Project Overview

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Approach & Methodology

The engagement was structured across three agile sprints using the Double Diamond framework, combining discovery, definition, development, and delivery phases. Each sprint produced testable prototypes that were validated against real user behavior before full implementation.

Sprint 1 — Revise Digital Footprint

Conducted a heuristic evaluation to identify usability failures and trust gaps. Ran qualitative interviews with both prior donors and prospective supporters, with deliberate sampling of audiences. Synthesized findings into affinity maps and developed distinct user personas. Delivered an accessibility-forward rebrand, including a new style guide, revised information architecture, and copy. Built and tested a mid-fidelity Figma prototype for the donation user flow, achieving a 100% task completion rate in usability testing.

Sprint 2 — Grants & Corporate Sponsorships

Identified grant opportunities and corporate sponsorship targets based on audience overlap and brand alignment. Developed grant applications and corporate outreach materials aligned to the validated brand narrative. Secured two formal Letters of Interest from separate divisions of PBS and partnerships with Lululemon, Drink LMNT, and PrAna. 

Sprint 3 — Screening Events & Audience Validation

Deployed test screening events nationwide, gathering qualitative and quantitative data, and analyzed Facebook Ads Manager data to validate persona assumptions and refine audience targeting. Used data to inform marketing budget allocation and content strategy for the final cut. 

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Role & Contributions

This engagement required wearing multiple hats across research, strategy, design, and stakeholder communication — a pattern common in lean cross-functional teams.

Function	Contribution
Cross-functional Collaboration	Coordinated across a 7-person team, including producers, a PM, designers, and marketing leads, in an agile sprint structure
Stakeholder Research	Conducted qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys; synthesized findings into actionable personas, affinity maps, journey maps, and test screening insights that influenced the final cut.
Requirements & Information Architecture	Identified friction in existing user flows via heuristic evaluation; restructured navigation, copy, and IA to support a clear donation funnel
Brand & Accessibility Strategy	Led accessibility-first rebrand (W3CAG compliance); resolved color contrast, cognitive load, and typography issues
SEO & Digital Strategy	Unified brand identity across platforms; developed content strategy to consolidate SEO between competing brand names
Grant & Sponsorship Writing	Authored grant applications and corporate outreach; secured 2 formal Letters of Interest from PBS and 3 formal sponsorships with Lululemon, Drink LMNT, and PrAna.
Analytics & KPI Tracking	Tracked engagement metrics via Facebook Ads Manager and Survey Monkey; used data to optimize marketing budget allocation

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The Product

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Research & Insights

Research combined primary qualitative interviews with quantitative data from surveys and ad platform analytics. Key insights that shaped product and strategy decisions:

Trust drives conversion.

Users were willing to donate but needed transparency about where the funds go. A critical error on the donations page — the omission of a contact for non-standard donation types (frequent flyer miles, hotel credits) — was identified and resolved.

Accessibility is a brand value, not a compliance checkbox.

One of the film’s four main subjects is a blind acrobat and DEI advocate. Ensuring the digital experience reflected the brand value required resolving color contrast ratios, reducing font variety to improve cognitive accessibility, and restructuring the visual hierarchy for screen reader compatibility.

Word-of-mouth outperforms paid reach for this audience.

Organic posts from individuals with personal connections to the project consistently outperformed business page content in reach and engagement. This finding directly shaped the social media content strategy and the creation of a “Friends of the Doc” ambassador program.

Gamification and sprint fundraising outperform passive donation asks.

Research confirmed that time-limited fundraising campaigns with clearly stated goals and expense breakdowns produced stronger conversions than evergreen donation CTAs. This informed the sprint-based fundraising structure.

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Skills Demonstrated

This project demonstrates a blend of skills relevant to UX, product strategy, business analysis, and program management roles:

• End-to-end research ownership: screener creation, recruiting, interview facilitation, synthesis, and stakeholder presentation
• Requirements gathering and prioritization across competing stakeholder needs
• Data-driven decision making: using both qualitative insight and quantitative metrics to inform strategy
• Cross-functional team coordination in an agile environment
• Accessibility compliance (W3CAG) — practical application, not just familiarity
• Stakeholder communication: translating UX findings into business cases for producers and sponsors
• Content strategy and SEO: consolidating brand identity to improve discoverability
• Grant writing and partnership development

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Reflections & Learnings

Working in an under-resourced, cross-functional team with real fundraising stakes sharpened skills that are difficult to develop in larger organizations. The most valuable learning was how to build stakeholder alignment when team members are personally invested in the outcome — and how to use data to facilitate those conversations productively.

The project also deepened fluency in nonprofit fundraising dynamics, which differ meaningfully from commercial product contexts: donor motivation is relational, not transactional; trust-building precedes conversion; and in-kind contributions (miles, credits, catering) require the same UX attention as cash donations.