund’s donor community.


Pilot Testing
We brainstormed 15 questions targeting the user’s attitude, behaviors, and characteristics, and distributed it to 5 donors and fundraisers.

Afterward, we changed some questions orders, reframe the ambiguous questions, and expanded answer options.

Findings

• Survey data serves as confirmatory evidence to interview findings. Showing that the donation process can feels repetitive and frustrating. Limited social media sharing makes engagement harder, especially for younger users. And similar fundraising pages can create confusion.

• We recommend conducting The Pink Fund's survey online, using platforms like Google Forms or Qualtrics for creation. This approach ensures wide reach, convenient participation across devices, and maintains respondent confidentiality and anonymity—key for honest feedback. The survey should be distributed through email, the website, social media, and during events to maximize engagement. 
  

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Methodology

Selection
The competitors selection are based on the criteria of target audience, type of donations, donation mechanism, and services offered. Below are the types and names of competitors.

• Direct : Susan G. Komen, ABCF, NBC
• Partial: Rogel Cancer Center, ACS
• Indirect: ARC, BCP
• Parallel: GoFundMe
• Analogous: Pledge, Give Lively, Donorbox

Analysism

The products are analyzed based on the criteria of donation process efficiency, transparency, diversity and effectiveness of fundraising campaigns, information organization, and page layout.

Base on these criteria, we conduct a website exploration, document findings using a matrix, and perform data synthesis to assess donation effectiveness and suggest improvements.

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The goal of the usability test is to deepen understanding of the challenges donors and fundraisers face while using the Pink Fund website for their philanthropic activities.

Method
• Participant selection

• Criteria: Included users with limited Pink Fund experience and donors from other non-profits.
• Demographics: Five participants, ages 22 to 34, with diverse technical skills.

• Testing Protocol

• Pilot Tests: Two tests to refine task and survey design.
• Main Tasks: Assess mission clarity, donation process, and fundraising functionality.
• Feedback: Gathered insights via pre-test and post-test questions.

• Test Environment

• Setup: Remote Zoom sessions with screen sharing and observation.
• Recording: Captured all user interactions for detailed analysis.

Findings & Recommendations
• Finding 1:
Personal connection to the organization’s mission and legitimacy of the website determines the perceived trustworthiness of the organization.

• Recommendation:

1. Optimize the website’s layout and information architecture Redesign the “About” page to separate the mission and values from breast cancer educational content, presenting them with a clear hierarchy. Correctly lay out the “latest news” module on the home page. Improve the website’s navigation, adding search functionality and categorization to help users quickly find key information.
2. Enhance information transparency with visual designUse visual design elements, like eye-catching icons, color coding, or larger fonts, to display important information, such as annual financial reports, providing transparent details about fund usage. 

• Finding 2:
Participants had a hard time understanding the necessity of creating an individual fundraising page after setting up a fundraising team page.
4 out of 5 participants encountered one or more errors while attempting to start their own fundraising campaigns, and one participant dropped off the task.

• Recommendation:

Process Streamlining: Integrate the creation of team and individual fundraising pages and clarify each step.

1. Integrate the creation of team and individual pages into a continuous step to reduce confusion and frustration during the setup process.
2. After creating a team page, provide clear instructions and reasons why an individual page is necessary. Guided help texts or interactive tutorials can aid users in understanding the importance of each step.
3. Optimize the user interface to ensure easy navigation from the team to individual pages. Design clear visual cues and buttons to guide users through the required steps.

• Finding 3:
Donation process was efficient and streamlined, but repetitive pages confused some users. And participants reported that they did not understand why they had to go through two pages before landing on the payment page.

• Recommendation:
Simplify Donation Navigation: Adjust the "Donate Now" buttons to lead directly to the donation page.

• Finding 4:
Expected and unexpected technical errors encountered during fundraising process.



• Recommendation:
Technical Support: Ensure compatibility across browsers and enhance error reporting and user feedback mechanisms.

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