Build Up Cohort Experience (Summer 2022): Part 2
Meet the Builders of La Chula Crew Foundation, Refugee Health Alliance, and North County LGBTQ Resource Center
What is Build Up?
Build Up is a 10-week summer program where students will work with a nonprofit organization to refine their branding, redesign their website, or boost their exposure.
These nonprofits fall into 3 categories: LGBTQ+ Advocacy, Women’s Empowerment, and Refugee and Immigrant Relief. The program builds on our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative, which strives to support BIPOC communities and give underrepresented design and marketing students greater opportunities to advance their skillset.
Expanding on our previous summer programs Power Up and Level Up, the Build Up Program consisted of:
- 33 student participants
- 16 mentors
- And 6 real clients
Teams of Web Builders, UX Designers, UX Researchers, Visual Designers, Marketing Strategists, and Content Strategists collaborated together under the mentorship of industry professionals to develop valuable skills and deliver long-term solutions to uplift their nonprofit organizations.
Meet the Builders of La Chula Crew Foundation, Refugee Health Alliance, and North County LGBTQ Resource Center
Adeline Liem — La Chula Crew Foundation
Adeline Liem, rising 3rd-year in Cognitive Science spec. Design and Interaction, worked as a Content Strategist for La Chula Crew, local San Diego nonprofit dedicated to serving womxn and families. Over the past 10 weeks, she and her team worked on templates for La Chula Crew’s IG story, a Hootsuite tutorial for social media management, a plan to improve the website’s site mapping, and a content strategy plan for Instagram.
Q: What was your biggest takeaway from your experience this summer? How have you grown and learned from the program?
My biggest takeaway was definitely being able to get hands-on experience in just a few of the many steps included in the design process. I also learned a lot from the presentations that the mentors presented, especially about the industry. I enjoyed meeting so many other designers in the same boat as I am, and I’m coming out of this experience feeling more equipped to tackle harder design tasks in the future.
Q: What was the biggest challenge your team faced while working with your nonprofit, and how did you tackle it?
The biggest challenge we faced was probably coming up with deliverables, as it was largely individual. It felt as if some team members expected tasks to be handed to them, and it was hard to [stay connected with them and] tell what they were doing. For me, if I had trouble coming up with deliverables, I would research case studies and identify aspects that could be helpful to our nonprofit if I created it (ie. Content Campaign Strategy).
Learn more about her team’s project in La Chula Crew Foundation Case Study.
Haeun (Madison) Kim — Refugee Health Alliance
Entering her 4th-year as a Cognitive Science student spec. Design and Interaction, Haeun Kim worked as a UX Researcher for Refugee Health Alliance. The organization helps respond to medical and social needs at the US-Mexico Border. In the past 10 weeks, Haeun and her team helped redesign their website to improve navigation and increase engagement of volunteers, donors, and viewers of the organization.
Q: What was your biggest takeaway from your experience this summer? How have you grown and learned from the program?
Through this project I have really noticed how everyone has their own unique perspective and preferences. It is important to really understand and respect these different opinions even though you might have a different idea in mind.
I also realized through this that knowing exactly your target user group is crucial in designing an efficient, accessible, and appropriate website/product. Understanding the wrong demographic and idea of the users can really shift the direction of the design process and product so it is important to really know what your user group needs when redesigning.
Q: What was the biggest challenge your team faced while working with your nonprofit, and how did you tackle it?
As a UX researcher for this team, my partner and I had some difficulties in communicating and receiving data effectively from our stakeholders and target user group. Due to time conflicts and lack of willing participants to interview, this was an area we were concerned with. We decided to find user data through finding people similar to our target group demographics and reach out to stakeholders/user group as much as we could.
We also struggled with matching to our stakeholder’s wants and needs while also trying to make features as accessible and efficient as possible. Through consistent communication with our stakeholders, mentors, and team members we were able to negotiate and come down with solutions we all agreed with.
Learn more about her team’s project in Girls Rising Case Study.
Sharon Hu — North County LGBTQ Resource Center
An incoming 4th-year Cognitive Science spec. Design and Interaction student, Sharon Hu worked as both the UX Researcher & Designer for the North Country LGBTQ Resource Center, a nonprofit organization offering health, education, and advocacy services to the LGBTQIA+ community. Over the past 10 weeks, Sharon and her team developed numerous prototypes and implemented a whole new website to support and offer resources for LGBTQ+ individuals of all backgrounds.
Q: What was your biggest takeaway from your experience this summer? How have you grown and learned from the program?
Through Build Up, I learned how to effectively communicate and build trust with the client. I also learned the importance of using research to support our design decisions as well as confirm that our design choices were effective. When communicating with the client, we pointed out different aspects of the website that users found confusing. As a result, our client supported our design changes, and user testing later proved these design choices to be effective. In general, my communication, research, design, and problem solving skills all improved!
Q: What did you enjoy most about Build Up?
I enjoyed connecting with my team and mentors the most! I’ll definitely remember some of the fun moments we shared. I love that everyone was passionate and supported each other throughout the process. I also really appreciate my mentors and how they always took the time to give us feedback. I learned a lot of industry insight from them as well as how to better communicate with the client.
Learn more about her team’s project in North County LGBTQ Resource Center Case Study.
Any final words about your experience?
Adeline Liem
Thanks guys :)
Haeun (Madison) Kim
*Bob the Builder Salute*
Sharon Hu
Thank you for the wonderful experience. I loved all the people I met. I’m also very thankful for the workshops and design activities that helped me learn and grow my skills along with the project!
Hear from 3 Builders working with Girls Rising, Karen Organization of San Diego, and TransFamily Support Services in this article.
Read about 3 of our design and marketing mentors’ experience in this article.
Learn about Girls Rising’s and TransFamily Support Services’s experience as partners for Build Up in this article.
