SUSSMAN DESIGNS
jGirls Magazine
My Role: UX Designer/Researcher | Team: 4 UX Designers, 1 Developer, 1 Executive Leadership
Tools: Sketch, Miro, InVision | Time: 3 Weeks
Project Overview
A Non-Profit, Online Publication with content both for and by Jewish teenage girls & information for parents/donors.
A platform for these girls to express themselves, giving them an opportunity to hone their leadership skills and learn how to voice their differences in a safe and respectful environment.
“I would like to focus more on the feeling that the website would leave them with, which is a feeling of belonging. I want Jewish teenage girls to read the website and feel as though it’s okay to have questions, to feel confused, to struggle with their identity, but that they are not alone in their struggles and that there is an awesome community willing to support them in any way possible”
- jGirls Founder Elizabeth Mandel
Goals
Our team first aimed to understand the demographic and the competition
To then move to analyze the existing website and propose solutions to improving the:
-
Improve User flow
-
Increase User pool
-
Create Interactions (commenting, submitting questions, sharing resources)
Problem
Our team found that although the current site is usable, functional, and reliable, there are opportunities for improvement; specifically, in bringing delight and meaningfulness to the platform.
Problem Statement: “How might we encourage a stronger sense of belonging and empowerment for Jewish teenage girls so that they can foster meaningful relationships within the community.”
Opportunity / Discovery
Key Insights and Deductions were:
Girls expressed wanting to feel their voices be heard more
The majority of girls said they would comment if they remained anonymous
None have left comments on platforms before
The website was not doing enough to encourage communication
The website needed a name-agnostic comment system
We could utilize an unfamiliar feature without suffering user confusion.
The Frida Persona fits these insights on the Teen side and therefore became the main focus, while we used other personas help tackle alternate pain points and user flows.
Solution
Meaningful > Functional
-
We sought to prioritize the connections teens were having with the site and highlight the delightfulness and meaningfulness of their experience
-
We developed a design that was similar to the current website -- but with better organization and clearer language
-
Although not features, these deliverables were meant to elevate the user’s emotional experience, getting teens more invested in jGirls content and services
Before
After
After
Before
Successes
Frida is more encouraged to share her article and other articles on social media, thereby informing her friends about jGirls Magazine, increasing online presence and user pool
“Able to capture the mission more on this newer version. Everything about it is more inviting and warmer. Original is more choppy” - Teen User
“It makes people want to get involved more because there’s more you can do than just reading the article” - Teen User
Reflection
NEXT STEPS:
-
Usability testing a larger pool of users and test-iterate again
-
Explore forum or other community features to foster a deeper sense of belonging
-
Ensure final design features are compatible with Wordpress
-
Discussion with developer to discuss feasibility of post-MVP features to be implemented
If Continued what would it look like?
-
First-time posters encouraged to read-through, like & comment on another user’s post before creating their own article (part of a new writer on-boarding process) which we would compare testing a CTA that gets recommended vs forcing to complete.
-
“Praise” Feature based on Medium’s “Clap” feature - anonymous and low-effort