Transforming a community platform to foster meaningful connections between young volunteers and seniors
Area
Web Design
Team
2 designers
Duration
2024 (4 months)
Tools
Figma, Framer
30% increased volunteer participation
*Live site may differ due to subsequent updates and ongoing improvements
Context
The Best Moments Are Shared…
But for many seniors at places like Gainesville Health and Rehab in virginia, those shared moments of connection were far from an everyday occurrence. Days often passed quietly, with routines unbroken by the laughter of visitors or the comfort of familiar company. The rare occasions when someone did stop by were treasured, but they stood out all the more because of the long stretches of solitude in between. And that is what Herralink set out to change, by making it easier for seniors to connect with people and spend time together.
A New Chance To Grow
Herralink was at a pivotal moment. Goodwin Living, a fellow nonprofit senior living organization, was in talks to acquire it as part of a broader effort to expand volunteer engagement. Because Herralink relied heavily on its website to recruit volunteers and coordinate events, the acquisition highlighted the need for a redesign that introduced a refreshed visual identity and a more streamlined registration process to support the anticipated influx of volunteers. This would also be Herralink’s opportunity to demonstrate its value and make a bold statement about its impact.
The Challenge
Reigniting Engagement Through Design
Before the acquisition, Herralink was starting to lose momentum. The biggest challenge showed up in volunteer participation, the heart of the organization. With fewer volunteers signing up, seniors were left with fewer visits and the weekly community events that once brought people together became harder to keep alive. Thats why i was brought on to redesign the website, with the aim of not only revitalizing volunteer participation but also establishing a more cohesive and compelling visual identity for the organization.
Research and Analysis
Aligning User Needs With Business Goals
I joined midway as the second designer and was responsible for building the new site in Framer as the organization transitioned away from the cookie cutter Squarespace site. With the acquisition approaching, the founder was eager to move quickly, however the design changes I reviewed seemed inconsistent. While the visuals were cleaner, the site functionally remained the same, and I was not confident that a new look alone would be enough to drive new volunteer registration.
Old design vs early iteration of new website
I decided it was important to pause and realign with both the organization’s goals and the needs of its volunteers. Coordinating interviews with volunteers proved challenging, but I was able to spend significant time with the founder and several team members. Their firsthand perspectives gave me the clarity I needed to shape a more thoughtful and informed approach.
Following the meeting we took these insights into consideration and conducted a brief audit to identify potential solutions and these were the pain points we decided to address:
Sitemap
Identifying Structural Gaps
The main issue I noticed in the site’s layout was that pages were being designed in isolation, without enough thought for how the overall structure could better support volunteer recruitment. To address this, I collaborated with another designer and organization members to brainstorm and map out two potential site structures.
Option 1
Option 2
We chose the second option because it could be executed more quickly within our time constraints and placed stronger emphasis on volunteer registration. The upcoming acquisition by Goodwin Living also meant the organization would not need to rely as heavily on donations in the short term. Although this structure offered less room to highlight Herralink’s background, it gave the organization the best opportunity to attract new volunteers and present itself as a more appealing partner for acquisition.
Design
Laying the Foundations for Faster Design
As I became more involved in the design details, I realized that this push to move quickly had come at another cost: there was no reliable system or framework in place. Designing “on the fly” might have seemed practical given the tight deadline, but in reality it was like working in the dark.
Much of the design had been created without a clear system in place, so I had to work backwards by organizing colors, styles, layout, and typography after the fact. This process brought consistency to the site, established a stronger foundation for more efficient design moving forward, and made the transition into Framer much smoother.
redesign
Improvement #1
Simple & informative
The most noticeable and immediate improvement is the site’s updated visual design and layout; it’s cleaner, easier to navigate, and brings a modern, welcoming look intended to keep users engaged and learn a little bit more about the organization.
Improvement #2
Registration Page
Because the actual sign-up process took place primarily outside the website, we redesigned the registration page to guide volunteers more clearly. By adding simple, step-by-step instructions, volunteers felt more confident navigating to a new tab and completing their registration without confusion.
Improvement #3
FAQ section
The last thing a volunteer should face when generously offering their time is the frustration of not finding the information they need. This lack of clarity initially contributed to low participation, so we added an FAQ section to address common questions and remove barriers to getting involved.
Improvement #4
Activities & Events
Because weekly activities are the primary way volunteers connect with seniors, we designed a new Activities page where all events are regularly updated. From there, users can sign up through the volunteer portal to receive consistent updates on upcoming events and opportunities.
Additional Improvements
Social Media Outreach
Boosting Herralink’s growth went beyond redesigning the website. It included a complete visual refresh and a broader outreach strategy. By pairing the new site with a targeted social media campaign, we were also able to funnel more mobile users into volunteering.
Measuring Success
For the three months that followed, the combination of implementing design changes, launching the redesigned website, and running a focused social media outreach campaign came together to create measurable impact:
Things I Would Do Differently…
While it was outside of my control, I wish I had been brought into the design process earlier. Having that involvement from the start could have allowed us to shape a stronger overall strategy and save valuable time during execution.
I would have advocated more strongly for keeping a larger portion of the registration flow within the site itself. Unfortunately, given the tight deadline, we had to rely on external steps, but in the future this change would make the experience far more seamless for volunteers.
One element I admired in the old site was its use of photos, which gave it a warm and welcoming feel. I regret that we didn’t carry more of that forward, and I’ve already suggested reintroducing it in the next round of updates.
What I Learned
I think the most valuable lesson I took from this project was adaptability. Stepping into a project that was already in motion was initially uncomfortable, but it challenged me to trust my judgment, stand by my design decisions, and advocate for what I believed would best serve the organization. On top of that, taking the website all the way from Figma into Framer gave me a new perspective on the development side of the process. While it wasn’t the same as true engineering work, it gave me a deeper appreciation for the technical challenges developers face and helped me build greater empathy for their role.