As the lead researcher and designer on this project, I conducted and analyzed user research, ideated early concepts, ran design sprints, presented frequently to leadership, and developed the final website. I worked with a primary decision maker in this organization throughout this project.
Role
UX Researcher
Tasks
Wireframing
Prototyping
Usability Testing
User Research
Tools
Figma
Framer
Timeline
2 Months
Project Summary
Problem
The Cal Poly Entrepreneurship Club (CPE) is a on-campus organization focused on helping students become successful entrepreneurs. While the Cal Poly Entrepreneurship club had a social media presence, it did not have a website, so there was no easy way for both students and entrepreneurs to know all of the benefits this club had to offer. This club is constantly looking to gain new members and attract successful entrepreneurs to speak at their meetings, so a website that clearly displays the club’s benefits and reputation is critical.
Solution
I met with Cal Poly Entrepreneurship Club’s President to understand the organization’s needs and goals, then created a website that addressed them. This website clearly explains the benefits this club CPE has to offer as well as highlighting their outstanding reputation to gain new members and attract successful entrepreneurs.
Impact
increase in attendance at weekly meetings
increase in new members
of users found it very easy to find details about the upcoming meetings
Process
Problem
While the Cal Poly Entrepreneurship club had a social media presence, it did not have a website, so there was no easy way for both students and entrepreneurs to know all of the benefits this club had to offer. Since the Cal Poly Entrepreneurship Club (CPE) was looking to increase their members and attract more successful entrepreneurs to speak at their weekly meetings, they wanted to have a website would show all critical information about their club and meetings.
Meeting with Club President
I first met with the Club President to agree on expectations for the project, establish a timeline, and learn more about user needs and goals as well as their business goals.
Key Insights
CPE wanted their website to look professional in order to market themselves well to potential new members and entrepreneur speakers
CPE would like to increase attendance and retention rates for weekly meetings
Key Content they would like to present: Photo Gallery of Meetings, Company Tours and Competitions, Board Members, and summary of what CPE has to offer.
Prioritization and Information Architecture
After meeting with CPE’s President, I defined the most important features that I aimed to include in the website for this project. Once I prioritized these features, I needed to create a plan for the structure of the CPE website. Using my findings, I created a sitemap to map out what my pages are going to be on the website and presented this to stakeholders as well.
Site Map
I created a comprehensive Site Map of all of the pages of the CPE website so that I knew how many pages this website was going to be. While creating this site map, I kept the most important uses for the website in mind, such as viewing meeting times and photos of CPE’s most popular events, and made sure that users can easily view these.
Style Guide
Now that I had the information architecture defined, I needed to clarify the branding for this website and create a style guide. CPE’s president provided me with brand colors and a logo they would like me to use. She also strongly emphasized that CPE wanted to present itself very professionally through its website.
With all this in mind, I created a style guide so that I could have one document that clearly defined the brand that would be displayed on the CPE website. I shared this style guide with the Club President to make sure we were aligned the branding for the website.
Competitive Analysis
Now that I had met with the CPE President and had defined my information architecture and branding & style guide, I decided to conduct a competitive analysis and user research. I analyzed the websites of the Cal Poly Accounting Club, and a couple of national agencies: Lift Sports Management and Bain & Company.
Key Insights
Include concrete numbers that highlight the organization's success
Highlight distinct features and services that separates the organization apart
Highlight how your organization's executive board is accessible and offer networking opportunities to build trust and create meaningful business connections
Wireframing
Now that I had the structure of my website planned out with my site map, I began to create low-fidelity wireframes for the main pages of the website.
High-Fidelity Designs
After confirming with the CPE President that the structure meets CPE Guidelines, I then created high-fidelity wireframes in Figma. I made a couple changes based on feedback from the CPE President and my own insights.
Iterations
Updated photos in sections that needed to be replaced.
Updated metrics in the About page with new data.
Combined the Photo Gallery and Media sections into one page called Media because of how similar the content is.
Moved the Intrepid podcast section into the Media page
Developing the Website in Framer
Now that I have created my high-fidelity wireframes, I started to build the live website in Framer.
Development Challenges
Keeping the color styles consistent with my designs
I had to recreate color styles in Framer including solid and gradient color styles.
Specifically, with the Company Tours Page to make sure each company tour card design was consistent with my high fidelity wireframes in Figma.
Keeping the Speaker Card Designs consistent with my high-fidelity wireframes
Because my speaker cards included a logo to the right of the image, I originally had the challenge of keeping the logo within the card stack.
I was able to work around this issue through placing the logo within the image frame.
Presenting to CPE President and Revisions
After presenting the website to the CPE President and making changes based on her feedback, I was able to officially launch the live website.
Revisions
Added updated photos with new winners of Start Up Launch Weekend
Added links that directs the user to more information about each step in the Competition Timeline.
Added Linkedin Profiles for each officer
Made the pictures in the Success Stories larger
I made several ongoing edits, such as updating the upcoming events page
Usability Testing
After the website was launched, I conducted usability tests with students and entrepreneurs to better understand if there needs are met and what other changes they would like to be made. After conducting these tests, I came away with the following takeaways:
Key Insights
Users were able to easily navigate to different pages on the website to get important information about the club
Including information about Start Up Launch Weekend
CPE Meeting Time and Location
Users mentioned that some images were not high resolution
Users mentioned that they like to have access to each speakers' Linkedin Page for networking purposes
Users want to see want more information about the upcoming guest speakers at each meeting
Results
After publishing the new CPE website, we were able to the see the notable impacts on the organization:
33% increase in attendance in weekly meetings
25% increase in new members
67% of users found it very easy to find details about the upcoming meetings
Over 50 members received an honorary member certificate for attending 8 or more meetings
Users were able to easily complete key tasks and navigate through the website
Users were after viewing the website were heavily interesting in joining or learning more about CPE
Next Steps
Based on the feedback from the CPE President and user feedback, I’ve made the following changes to the website.
Add More Photos to the Photo Gallery
Add More Speakers to the Meetings page to show the longevity and credibility of CPE
Add More Company Tours to provide a broader range of experiences that better meet the needs and interests CPE members