Increasing engagement for the Muslim Women’s Health Association
Constructed website, branding, and strategy for a non-profit committed to amplifying Muslim women
Background
Muslim women are often underserved in the healthcare system while facing a range of challenges. The Muslim Women's Health Organization (MHWO) has recognized this issue, so when they approached me and my team, we were ready to help. They were in need of a home for their platform; to organize, highlight their efforts, and increase collaborations.
During this project, I advocated and conducted user research, user interviews, sketches, team ideation sessions, wireframes, usability testing, final designs, and managed the relationship with our client. My team members focused on brand identity and positioning.
My role
Product and Experience Designer, Strategist
Tools
Figma, Miro, Squarespace, CSS, HTML, ClickUp, G Suite
Team
Falooda Edits
(January-June 2023)
Scope
UX Design, Research, User Interviews, Ideation Workshops, Wireframes, User Testing, Presentation
First, I proactively uncovered our client, MWHO’s, specific wants and needs
Establishing a strong and collaborative relationship with the client was my first priority. I recognized that building a foundation of trust and mutual understanding was crucial in delivering the best results. I took the initiative by preparing provocative questions, comprehensive agendas, and a concise brief-back for our client.
The client’s initial ask was for my team to create exposure to their current mission, projects, and collaborations with past partners.
Ecosystem Research
I set off on contextualizing this space and understanding how similar organizations showcase their work
Interestingly enough, while I found that MWHO is one of the first of its kind targeted at Muslim Women, there are various non-profits with similar intentions for different groups. I used this time to synthesize different features we could consider including on the platform we build for MWHO.
Collection of competitors relevant to Muslim Women’s Health Organization
Our client expressed interest in incorporating Islamic textiles into our designs
But I noticed something glaring right at me…
Our client needed help defining their target audience
One of the biggest challenges I faced early on was helping MWHO understand their top priority audience since they initially cast their net quite wide to “Muslim women” as a whole. I wanted myself and my team to take a step back and very intentionally move forward with research. This led to scheduling more stakeholder interviews with our client to make sure we were on the same page. After a discussion with our client, we collaboratively chose to create a comprehensive website as their platform.
I recognized constraints within this project
Small team
Conflicting client wants and needs
Lack of resources
While contending with limited resources was a significant factor, I prioritized aligning the scope accordingly. Effective communication with the client was crucial; I outlined the necessary steps and their impact on the timeline. Despite these constraints, I pushed the project forward.
I learned a few key insights on what our client is truly hoping to achieve through stakeholder interviews
Our client prioritizes professionalism, tenderness, and accessibility while thinking about the experience for their website.
Their real focus for their platform was to house features that would allow poeple to contact MWHO, join MWHO as a member, or donate to the organization.
MWHO understood that their net was cast wide in terms of their audience, but were willing to narrow to specific groups and hear our take after doing user research.
User Interviews
Given ambiguity and constraints with time and resources, I had to be strategic in how we conducted user research
I chose to conduct 5 in-depth user interviews across various recruit profiles to understand the possible needs of Muslim women in the health field, Muslim women seeking healthcare, prospective partners, and possible members.
User Research Purpose
Support ideation and concept creation to appeal prospective MWHO members, consumers, and partners
User Research Objectives
Uncover what prospective members look for in an organization + how general muslim women access resources, test what we know, determine which features to prioritize
Hypothesis to Validate
Muslim women want easy, simple, and accessible health resources catered to them
Prospective members need a clear definition of why they should join MWHO
Prospective partners seek clarity on the MWHO identity without too much digging
Purpose, Objectives, and Hypothesis defined early on to be intentional while in the research phase
“There aren’t a lot of directly accessible role models for us (Muslim women in health) so I wish there was a place for me to reach someone.”
“Not as many resources are available for Muslims in healthcare, I’d like to join something that’s working to change that.”
“I don’t have many personal connections in health, no one in my family knows the medical field so I’m not sure how to gain access to people who do.”
Significant quotes from User Interviews
Research insights helped narrow down what features to focus on for MWHO’s platform
Through competitive ecosystem research, stakeholder interviews, and user interviews, I recognized patterns and challenges, such as Muslim women seeking a community that can provide connections to meet needs, joining causes to do work actively bridging gaps for Muslim women, and wanting to stay up to date with work relevant to Muslim women. This helped me move forward to focus on following features:
1
Attracting prospective partners to explore project opportunities with the Muslim Women’s Health Organziation
2
Enabling visitors to donate to MWHO by conveying the impact of helping fund MWHO’s projects and initiatives
3
Showcasing past projects in a digestible and comprehensive way
4
Encouraging fellow Muslim women to become members of the organization and stay up to date with MWHO
Re-centered Goal
Allow Muslim women, prospective members, and prospective partners to learn about and engage with MWHO in an easy and accessible way
Ideation
Strategizing concepts and ideas against ask, value to users, and feasibility given capacity and resources
After developing direction and understanding the needs of our client and their target audiences, I focused on facilitating workshops and sketches to kick off the ideation phase. The following workshops aided in cultivating final designs.
Value Sensitive Analysis
I conducted a value-sensitive analysis to understand each stakeholder group, define values, understand value tensions, and apply while concepting. Doing so pushes my team toward language that acknowledges the impact of our work for our client. I also believe human values should be held in high value in design criteria while being paired with reliability and efficiency.
Snippets from the process of uncovering values relevant to those we are designing for
User Journeys
In order to inform our overall Information Architecture, I brought in another team member to begin with flushing out User Journeys.
The various user journeys we used to inform the site map in the following section
Sitemap
I led a collaborative effort with my team member to use client feedback, research insights, and our user journeys to define a site map for the website. Doing so would keep us on the same page and refine our information architecture. Multiple revisions were made to the site map while communicating with our client and referencing back to previous steps to ensure best results.
The final site map that informed designs and was presented to the client to ensure we were on the same page
Rapid Ideation Activity
Including the entire team on this activity increased morale, considered new perspectives, and uncovered various paths we could explore.
Including the entire team on this activity increased morale, considered new perspectives, and uncovered various paths we could explore
Low-fi Sketches
To get into wireframes, we began with low-fi sketches. This was a great opportunity where outstanding questions arose for our features and for our client.
I ensured that we spent time to review collaboratively our ideas before moving into wireframes
Ensuring accessibility
As my team members skillfully crafted the branding identity for MWHO, meticulously selecting color palettes and crafting logos and other branding elements, I made it a priority to ensure that every aspect of the project embraced accessibility.
The image on the right is an example of a guide I gave my team to rely on while working with colors across various sizes and fonts. This resource was valuable in keeping our efforts focused on accessibility throughout the project, helping us maintain a deliberate and mindful approach.
Wireframe Iterations
In the images, you may notice there’s a stark difference in the use of images between the wireframes versus the prototype. At this point, we found that our client could not provide images, and we did not have the resources to find high-quality images ourselves. We pivoted accordingly and change the designs to reflect the lack of images.
First Round Wireframes
Hi-fidelity Prototype Shown to Client
User Testing
I conducted two in-depth usability interviews with Muslim women, uncovering valuable insights. The feedback revealed that the organizational structure was effective, but there was a need for more community input showcased on the site to enhance the overall level of familiarity.
“Sometimes the breaks in color and such makes it surprising to see there’s more in the page, the blocks kind of hide the next parts of the pages”
“It’s very clear about being made for Muslim women by Muslim women. But what are the actual things donations will contribute to.”
“I can tell it’s not marginalizing to just Muslim audience, not targeting only Muslims so that if any non-Muslim is looking at the site, they don’t feel out of place.”
Final Design
Introducing one of the very first nonprofits dedicated to Muslim healthcare, by Muslim women.
A comprehensive website experience for prospective members, donors, and Muslim women to contribute to and be exposed to the resources and community they need.
For Muslim women, by Muslim women
Quality Assurance
As we wrapped up the project, I made sure to hand off a complete, tested, and comprehensive deliverable to our client. I followed the process below,
Usability Testing
Functionality Testing
Handoff
Compatability Testing
Accessibility Testing
Content Testing
Performance Testing
In retrospect…
I had the privilege of working with a small team as the sole Product Designer, I was able to truly advocate for best user-centered design practices while improving my skills in navigating client relationships and receiving feedback.
Two months after launching this platform for MWHO, we learned that our client received positive feedback with growing excitement for the organization and their future endeavors.
MWHO also saw an increase in project proposals per week by 15% and anticipates more growth as they spread their new platform.
