How to design a microsite that is engaging and encourages action

How we designed Do1Act’s for viral conservation behavior.

In this project we leveraged insights from conservation psychology, behavior change, and the way ideas spread online to design a site to get people to learn about how their actions affect the planet, and change their behavior online.

UX hierarchy should reflect the goals of the site

• In this case, the goals of the site are 1) to get people to learn about climate change and then 2) get them to change their behaviors to be more sustainable
• The site information architecture reflects this: learning small facts about climate change is front and center, with action being a close second.

As few click as possible to success

• People are inundated by content on the internet, and attention spans are short. Internet users expect immediate positive feedback, and quickly get frustrated and drop off if they don’t get it.
• In Do1Act, it’s only 2 clicks to get to any action.

Keep the content fun and engaging

• Making it easy and fun to interact with the site will make people want to use it.
• We designed Do1Act’s site with fun illustrations, a lighthearted tone, and goofy gifs.

Have varying levels of participation — from easy to difficult.

• Give people easy ways to engage and then moving them gradually to more difficult tasks. This way, you meet people where they’re at, giving everyone on the site a way to participate. Once they’ve participated once, it’s more likely they will engage in higher difficulty, and higher value behaviors.
• In Do1Act, the acts range from easy (turn off your gadgets) to very hard (buy solar energy).

Design for how people think about the problem space

• In the field of conservation, people respond best to positive framing and being shown how their immediate, individual behaviors impact the future.
• Throughout the site, the copy is framed in an optimistic tone, and calls out ways that people’s behaviors today can impact the planet’s future.
• Examples:

Make it viral by designing for ownership and social proof.

• People want to spread ideas they feel ownership over, and want to engage in behaviors their community is engaging with.
• On Do1Act’s share page, we encourage people to take photos and videos of themselves doing sustainable acts (ownership), and share it to their online communities (social proof).
• Example: “Multiply your impact. Challenge your friends to #Do1Act. Include an image or video of you doing your act to increase your effectiveness!”

What are your tips for online engagement? Share your ideas with us in the comments and on Twitter (@aconsultingfern). If you are working on a project that needs web design or online engagement, reach out to us. We’re helping teams of all sizes to better activate the communities they serve.