British Red Cross Aid Atlas
Mapping Your Impact
Aid Atlas offers an innovative, transparent, and engaging platform that leverages emerging technologies to enhance the donation experience.
CLIENT
British Red Cross
MY ROLE
UX & UI Designer, Project Manager
TEAM
Alexandra Camp, Julia Breire, Michael Palfreeman, Morgan Ager, Tamara Zipporah
TOOLS
Figma, Figjam, Dovetail, Otter
INTRODUCTION
Our team had the privilege of working with the British Red Cross, to work with one of their fundraising initiatives. The program aims to bring new ways to donate. How might we create a new business model for donating that utilises emerging technology to engage new audiences?
BACKGROUND
Getting to know the charity
The design challenge
RESEARCH
What does the market look like?
The British Red Cross is an international charity committed to helping people in crisis. With a global network of volunteers, the British Red Cross responds to natural disasters, conflicts, and individual emergencies worldwide. As the world faces increasing challenges, including frequent natural disasters and global conflicts, the need for support has never been greater.
Our aim is to create lasting relationships with new priority audiences by exploring unmet needs and creating new fundraising propositions that offer value to the donors while generating crucial income for the organisation.
Researching and implementing emerging technologies.
Design a digital fundraising product to reach new audiences or create new revenue streams.
Understand what charity donors are looking for and design for their needs and preferences to encourage regular donations to the British Red Cross.
We conducted market research and competitor analysis because we wanted to see how current charities and digital fundraising campaigns worked and where our business idea would best fit.
Market Research
We conducted desk research to discover successful campaigns utilising emerging technology such as cryptocurrencies, blockchain, NFT’s, AI, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
Competitor Analysis
The competitor analysis revealed the strengths and opportunities of other charities
USER RESEARCH
From business to target audience
Now that we have a background on what the market is like, we switched our focus to the donators so we could learn more about them. We used quantitative and qualitative methodologies, we conducted 42 1-1 interviews and sent out a survey from which we received 450+ data points.
“Knowing that my contribution made a difference reassures me that I'm supporting effective initiatives and encourages me to continue donating.”
— Interviewee May 2024
Synthesising our data with Dovetail
What did we find out?
Key Learnings
Appreciate regular updates, with 50% preferring visual and measurable outcomes
Value transparency, with 60% expressing skepticism about fund management
Believe the organisations reputation is important, with over 70% showing skepticism towards charities in general
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Transparency is crucial for their willingness to donate. There’s also skepticism about how larger charities allocate funds, so this is important in building trust in the organization transparency in order to have trust in where their contributions are going.
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Overall, the people we interviewed mostly donated to charities that they had some personal connection to: either through their past experiences or through friends or family members that felt strongly about a cause.
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People generally donate to local causes, and charities that help support work close to home
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People want autonomy and agency over their donation choices and where they give their money. They want to control the timing and frequency of their donations. There’s a sense of fundraising fatigue due to constant requests and pressure.
RESHAPING THE CONCEPT
Meet Cody & Lucas
LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE USERS
The British Red Cross provided us with two personas, Lucas and Michaela, but from our research, we created a third persona as we felt as though there were user needs that were not being met from the ones given.
From the three personas we decided to focus on Lucas and Cody. This was due to some overlap within their needs and it allowed us to focus on bringing a cohesive design together
To deeply understand our users' experiences, needs and goals, we crafted artefacts that allowed us to empathise with their perspectives during related scenarios.
WE USED EMPATHY MAPS TO IDENTIFY USER’S NEEDS AND GOALS
Identifying Opportunities
To understand how Cody and Lucas think and feel we went on to create two user journeys which allowed us to start identifying opportunities and design solutions.
Summarising the Opportunities
Has live and constant updates about his donations
A place to socially share his contributions to encourage others to join in
Designing a welcoming environment
Having a personalised experience to feel like what she donates to matter
Trustworthiness in information and the charity
PROBLEM STATEMENT - CONSCIENTIOUS CONTRIBUTOR
Cody needs a way to choose specific projects to support because she wants to see where her donations go so that she can contribute to causes that she feels connected to.
PROBLEM STATEMENT - SKEPTICAL ALTRUIST
Lucas needs a way to see the impact of his information because he wants to understand where his donations are going because he questions the transparency of charities.
We created user stories to help guide us through this ideation phase.
For someone who cares who they’re donating to:
As a sentimental donor who feels connected to certain causes, I want to choose specific projects to support so that my donations align with my personal values and interests.
For someone who values where their money goes:
As a skeptical altruist, I want a transparent way to donate , so that I can feel confident my donations are going directly to the cause.
BUILDING USER JOURNEYS’
Next, moved on to work on the userflows and sitemaps as we get into the details of the solutions. We created around eight user flows, based on a range of user stories, to map out how the users would interact with features step by step.
We created user flows to map out the steps users follow to accomplish their tasks.
Flow 1 - Lucas needs a quick way to identify affected areas, understand their needs, and track his donation's impact to ensure it is used efficiently for disaster relief.
Flow 2 - As a long-time crypto donator, they need a way to track his donation to ensure it reaches the intended cause and is used effectively
Thinking about the site architecture
Creating the product's information architecture involved several iterations, as we continuously improved it based on feedback.
FOCUSING ON AN APPROACH
Our Design Principles
Reflecting on our research and the follow up meeting, we also developed 3 core design principles to lead us through the concept development phase.
Transparency through Blockchain: Clear, unbreakable digital trails for donations.
Interactive Map: Combines global and local impact views.
NFTs: Engage donors with a gamified reward system.
LANDING ON AN APPROACH
Desirability, Viability & Feasibility
Now that we understand the way our personas think and we have identified opportunities for them. We began the development phase with rapid ideation exercises, considering a wide range of emerging technologies and narrowing down to five initial ideas
OUR INITIAL CONCEPTS
Due to the nature of the brief and the breadth of potentially emerging technologies to explore we went really wide with ideas before narrowing down to 5
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This concept shows British Red Cross appeals all over the world
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A cryptocurrency donation platform that utilises blockchain technology to offer granular impact tracking
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An idea around auctioning NFT artwork created by local artists from appeal areas
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A separate British Red Cross saver wallet where people can add to their wallet over time until a cause comes up that resonates with them enough to tap into these set aside funds.
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A final idea that utilised VR headsets to allow professionals around the world to offer their skillset, expertise and advice online to help British Red Cross volunteers on the ground in affected areas.
We arranged a follow up meeting so we could check in with the British Red Cross innovation team. It was important to get feedback to assess which ideas were suitable and to help guide the direction of the project.
Ahead of the follow up meeting, we came up with questions around our initial ideas to make sure that we were considering these three criteria - desirability, feasibility and viability. We stress tested the initial ideas against these criteria to make sure we were designing in that ‘Innovation sweet spot’.
WHY CRYPTO?
Crypto is a growing opportunity
It was clear people had a desire for more transparency and tracking when donating. We read between the lines and came to the conclusion that blockchain technology could be the answer for their needs.
Reason 1:
Blockchain is an unbreakable digital trail that allows donors to see exactly where their money is going, providing a clear record of transactions.
Reason 2:
The statistics suggest there is a different mentality and attitude amongst crypto users who are inherently more frivolous with their crypto assets compared to cash.
The Concept
Experience the impact of their contributions with the interactive map, powered by crypto, blockchain, and NFTs.
ITERATION
Prototyping, testing, iterating - repeat
We started by sketching our initial ideas and building the foundational wireframes.
This phase involved close collaboration among team members and user testing. The feedback and insights from these tests were invaluable, leading us to iterate and improve our design.
Evaluating usability & functionality
We conducted a range of user testing, we gave users a few objectives and observe how they interact. This was done to identify any issues, validate our design decisions and improve overall usability
DESIGN SYSTEM
Building the Aid Atlas Identity
Although the project was only six weeks, we as a team were adamant about building a design system to ensure consistency.
Due to the British Red Cross having strong previously established brand guidelines we decided to stick closely to those provided when creating our concept
TEXT STYLES WERE KEPT TO HELVETICA NEUE IN A VARIETY OF LINE WEIGHTS
WE STUCK MAINLY TO THE PRIMARY COLOUR PALETTE AND THE RED TONES
Creating Components
Due to time constraints and the nature of the project, as a team, we built simple component sets but making sure to cover the basics like states, behaviours and variants.
DESIGN SOLUTIONS
Introducing Aid Atlas
We developed a website with the idea to be fully integrated into the existing British Red Cross website on both mobile and desktop.
A new personalised way to donate through an interactive map, powered by cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to bolster trust and transparency for it’s users.
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Welcome to the Aid Atlas landing page. This page aims to capture the donators interest by providing a summary of what the platform offers and a clear call to action to get started.
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When the user navigates to the platform for the first time, they are greeted with a series of tutorial guides to help guide the user through the platform's features and functionalities.
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Selecting the list view to see an alternate way to access and search information.
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In this example, a local appeal has been selected, the map zooms in to highlight a detailed pop-up card, where more information about the specific appeal can be found. The user can either donate directly or read more about the appeal.
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Once prompted, the user can begin with their donation. Here they can select their chosen cryptocurrency and the amount they want to donate.
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After completing their donation, users are able to head to their profile page where they can view their unlocked NFT's. In this example, the user has unlocked two. One for creating an account and the other for donating to a local appeal.
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Using the side menu, donators can navigate back to the homepage and view their impact history by toggling 'impact'. This is where users can see their contributions to different appeals globally.
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Donators are able to select and share their 'Your Donations Wrapped' infographic on social media. This details the donators contributions.
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Aid Atlas - Developed for both Desktop and Mobile
Discovering appeals and donating Bitcoin to a chosen appeal
Let's revisit Cody, the Conscientious Contributor.
Cody is a new user who is curious to explore the platform and donate to a local appeal she cares about.
Tracking a donation via blockchain and viewing your impact
Let's revisit Lucas, the Skeptical Altruist.
Lucas receives an email from British Red Cross with an update on his recent donation and wants to see and share his impact
SUMMARY
Summary of our design solutions
Trust & transparency:
Our research identified this as a huge concern from the users. By centring the designs around donations via crypto and blockchain this will aid users trust in charities
Emerging Technology:
We created a set of NFT’s as a way to show a clear sense of impact and re enforce user retention
More than just a donate button:
We developed a platform to fit user needs for a personalised experience that doesn’t apply pressure through the interactive map
THE DIAGRAM SHOWS HOW ALL THE FEATURES PRESENT WITHIN AID ATLAS FIT INTO OUR THREE PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Expected Metrics
We created a variety of metrics that fit into four different categories in order to help the British Red Cross measure the success of Aid Atlas
Awareness:
Increased social shares (infographic or platform), number of visitors on the website versus number of those who donate
Donation:
Average donation size, number of donations per user and how many donators set up a monthly pledge to continue their contributions
Activation:
The number of visitors creating accounts and beginning to earn NFT’s as well as the amount and types of appeals being searched
Retention:
This stems from the being able to track the number of repeat donations and see which users have been earning NFT’s
Looking to the future
As a team, we believe that Aid Atlas has so much to offer with lots of room for development, so we have mapped out a proposed three stage strategy for the British Red Cross to take on board.
REFLECTIONS
Reflecting on our project, a challenge we faced was standardising our interview format across the team. This didn’t allow us to maximise Dovetail's capabilities for organising and analysing data. This approach would have ensured more consistent and comparable insights. Additionally, having access to a diverse range of cryptocurrency users for testing and interviews would have greatly helped our research by providing broader perspectives and enhancing our understanding of user needs.
