The Homer Fund
Client: The Home Depot
Team: Meagan Figueroa, Sasha Fridy, Michael McFarlane
Role: User Experience Designer and Researcher
My deliverables: User Interview insights, Persona, Journey Maps, C&C, Usability Test insights
Tools: Sketch, Invision
ux consultation for the home depot
The Challenge: build an easy-to-use mobile application that associates’ can use to donate to The Homer Fund, the charitable organization that supports all associates of The Homer Depot. The goal of the app is to increase the SSC (Store Support Center-Atlanta corporate headquarters) associates’ engagement with-and donations to- The Homer Fund.
The Problem: Home Depot associates know about the Homer Fund but currently lack knowledge of where their donation is going, who they’re helping, and how to navigate the donation process.
The Hypothesis: If we build a responsive Homer Fund website with highlighted results, stories and an easy donation process, we expect to see increased engagement and donations that are sustained throughout the year.
A three week design sprint
The project scope allowed for 3 weeks so we scoped out the deliverables to ensure we hit our deadline.
Let’s start with research
Digging into the data and understanding the needs of the users is where I shine.
Competitive & Comparative Analysis
I analyzed other charitable organizations that could give us a sense of best practices and a feel for an innovative direction to go in.
Key Insight: None of these charitable organizations have a mobile application. All of these websites, except The Homer Fund, are responsive
We interviewed The Home Depot associates
How else can we understand their current engagement with The Homer Fund?
The data is revealing something interesting
We synthesized the user interview data with Affinity Mapping and then I created our primary Persona
I mapped out his journey on the current Homer Fund website
Key events:
Signs up to donate the minimum amount to the fund through auto enroll
Attends a fundraising event and enjoys himself
Can not figure out how to update his auto payment, abandons the process
Key Problems: Associates don’t see the impact of their donations, the donation process is complicated, the fundraising events are cash only, the website lacks visibility and is hard to navigate
Pivot, pivot, pivot
This new compelling evidence was impactful and we needed to meet with our client to recommend a new path- A RESPONSIVE WEBSITE
We kept in mind the business goals and the users needs in order to make a pivot that would support both parties.
As a team we time boxed a design studio session
Made mid-fi wires
Testing Insights:
I ran the Usability Tests, created scripts, recorded and transcribed notes, and provided recommended iterations to my designers.
Key Quotes:
“The first thing listed is the amount they want you to give and anything lesser is not as important.”
“Wow, this is really nice! It is clearly laid out and I understand what I’m looking at.”
We remembered the core values of The Home Depot
Every dollar is important and their associates are incredibly valuable. Understanding the business as a whole guided the iteration process.
Desktop Prototype: Donation Process
Mobile Prototype: Plan a Homer Fund Event
I remapped our Persona’s journey on the responsive site
Key events:
He signs up for the minimum amount to donate
He attends a Homer Fund event and really enjoys the experience
He is able to use myWallet to donate with his phone
Goes to the website, navigates easily to increase his autopay to give more
