Journey to a carbon neutral future

My role
UX researcher in a team of three
Goal
Identify opportunities for improved user experience
Timeline
2 weeks

Overview

Climate Move is a nonpofit working towards a sustainable future in Finland. The team aims to inspire people to become movers and shakers on the country's path to carbon neutrality.

Preparing to update their website, the team was looking for guidance on how to create an engaging user experience.

My role

Our team of three—UX developer Elena Kazakova, UX designer Briana Romero, and me conducted an audit of Climate Move's website and recommended improvements to support client's goals.

We met through LinkedIn and thought it would be fun to do a project together. Working with Elena and Briana was very collaborative and efficient, and I enjoyed learning from them.

The Helsinki-based team working remotely during the pandemic

Approach

We based the audit on Jakob Nielsen's usability heuristics, covering areas from accessibility to tone of voice. To put user needs front and center, we used user tasks, personas, user stories, and scenarios as a framework for auditing the website.

User tasks = key actions

What are the key actions users can do on Climate Move's website and social channels?

Website and social media screenshots with related actions: Read about the mission, See recent and upcoming events, Get actively involved, Contact the organizers

Personas = target audience

Based on heuristics, we created a few personas to narrow down Climate Move'ss potential target audience. The focus was on people eager to make a positive impact in their community.

Illustration of personas: Max, university student; Antti, climate activist; Liisa, color-blind climate activist; Timo, school teacher; Anna, entrepreneur

User stories = context in which people act

User stories followed this format: As [persona], I want to [do task] so that I can [achieve goal].

Illustration of user stories: Max, university student, wants to see recent activities so he can learn about exciting local initiatives. Antti, climate activist, wants to get involved so he can create positive change in his community. Liisa, color-blind climate activist, wants to learn about the mission so she can connect with likeminded people. Timo, school teacher, wants to check out upcoming events so he can show up for the local youth. Anna, entrepreneur, wants to contact the organizers so she can make a financial contribution.

Scenarios = even more context

Diving into each user story, we outlined a few scenarios in which users might interact with the website. Although these are still heuristics that would need to get tested with users, we thought this would be a helpful first step for the Climate Move team. Here's our analysis and recommendations for improvement:

Illustration of Max's reaction upon entering the website: puzzled by lack of options in the navigation

Markup of areas for improvement: navigation, introductory text, CTA

Illustration of Liisa's reaction upon opening the organizations' Manifest page: irritated by the poor color contrast

Markup of areas of improvement: adjusting the color contrast

Want to learn more?

See the full report in Google Drive

Open full report

Outcomes

Following our suggestions, Climate Move team has overhauled their website in early 2021. It features a variety of engaging content: lively photos and illustrations, blog posts, and event updates. As the team sets up their analytics and testing capabilities, we look forward to hearing how these changes have engaged their audience.

Screenshot of the new website hero section featuring a team photo

Energetic team photo greets visitors as they enter the website

Improved color contrasts and inspirational messaging

Lessons learned

This was a fun learning experience: I learned a lot about accessibility from Elena and about service design methods from Briana. As a newbie in Helsinki, it was also a great opportunity for me to meet local designers. It all started with a Hello on LinkedIn, giving us a new way to connect and collaborate, even during social distancing.

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