99 problems, but your designer ain’t one: 3 nonprofits share their unique design challenges
Design opens opportunities to think creatively about solutions to everyday problems. We’ve seen this for companies like Airbnb who made it easy to find lodging in advance or on the go. Netflix made it easier to access the shows you love. Pinterest made it easy to visually find inspiration for your next project. But design is especially important for nonprofit organizations.
To understand how in-house design teams solve unique challenges for their organizations, I spoke to three designers who have experience doing so.
Create a lifestyle brand
with Juan-David Quinones, formerly Invisible Children
KONY 2012 was a documentary made by the nonprofit Invisible Children as part of a campaign to demand justice for LRA affected communities. It was also a viral success, and the online video has since garnered over 100 million views and received support from people like Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey. But how did Invisible Children do it and how did design play a role in the campaign?
As Juan-David Quinones, former Marketing and Brand Strategist of Invisible Children, explained, it was about using design to create the vision of a “young, modern activist.” Juan-David’s team of in-house designers, filmmakers, and editors produced viral campaign videos, an e-commerce website, and even trendy apparel. Invisible Children was soon on the Facebook timelines of many college students. For many, it was the first time that representing a social cause had a “cool factor.” Juan-David said that they were able to achieve this by “not just telling a bunch of sob stories, but by inspiring people.”
The result was a community of supporters who believed in and were excited to be a part of Invisible Children’s social cause. What makes it so compelling is that it not only inspired people to become donors, but made supporting nonprofits part of their lifestyles. Invisible Children inspired people to become loyalists to their cause.
Design like a scientist
with Urvish Doshi, JDC
When I was learning about the scientific method in the fourth grade, I often wondered: when will I ever use this? For Urvish Doshi, UX Engineer at JDC, the answer is simple: “when designing at a nonprofit of course!” His team of in-house designers, engineers, and data scientists use the scientific method to do their UX research. From ideation (hypothesis) to design and launch (experimentation and testing), Urvish and his team create measurable solutions to problems (results and analysis).
For example, they often design with the goal of increasing donor conversion rates. One of the things they do is to identify and remove any “fluff” content from their website that might prevent conversions. After they make the changes, they monitor user activity to see if they actually simplified and optimized the experience. Then they repeat the process to refine their results.
The key here is to recognize that the design process is cyclical. Experimenting with variations of their web pages through A/B tests helps Urvish and his team understand which styles and layouts resonate most with their donors. It also lets them compare a control with different variables to see how their work affects data such as “page views, donations, subscriptions, and downloads.” With each iteration, they learn the best way to communicate with their donors.
Humanize the cause
with Chia-Min Pear, Liberty in North Korea
Liberty in North Korea is a Los Angeles based nonprofit that rescues North Korean refugees. To engage their donors, they use the art of storytelling to share their impact. But given the delicate nature of their work, they face the challenge of telling impactful stories while concealing the identities of their beneficiaries.
We have seen nonprofit organizations are more successful when they’re transparent about their impact. Donors want to see the stories and faces of the individuals who benefit from their donations. Chia-Min Pear, Senior Graphic Designer at Liberty in North Korea, looks for unique ways to build connections between donors and beneficiaries. One way Chia-Min achieves this is through imagery. Many of Liberty in North Korea’s photos are of beneficiaries, but the photos only show part of the person’s face. This allows Chia-Min to protect the identity of the individual but also gives donors the ability to build human connections.
In addition, Chia-Min’s team uses an emphasis on bright colors and daylight throughout the photos on their website and social media accounts to visually communicate a positive and inspirational tone. The team also explains the serious issues they address while using graphics with inspirational visuals to help people understand. For Chia-Min the key takeaway here is that “for complex issues, design helps with the storytelling.” Infusing it into your storytelling strategy can create a larger impact.
There are many ways to implement design into your organization. Juan-David, Urvish, and Chia-Min took challenges unique to their organizations and found creative ways to solve for them. We have seen in-house designers turn a social cause into a lifestyle brand. We were schooled on the scientific method and how it helps to grow a donor base. We saw how design can help humanize a complex story.
Design is an impactful investment to your organization’s business success.
Three unique challenges. Three unique causes. Each in-house design team I spoke with prove one thing: design is an impactful investment to your organization’s business success.
