User Discovery: Designing a User-Flow optimized site for Solar Equity
Overview
Solar Equity is a student-run sustainability nonprofit coordinating solar panel donations, installation partnerships, and sponsorship funding.
From user interviews, I discovered that Solar Equity serves three fundamentally different audiences:
Students (volunteers & members)
Installation partners (business collaborators)
Sponsors (financial donors)
The original website treated them as one user, creating confusion around navigation, unclear credibility messaging, lack of next steps, and reduced clarity or trust.
Role: Lead UX Researcher, Product Designer, and Strategist
Duration: 5 months
Methods: Survey (n=20), user interviews (n=7), competitive analysis, prototyping, user testing
Goal
How might we improve Solar Equity’s website to help students, partners, and sponsors complete their key tasks (volunteering, partnership inquiries, and donations) more efficiently, while increasing perceived trust and clarity?
Heuristic Audit
Framework: Nielson's 10 Usability Heuristics
Findings:
Inconsistent navigation
No footer redundancy
No clear contact architecture
No visible testimonials
No financial transparency sections
Stakeholder Interviews
Board Interviews
Interviewed 7 board members.
Recognized the issues with their website.
Very familiar with their user segments.
Extensive work and impact with sponsors and partners not reflected on website.
Survey Insights
The survey revealed several insights:
Most valued information included the organization's mission, past projects, and opportunities.
Several of these features were missing from the site.
Risk Assessment
Poor discovery and lack of direction impacts users' decisions to work with Solar Equity.:
Students: Low risk, low cost for commitment.
Partner: High risk, organization loses a project opportunity.
Sponsor: Extremely high risk, organization loses a funding opportunity.
Information Architecture Redevelopment
User Flows
Different users have different goals. I mapped out user flows to evaluate goals and values.
Sponsors:
Increase confidence with project documentation.
Clarify sponsor tiers.
Partners:
Testimonials and previous project work.
Explicit next steps.
Students:
Increased visibility for different opportunities (speaker series, volunteering).
Clear next steps: Link to sign-up forms, contact information, links, etc.
Design System
The current site is hosted on a CMS, which introduced distinctive constraints in my redesign:
Modular design.
Updated color palette for improved accessibility and color contrast.
Reusable elements.
Structured typography use.
Links to contacts and external sources.
Prototypes
Prototype designs were a complete visual and architectural overall. Key pages include:
Sponsors: Sponsor homepage covers donor testimonials, donor tiers, links to previous project work, and contacts.
Partners: Partners homepage includes information on tax credits, testimonials from previous partners, and contact information.
Students: Student-centered pages for on campus activity, volunteering, and more. Includes sign-up forms and other links to guide users to the correct endpoint.
Mission: A dedicated page to Solar Equity's mission.
Project pages: Portfolio-type pages walking visitors through Solar Equity's previous projects.
Next Steps
The following are methods I would use to ensure an effective implementation: using data-driven iteration rather than assumption-based updates.
Behavioral Analytics: Track user paths, form starts/completions, and abandonment rates using Google Analytics.
Metrics: Conversion rate, bounce rate, navigation efficiency.Usability & A/B Testing: Conduct 5–7 moderated sessions per persona, A/B test task completion.
Metrics: Task success rate, time on task, CTA click-through.Feedback Loop: Collect qualitative feedback from users and stakeholders via short surveys and interviews.
Metrics: Perceived clarity, trust, friction points.
Reflection
The biggest shift was recognizing that:
Solar Equity’s old website existed, but it did not help Solar Equity get new clients or members. My redesign aimed to actively funnel users towards getting involved.
Misaligned decision architecture for persona groups: resulted in confusion and chaos. Restructuring helped users find the information they needed and accomplish their goals.
I addressed this by redesigning functionality, trust, clarity, and engagement across all stakeholders.