Candid
Candid is an app serving real-time news and funding information for nonprofit organizations.
summary
I lead the UX research and design of Candid's public-facing app called Project Real-Time, whose mission is to “get you the information you need to do good.”
Role
UX Research & Strategy
Product Design Lead
Team
Created at L+R, Renee Westmoreland, Karolina Jamula-Mucha, Julia Keller, Rena O'Brien, Ivan Leider, Kyle Parkinson, Joe Taylor, Rena O’Brien
Client
Candid
2020
Prompt
Candid is a nonprofit that provides the most comprehensive data and insights about the social sector. Candid was formed in 2019 when Guidestar and Foundation Directory merged, which is how they developed such a powerful database capable of serving customized, up-to-the-minute funding possibilities, relevant philanthropy news, grants, and details on individual nonprofits and foundation organizations. I was tasked to design the user experience for their public-facing app serving this data daily in the philanthropic sector.
Candid relied on our team to conduct a UX Research & Strategy phase to ensure we were building something truly needed in the space. While we knew the information Candid's APIs were serving was useful, we sought to understand how it could best be presented to users in their daily workflow.
My role in this project was to help conduct UX research, pull out insights, ideate and iterate on several concepts of a Candid product, prototype each concept, and finally define the product to move forward with a full design and development scope.
Constraints
This project had a tight timeline of about 4 weeks to generate a research-driven proof of concept. Within this time, we conducted several interviews with stakeholders and users, gathered insights, created a product requirement document, led a short design sprint, and prototyped a final concept to pass to Candid to test directly with their user base.
With this in mind, we kept all of our deliverables relatively high level, focusing on product intent and value with lower fidelity prototypes.
research
We conducted stakeholder interviews to gather insights from the Candid team regarding their primary product objectives and the feedback they've received from their user base.
We followed up by also conducting user interviews to understand the motivations and pain points that exist for non-profit fundraisers in their workflow of seeking out and vetting potential new donors. Along the way, we validated some assumption made by the Candid team.
I helped pull out key user insights, create user profiles, build user journey maps to highlight blocking points and define key user stories.
design sprint
Our design sprint was in three parts:
Generate design prompts based on research findings
Conduct a team brainstorm session to ouput a diverse set of potential solutions
Identify high value concepts to prototype
I worked with researcher and strategist, Julia Keller, to pull key research insights to reference as a starting point. We also conducted further market research to understand what competitive and analogous products are already out there, and how Candid could fill in market gaps or extend solutions.
We then generated the following design prompts:
How might we automate or enhance a user’s use of the Candid database, showing information they may have missed in places they weren’t looking?
How might Candid supplement or enhance a user’s existing research process, providing relevant and additional info based on places they are already looking?
concept brainstorming
We virtually gathered a larger design team to participate in the single-day brainstorming session to generate a diverse set of ideas and concepts.
First, we took the first half of the session to gather inspiration from existing products for each design prompt. Then, we went around and shared what we pulled and why, so we could identify different patterns and features that we could reference in ideation.
For the second half of the session, we sketched quick and dirty concepts in response to each prompt and their corresponding set of inspirational references. To wrap up the session, we went around the room to talk through our sketches, noting what seemed worth further exploring.
prototyping key concepts
After our brainstorming session, it was my job to digest all the ideas explored and create a low-fidelity prototype for each prompt.
The two concepts I chose to explore were:
Daily Digest mobile app, allowing users to get information on the go and in real-time, on organizations and news they specifically define their interest in within a notification builder
A web plugin that scans pages for names and organizations Candid has further information on, supplementing a user’s existing research process.
candid mobile app concept
candid web plugin concept
candid mobile app concept
candid web plugin concept
final concept to shipped product
The Candid team decided they wanted to move forward with the mobile app concept, taking the prototype to test with their select user base, and further defining features based on feedback and MVP scope.
L+R was engaged for another scope, after the UX research and strategy phase, to design and develop the complete mobile app.
final concept prototype
final developed app
final concept prototype
final developed app
outcome
We successfully launched Candid's MVP mobile app, going from an extensive UX research phase to a full design and development phase.
Admittedly, a lot changed from the final UX concept to the shipped mobile app. This was partly in reaction to some user testing feedback, as well as limitations within the MVP development scope. Overall, I believe the final product achieves the user goal of receiving real-time, relevant news and information within the social sector. I was proud of the final product and happy to work with a team and organization making an impact for good.
Candid
Candid is an app serving real-time news and funding information for nonprofit organizations.
summary
I lead the UX research and design of Candid's public-facing app called Project Real-Time, whose mission is to “get you the information you need to do good.”
Role
UX Research & Strategy
Product Design Lead
Team
Created at L+R, Renee Westmoreland, Karolina Jamula-Mucha, Julia Keller, Rena O'Brien, Ivan Leider, Kyle Parkinson, Joe Taylor, Rena O’Brien
Client
Candid
2020
Prompt
Candid is a nonprofit that provides the most comprehensive data and insights about the social sector. Candid was formed in 2019 when Guidestar and Foundation Directory merged, which is how they developed such a powerful database capable of serving customized, up-to-the-minute funding possibilities, relevant philanthropy news, grants, and details on individual nonprofits and foundation organizations. I was tasked to design the user experience for their public-facing app serving this data daily in the philanthropic sector.
Candid relied on our team to conduct a UX Research & Strategy phase to ensure we were building something truly needed in the space. While we knew the information Candid's APIs were serving was useful, we sought to understand how it could best be presented to users in their daily workflow.
My role in this project was to help conduct UX research, pull out insights, ideate and iterate on several concepts of a Candid product, prototype each concept, and finally define the product to move forward with a full design and development scope.
Constraints
This project had a tight timeline of about 4 weeks to generate a research-driven proof of concept. Within this time, we conducted several interviews with stakeholders and users, gathered insights, created a product requirement document, led a short design sprint, and prototyped a final concept to pass to Candid to test directly with their user base.
With this in mind, we kept all of our deliverables relatively high level, focusing on product intent and value with lower fidelity prototypes.
research
We conducted stakeholder interviews to gather insights from the Candid team regarding their primary product objectives and the feedback they've received from their user base.
We followed up by also conducting user interviews to understand the motivations and pain points that exist for non-profit fundraisers in their workflow of seeking out and vetting potential new donors. Along the way, we validated some assumption made by the Candid team.
I helped pull out key user insights, create user profiles, build user journey maps to highlight blocking points and define key user stories.
design sprint
Our design sprint was in three parts:
Generate design prompts based on research findings
Conduct a team brainstorm session to ouput a diverse set of potential solutions
Identify high value concepts to prototype
I worked with researcher and strategist, Julia Keller, to pull key research insights to reference as a starting point. We also conducted further market research to understand what competitive and analogous products are already out there, and how Candid could fill in market gaps or extend solutions.
We then generated the following design prompts:
How might we automate or enhance a user’s use of the Candid database, showing information they may have missed in places they weren’t looking?
How might Candid supplement or enhance a user’s existing research process, providing relevant and additional info based on places they are already looking?
concept brainstorming
We virtually gathered a larger design team to participate in the single-day brainstorming session to generate a diverse set of ideas and concepts.
First, we took the first half of the session to gather inspiration from existing products for each design prompt. Then, we went around and shared what we pulled and why, so we could identify different patterns and features that we could reference in ideation.
For the second half of the session, we sketched quick and dirty concepts in response to each prompt and their corresponding set of inspirational references. To wrap up the session, we went around the room to talk through our sketches, noting what seemed worth further exploring.
prototyping key concepts
After our brainstorming session, it was my job to digest all the ideas explored and create a low-fidelity prototype for each prompt.
The two concepts I chose to explore were:
Daily Digest mobile app, allowing users to get information on the go and in real-time, on organizations and news they specifically define their interest in within a notification builder
A web plugin that scans pages for names and organizations Candid has further information on, supplementing a user’s existing research process.
candid mobile app concept
candid web plugin concept
candid mobile app concept
candid web plugin concept
final concept to shipped product
The Candid team decided they wanted to move forward with the mobile app concept, taking the prototype to test with their select user base, and further defining features based on feedback and MVP scope.
L+R was engaged for another scope, after the UX research and strategy phase, to design and develop the complete mobile app.
final concept prototype
final developed app
final concept prototype
final developed app
outcome
We successfully launched Candid's MVP mobile app, going from an extensive UX research phase to a full design and development phase.
Admittedly, a lot changed from the final UX concept to the shipped mobile app. This was partly in reaction to some user testing feedback, as well as limitations within the MVP development scope. Overall, I believe the final product achieves the user goal of receiving real-time, relevant news and information within the social sector. I was proud of the final product and happy to work with a team and organization making an impact for good.
Candid
Candid is an app serving real-time news and funding information for nonprofit organizations.
summary
I lead the UX research and design of Candid's public-facing app called Project Real-Time, whose mission is to “get you the information you need to do good.”
Role
UX Research & Strategy
Product Design Lead
Team
Created at L+R, Renee Westmoreland, Karolina Jamula-Mucha, Julia Keller, Rena O'Brien, Ivan Leider, Kyle Parkinson, Joe Taylor, Rena O’Brien
Client
Candid
2020
Prompt
Candid is a nonprofit that provides the most comprehensive data and insights about the social sector. Candid was formed in 2019 when Guidestar and Foundation Directory merged, which is how they developed such a powerful database capable of serving customized, up-to-the-minute funding possibilities, relevant philanthropy news, grants, and details on individual nonprofits and foundation organizations. I was tasked to design the user experience for their public-facing app serving this data daily in the philanthropic sector.
Candid relied on our team to conduct a UX Research & Strategy phase to ensure we were building something truly needed in the space. While we knew the information Candid's APIs were serving was useful, we sought to understand how it could best be presented to users in their daily workflow.
My role in this project was to help conduct UX research, pull out insights, ideate and iterate on several concepts of a Candid product, prototype each concept, and finally define the product to move forward with a full design and development scope.
Constraints
This project had a tight timeline of about 4 weeks to generate a research-driven proof of concept. Within this time, we conducted several interviews with stakeholders and users, gathered insights, created a product requirement document, led a short design sprint, and prototyped a final concept to pass to Candid to test directly with their user base.
With this in mind, we kept all of our deliverables relatively high level, focusing on product intent and value with lower fidelity prototypes.
research
We conducted stakeholder interviews to gather insights from the Candid team regarding their primary product objectives and the feedback they've received from their user base.
We followed up by also conducting user interviews to understand the motivations and pain points that exist for non-profit fundraisers in their workflow of seeking out and vetting potential new donors. Along the way, we validated some assumption made by the Candid team.
I helped pull out key user insights, create user profiles, build user journey maps to highlight blocking points and define key user stories.
design sprint
Our design sprint was in three parts:
Generate design prompts based on research findings
Conduct a team brainstorm session to ouput a diverse set of potential solutions
Identify high value concepts to prototype
I worked with researcher and strategist, Julia Keller, to pull key research insights to reference as a starting point. We also conducted further market research to understand what competitive and analogous products are already out there, and how Candid could fill in market gaps or extend solutions.
We then generated the following design prompts:
How might we automate or enhance a user’s use of the Candid database, showing information they may have missed in places they weren’t looking?
How might Candid supplement or enhance a user’s existing research process, providing relevant and additional info based on places they are already looking?
concept brainstorming
We virtually gathered a larger design team to participate in the single-day brainstorming session to generate a diverse set of ideas and concepts.
First, we took the first half of the session to gather inspiration from existing products for each design prompt. Then, we went around and shared what we pulled and why, so we could identify different patterns and features that we could reference in ideation.
For the second half of the session, we sketched quick and dirty concepts in response to each prompt and their corresponding set of inspirational references. To wrap up the session, we went around the room to talk through our sketches, noting what seemed worth further exploring.
prototyping key concepts
After our brainstorming session, it was my job to digest all the ideas explored and create a low-fidelity prototype for each prompt.
The two concepts I chose to explore were:
Daily Digest mobile app, allowing users to get information on the go and in real-time, on organizations and news they specifically define their interest in within a notification builder
A web plugin that scans pages for names and organizations Candid has further information on, supplementing a user’s existing research process.
candid mobile app concept
candid web plugin concept
candid mobile app concept
candid web plugin concept
final concept to shipped product
The Candid team decided they wanted to move forward with the mobile app concept, taking the prototype to test with their select user base, and further defining features based on feedback and MVP scope.
L+R was engaged for another scope, after the UX research and strategy phase, to design and develop the complete mobile app.
final concept prototype
final developed app
final concept prototype
final developed app
outcome
We successfully launched Candid's MVP mobile app, going from an extensive UX research phase to a full design and development phase.
Admittedly, a lot changed from the final UX concept to the shipped mobile app. This was partly in reaction to some user testing feedback, as well as limitations within the MVP development scope. Overall, I believe the final product achieves the user goal of receiving real-time, relevant news and information within the social sector. I was proud of the final product and happy to work with a team and organization making an impact for good.