RCYF - Responsive Design for Mobile Accessibility
Overview: River City Youth Foundation, located in south Austin, is a STEM based educational nonprofit that serves low-income families with little or no access to the web.
Problem: RCYF's current website is outdated, poorly organized, and is not responsive. By creating a mobile first update we can ensure that they are able to reach clients, which for the most part can only access the web on their smart phones
My Role: UX Researcher and Designer
Tools: Adobe XD, UX Research Methods
Research
River City Youth Foundation is a local organization that provides:
- Free STEM-focus education programs for low-income families.
- Programs include after-school tutoring and tech classes, summer camps, and basic computer skills classes for adults.
Their goals are:
- Keep kids out of the street and in school
- Close the graduation gap for at-risk youth
- To help parents and children obtain a better life by teaching them basic computer skills.
Neighborhood Information
River City Youth Foundation is located in the Dove Springs Neighborhood in Southeast Austin
Demographics
- 53% of the population of Hispanic origin
- Low-income families
- High immigrant population with low English fluency
- Most people served by the organization do not have a computer at home
- Android phones is the main way in which they access the web
- 17.6 % of people live below the poverty line
Needs of the Community
- Education in their own language
- Access to the internet and to computer devices
- Youth education programs
- Mental health-care
- General Healthcare
- Financial resources
User Personas
Name: Betha Shanchez
Demographics
- Immigrant
- Low income
- Working mom
Goals & Needs
A better life and education for her and her children
Pain Points
- Limited English
- Did not finish high school
- Limited internet access through mobile phone
Solutions
Look for help from non-profits
Name: Sam Jurado
Demographics
- Newly college grad
- Middle class
- Single
Goals & Needs
Volunteer and gain experience to start a career
Pain Points
- no work experience
- narrow network
- wants a fulfilling experience
Solutions
Look for non-profits where he can volunteer
Needed Improvements:
- Mobile accessible by means of responsive design
- Clean and well organized design and navigation
- Language accessibility
- Visible call to action
- Easy access to organization’s phone number
Original Website
The old website is outdated, poorly organized, and is not accessible on mobile. Additionally, there is not a clear way to contact the organization and it's missing a clear statement of what they do. Also, the whole site is English only even though a large portion of their clients speak only Spanish.
Mind mapping
Card sorting
Feature priority matrix- after analyzing our data we decided these were our most important features:
- Responsive website for mobile accessibility
- Visible contact information
- Noticeable "Donate" button
- Spanish version of website
Lo-Fi Mobile Wireframes
(Done by project's UI Designers)
Testing
I conducted five user tests with the desktop and mobile prototypes. I asked users how they felt about the site, what they thought the organization did from looking at the homepage, and I tested whether they were able to navigate through the site and find the information they need it.
Common findings:
- Users can tell the organization works with children and families
- Colors are fun, bright, and cheerful
- Footer needs more padding
- Type should be more readable, consistent, and easier to scan
- Higher contrast between background and font
- Iconography is confusing
A/BTesting
We conducted a couple of A/B tests to better decide the color for the call to action button, and the icons for the language switcher
Users preferred:
- Orange “donate” button
- Abbreviation for language toggle
- Smaller icons for partners’ list
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, we discovered that the original website is not suited for the community that it wishes to attract. In order for the organization to reach more families they need a website in Spanish and that is mobile accessible for those parents that do not have computer at home. Additionally information needs to be better organized and contact information needs to be more accessible.
Future Opportunities
- Full Spanish version of the website
- Further accessibility testing
- Low bandwidth accessible website
- A way to update the site via content management
- Online registration applications for both students and volunteer
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