Introduction
SpoonRead Inc was an eReader & school-fundraising platform. Ultimately SpoonRead was a use case for blockchain-based technologies under its parent company, the Trust Assurance Network. Included in the list of IPs was a Mobile Content Publisher (MCP), an Identity Cloud System, and a Secure Donation Platform. The MCP was a method for engagement & presentation of electronic documents. Each document could be broken down into “chunks” and the platform could generate basic comprehension questions for each chunk of text. The Identity Cloud System allowed multiple subject accounts with varying permission allowances to be linked under a master account. The Secure Donation Platform allowed for secure processing of donations including advanced KYC / AML & general compliance standards.
In order to test this identity cloud system, ParentClub was created. Parents created master accounts in which they could “onboard” their children, purchase books, assign books to their children, & monitor reading progress & accuracy. In addition, parents could make school donations during read-a-thon fundraisers via the Secure Donate platform.
The Challenge
The platform had been built 3 years before I joined the company. The team that built it were technologists, but not designers. In their first pass, they had put together the product, but they had not had the time nor the resources to redesign the platform. SpoonRead customers had been struggling to understand how to use the platform and it needed a visual & architectural overhaul. My supervisor & team of 3 fellow designers were hired to make an initial first pass at redesigning the product. Each designer was in charge of one of the three branches of the SpoonRead product suite. I was in charge of ParentClub.
System Analysis
UX Walkthrough
Before I could start attempting to ideate, I needed to familiarize myself with the existing platform. I clicked through the app's features and pages to note what could be improved upon and what was already working well.
Current State User-Flows
I then put together a current-state flow on lucid chart to visualize what and where problem areas were.
Cover
Flow Orientation
Create Account
Onboard Child(ren)
Buy Free Book(s)
Purchase Book(s)
Assign Book(s)
Request Donations
Purchase Books (for Event)
Make Donation
Edit Reading Level
Edit School Association
View Purchase History
View Reading Metrics
Edit Reading Assignment
Enable & Assign Rewards
Ideation
After reviewing the current state with my team I began addressing the problem areas and ideating on possible solutions with the overall aim to simplify processes and reduce support ticket volume.
Proposed User-Flows
In order for management to be able to visualize these differences, I mapped out proposed user flows on lucid chart for review and discussion.
Cover
Create Account
Onboard Child(ren)
Purchase Book(s)
Assign Book(s)
Monitor Personal Donations
Publicize Event
Request Donations
Make Donation
Purchase Book (for Event)
View Account Details
Edit Child Information
View Purchase History
Monitor & Publicize Event
Edit Reading Assignment
Enable & Assign Rewards
Wireframes
After getting feedback from management and working with the CTO to decide which areas were in scope for this initial round of changes, I put together basic mid-fidelity wireframes to review with the company stakeholders.
Prototype Design
Case Study: Fundraising Events
SpoonRead’s initial primary financial objective was to license use of its fundraising platform to schools. The main problem with SpoonRead’s Events was a lack of clarity. There was no dedicated fundraiser page and I imagined myself as a parent asking questions such as:
-How do I donate to the school?
-Where can I track fundraiser progress?
-Do book purchases count as donations?
-Where can I get more information?
The Problem
Parents had no information about their child’s school fundraiser besides the fact that it existed.
First Glance
This is what the homepage looked like during a fundraiser. No fundraiser event information was presented besides the signifier “Request Donations.” It doesn't make sense to ask a parent to request donations without giving them context.
Another confusing signifier: “Get Login Code.” “What is a login code and why should I get one?” is a a fair question from any parent.
etc.
Event Page
The entirety of the fundraiser’s information was distilled down to a single sentence.
The only way to access event info was through the donation request page.
Parents had no way of making a direct donation to the school.
No way to track fundraiser progress or monitor supporter contributions.
etc...
I wanted to reduce confusion regarding events. My first objective was to restructure the app architecture and give events its own page. I then determined what the main missing elements from our current events flow were. Those were: information about the event, clarity regarding a parent’s role in the event, and a centralized event hub.
The New Event Page
The new event page was designed to increase clarity. I visually emphasized the important features of a fundraiser that had been neglected before: the name, the amount of time left, and the amount raised.
Participation Steps
Until we built a strong repeat customer base and could test our product, our primary goal was to get parents to explore the four ways families of any financial background could participate in a fundraiser.
Direct Contributions
Up until the redesign, parents had no way of directly donating money to the fundraiser themselves. In addition, many parents made complaints that they did not realize that there would be a premium attached to their book purchase. This page was designed both to let those users know that their book purchases would double as school donations and to allow parents to make direct financial contributions.
Supporters
Parents needed a way to request donations from supporters without having to add new or search for old supporters every new event. Parents also needed a way to keep track of who they had already requested.
Share Event
Not all families can make financial contributions. I wanted to make it clear that parents could still support the event in a nonmonetary way.
Public Event Dashboard
Parents needed a way to publicize the event, schools needed a place to share why they were raising money, and supporters needed a place to donate and learn more about the fundraiser.
Implementation
After presenting & reviewing the new prototypes with the team, it was time to write up functional requirements. At this point in the process, my manager and the other 2 designers had moved on from the company leaving me as the sole designer & PM. I spent the next few weeks working with the dev team to implement the new changes.
Functional Requirements
Next Steps
Following the requirements creation, there were still a lot of shelved ideas for future versions. The plan had been to do a rapid overhaul before the 2020-2021 school year started. Once we got a new batch of users we could test and adjust the product direction as needed. To prepare for this, I designed email outreach templates and worked with our VP of Operations to develop an event-triggered email flow to boost engagement & render customer feedback.
Event-Triggered Email Diagram
Email Templates
Results
Unfortunately the company hit many roadblocks and before dev work could be fully completed, management decided to pivot in a new direction. I spent the rest of my time at the company working on corporate outreach efforts & product use-case ideation.
