UX 4 impact

What if donating your time, not just your money, could help charities build better digital experiences?

UX4Impact is a mobile-first platform that connects supporters with nonprofits through bite-sized research participation. I led the UX strategy and design as part of UX design program at Brainstation.

Problem Space

The Opportunity

Many charities lack the resources, time, or access to real users needed to improve digital experiences like donation pages or campaign sign-ups.
Many charities lack the resources, time, or access to real users needed to improve digital experiences like donation pages or campaign sign-ups.
Traditional UX tools often don’t cater to the specific needs of the non-profit sector. At the same time, supporters and donors are eager to help beyond giving money but aren’t always offered meaningful, low-barrier ways to contribute.
This creates a disconnect between charities and the very people who care most about their success.

I discovered that many supporters would gladly contribute time to causes they care about, if it were easy and meaningful.

  • 70% of digital supporters said they'd take a short survey if it helped improve a charity site
  • Younger donors want more interaction beyond giving
  • Nonprofits need feedback to grow, but lack the tools

Task Flow

The core task flow was built for one of our stakeholders, Mark, a retired professional and active supporter, looking to help charities improve their online donation journey by completing test tasks and providing feedback so that future donors have a better experience.

Sketches, Wireframes and Prototypyping

Before jumping into high-fidelity design, I started with quick hand-drawn sketches to map out the core user flow and key screens. This helped me visualise how supporters would navigate the platform — from discovering a task to completing their first piece of feedback.

Once I had a clear direction, I used Balsamiq to translate those sketches into low-fidelity wireframes. Balsamiq was ideal for this stage because it let me focus on layout and structure without getting distracted by visuals. I iterated on multiple versions based on early feedback, testing for clarity, ease of use, and flow.

The goal here wasn’t to make it pretty, it was to make sure it made sense. And it worked: the lo-fi wireframes gave me a strong foundation to move into prototyping with confidence.

Results

I designed a clean, mobile-first platform that makes it easy for supporters to sign up and take part in quick research tasks, while giving charities a simple dashboard to post, track, and learn from user feedback. The final prototype focused on clarity, ease of use, and trust — showing both sides exactly what to expect and how their input contributes to real impact.

Reflection

Through this project, I learned that
  • Real user feedback didn’t just validate my ideas, it revealed blind spots I hadn’t considered.
  • Staying curious, asking “why,” and being open to change helped me design with more empathy and clarity.
  • AI is your companion, not the enemy. Also using tools like Balsamiq and Figma allowed me to iterate quickly and focus on what mattered most.
  • The small details, wording, flow, even button placement can make or break the experience.
This project reminded me that small changes in access and experience can open new doors for impact. Blending UX strategy, human insight, and AI-supported tools allowed us to move fast, test often, and build something meaningful. I’d love to bring that same energy to other cause-driven projects.

If you’re working on a platform that needs real user insights, better conversion paths, or just a fresh UX perspective, I’d love to be part of it.

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