War Child
Creative Direction, Content Strategy, UX/UI Design

2019

Originally framed as an ask to create a section on warchild.ca to attract the attention of millennial donors, I worked with War Child to take on the more complex issue of a disconnected brand strategy and confusing digital & donation experience. I worked to re-define the CX of the donation process and better understand how users become aware of new charitable organizations and what drives them to donate. Partnered with a new brand strategy, we then extended the brand experience through a completely reimagined UX and design system.

At project kick-off, the War Child brand consisted of a logo, a typeface, and the colour red. I worked to extend the brand for use across the new digital experience, which included creating a new, accessible colour palette and refining the brand typography. The square found in the logo was also used as a dynamic framing device throughout the visual system.

Research revealed that brand design was directly linked to a user’s willingness to donate. Charities that had too much of a focus on design were often perceived as being “too slick” and left potential donors with questions around where their money was actually going (marketing vs. the cause at hand). I worked to create a visual experience, that told brand narrative effectively without relying too heavily on graphic devices and/or over-the-top immersive experiences.

Through the discovery process we uncovered that the vast majority of users typically fell into two buckets:

they either navigated to the site with the direct intent of making a donation, or
they are looking for information about War Child as reassurance that their donation will be put to good use.

By reducing the barrier to entry for those simply looking to make a donation we saw a significant increase in donation conversion.

Further research revealed that the scope of War Child’s work was too broad for some potential donors to fully grasp, despite being relative to causes they would typically donate to. This insight led us to develop “personalized”/ targeted versions of the home page. Based on a user’s cookied data, a different version of the homepage was served up coinciding both with War Child’s initiatives and the user’s interests. Additionally, a general version of the homepage was created to capture those users whose data we didn’t have access to.

Developer Joshua Richards & Ahmed Wageh

Justin Close