What is the project?
The Afrikan Poetry Theatre
The Afrikan Poetry Theatre is a cultural arts non-profit located in Queens, NY that provides various programs and events for their community. Although this organization has a lot to offer its community, those services/successes were not reflected on their website.
My task was to redesign the APT website to host virtual classes, attract new members, and donors in an effort to help the recovery from an electrical fire that burned down the building and negatively impacted community involvement and revenue.
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This organization offers a wide variety of programs and events, however, they lack proper organization when displaying these attributes on their site. Users exit the site out of frustration due to a lack of organization, proper information architecture, usability, and navigability throughout the website.
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To translate the impact and successes of the organization onto their website so the organization can increase member traffic
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Redesigning aspects of the APT website based on the fundamental goals of their existing users and potential donors.
The Fire of 2018
In 2018, The Afrikan Poetry Theatre suffered an electrical fire that burned down the building, rendering it unusable & condemned, needing donor support now more than ever.
Due to this tragedy and the wake of COVID-19, the organization wanted to continue their services virtually, needing a proper and functioning website to do so.
What are the research insights?
While the Afrikan Poetry Theatre is a beloved organization in the Southeast Queens area, there is a surplus of non-profits in the NYC metropolitan area; about 10,768 in Queens alone. Because this industry is overly saturated and technology is on the rise, it is vital to have proper virtual representation.
Established in 1976 by John Watusi Branch, the Afrikan Poetry Theatre has remained at the same location and hence became a pillar in their community. This non-profit has had such a powerful impact that following the death of their founder on November, 11th 2017, the intersection of 176th street & Jamaica where they are located, has been renamed “The John Watusi Branch Way”
Key Interview Takeaways:
This organization also offers a wide variety of programs from the arts to professional development to encourage minority youths to pursue a college education. They just need a proper website to showcase these attributes.
Research Methods:
Qualitative Data
Interviews/Cold Calls
Concept Testing
Survey Questions
Opinions on the Afrikan Poetry Theatre website?
“I like the history of the organization and it’s community involvement, however, the website is dated and isn’t interactive enough. There’s no reason for people to stay on long, or come back”
- User 4
5 Year Vision?
“I want to shift the dynamic of the current organization from a cultural arts non-profit to a business non-profit organization focusing on attracting more donors and including more professional development programs”
- CEO
Common Complaints from Users/CEO
Confusing navigability
Lack of organization
Website bugs/not responsive
Loosing members/donors
Understanding Our Users
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Interested in pursuing a music career
Lack of resources
Wants to be a part of a community
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Has the funds and needs to find an organization to support
Wants to be a recurring donor
Does not know which non-profit to choose
Drafting Solutions Based on Pain Points
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Users have claimed exiting the site due to disorganization and how frustrating is to navigate the site to complete specific tasks
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Organizing the various programs and classes offered into separate categories in a programs page tab
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Needing to redesign the donation page to make it more accessible to potential donors and to highlight the cause they are aiding (The Fire of 2018)
Donor Task Flow
User Task Flow
Brainstorming & Sketching
01 For the homepage, Users wanted to be able to sign up for classes and events, so I sketched different tabs in the navigation bar and an upcoming events section where users can sign up from the homepage. I also included an about section on the homepage to highlight the who, what and why of the Afrikan Poetry Theatre, as well as their mission & value statements.
02 For the programs page, I organized the various classes offered into different categories on a separate tab. That way users can choose whichever category and have access to all of the classes offered with descriptions and options to register
03 For the donation page, I included a description and visuals of The Fire of 2018 so that donors understand the main issue they are funding. I also included various donation options for first time, recurring or anonymous donors.
Project Takeaway
Being that this was the first project where I worked directly with members of the organization and the CEO, I was a bit nervous on how I was going to redesign this website that the CEO was reluctant to change, in order to fulfill the stakeholder’s needs, the user’s needs and be prepared to defend my design choices…. All in a 2 week sprint.
However, I realized that by talking openly with both parties, mapping out specific user and organization goals and focusing on specific pain points highlighted in user interviews; I was able to redesign this website that caters to both parties in a clean and clear way to make the overall user experience an enjoyable one.