Meet Tara.

She's the Executive Director of Kuda Vana Partnership. Kuda Vana, which means "Loving Children" in Shona, partners with Social Services to provide a safe and loving environment for orphaned or abandoned children who are in need of temporary or permanent care. AIDS and other diseases, economic hardship and extreme poverty have left millions of children in Zimbabwe orphaned, separated or on the brink of family breakdown.

She's also a team of one. 

Big Heart,
Small Budget

Tara and Kuda Vana had one big problem - the problem most small nonprofits have. With every spare dollar going to the essential services for the children of Zimbabwe, their web presence had been put on the backburner for years. 

"As a small nonprofit, there are a lot of limitations (budget constraints, expertise, etc.) to what I can do to promote our brand to a broader audience digitally. However, given the challenges of 2020, I knew it was paramount that I up our game and so I was thrilled to be chosen for the project."
- Tara Peterson

Enter: The GA Student Team

Emily Hoehenrieder

Design Lead

Brad LaPointe

Project Lead, Designer

Jacqueline Han

Research Lead, Designer

Like all General Assembly students, each member brought a unique set of skills from previous work experience. Emily brought years of graphic design background, and as the former host of they typography podcast Just My Type, was able to solidly define the visual design needed for Kuda Vana. Brad's extensive managerial experience, helped lead the project, while Jacqueline's work in the field of psychology helped illuminate the user research process. 
Each student team is chosen with the project in mind, and carefully curated by the instructional team at General Assembly.

Understanding the Needs

"After meeting with Tara and understanding her needs for the site, all three of us knew we needed to deliver more than a new design - Kuda Vana needed a completely new website. Even though it was a huge idea, Tara was open to our ideas and our findings throughout the entire process."
- Brad LaPointe, Designer

Kuda Vana's website needed a visual facelift, but that's only the tip of the iceberg - User Experience Design is about understanding the needs of the customer, deep beneath the surface. The student team started by conducting interviews with several dozens of donors across the US, to discover what really motivated them. 

The team set out to answer a big question - "How do you quickly build trust between a non-profit and its donors to secure donations?" 

Relating to Donors

Gratitude goes a long way
Users would like to receive personalized thank you notes customized to their specific donation.

Trust is paramount
Users want to feel personally aligned with the organization and its mission. 

Users are more likely to give monthly . . . if it's small
If the amounts are smaller,
they are able to see their impact, no matter how small.

Users want specific breakdowns of their donations 
The use of infographics and stories to showcase effectiveness.

91.3%

Need to feel personally alighed with the organization

52.3%

Want to be able to read personal stories and to be able to see the impact of their donations

“I want to see the impact of my donations.”

- Anonymous Donor

Ideation & Concept

"They got to work, and they went above and beyond. Not only did they improve the donor experience through research and a better flow, they redesigned my entire website to help tell our organization's story a more compelling way. And the results speak for themselves."
- Tara Peterson, Executive Director of Kuda Vana Partnership

"As UX designers we are taught to have empathy for our users, but this empathy also extends with to the clients we work with. We wanted to develop something for our client that was easily integrated and maintainable so she could focus on working on the mission of Kuda Vana." 
- Emily Hoehenrieder

"Both Task Flows and the main User Flow needed to be established in order to begin sketching the preliminary Lo-Fi & Mid-Fi wireframes."
- Brad La Pointe

"By restructuring the home page to match a more intuitive site navigation and creating a professional step-by-step donation process, users have an easier experience finding the information they need to build trust and donate to the non-profit."
- Jacqueline Han

"By simplifying the navigation and adding more visual aesthetics to the home page and to the donation flow, the user will be able to gain trust in the site in a professional website and knowledge in Kuda Vana, before donating."
- Emily Hoehenrieder

Want more info on the process? Click any thumbnail for a more indepth look.

Putting it all together

"Not only did they improve the donor experience through research and a better flow, they redesigned my entire website to help tell our organization's story a more compelling way. And the results speak for themselves. They listened to what I needed, and then expanded and gave me ideas and things I didn't even know I needed. I am so grateful to them, and to this program."

- Tara Peterson, Executive Director

Business Results

A few months after launch, the the GA student team recieved this letter from Tara:

Hi guys,

 I hope this all finds you well and happy, and that you’ve had a good holiday season.

 I wanted to update you, because the work you did for me was absolutely incredible, and most importantly is seeing RESULTS. In a year where most nonprofits have had to cut staff and programs due to financial problems, Kuda Vana is ending the year in a stronger financial position that we EVER HAVE BEFORE! In fact, we are going to have a big chunk of money to put in cash reserves, which is a huge deal. This means that the infants and children in our care will not have to worry about the future – they will be taken care of and have a home no matter what.

 I believe this is in large part to the work all of you did on improving the donor experience, and redesigning our website to better tell our story. I can’t thank you enough for jumping in with us to do this.  

 I got a video last night from our team and wanted to share it with you – it made me so happy. I think it will make you happy too. If you have not heard of the Jerusalema Challenge, Google it. Then watch. ? 

Warm Regards,

 Tara Petersen
Executive Director
Kuda Vana Partnership

Let us help you do the work you love.

If you think your business, non-profit, or startup could benefit from our student Client Project, just write us a pitch at
https://generalassemb.ly/uxdi-partnerships, 
or reach out directly to 
Nick.Anderson@generalassemb.ly.
We're always looking for new partners.

If you think your business, non-profit, or startup could benefit from our student Client Project, just write us a pitch at https://generalassemb.ly/uxdi-partnerships, or reach out directly to Nick.Anderson@generalassemb.ly.

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