Overview

Impact: Our work helped Peace Corps more than doubled the number of applications received per month in the first four months after launching the new experience.

Awards: W3 Award 2017

Objective: How might we:

extend the new Peace Corps brand online
increase the number of qualified applicants

My Role: I was the User Experience Lead on the project. I strategized and led specific activities and deliverables including:

Design discovery & workshops
Content strategy
Content model
Governance
Site map and wireframes
Taxonomy definition

Timeline: 8 months

Background

A Beloved, But Changing Brand

Peace Corps had just gone through a brand redesign. It was a pretty big deal for them. They’d been around for 55 years and in that time had a few mild revisions of the logo, but nothing major. This logo was beloved by former Peace Corps volunteers. People had this logo tattooed on them. It was time for a bigger change. Because frankly they’d changed a lot!

Changing Audiences

Peace Corps was started in 1961 by President Kennedy. To date there are over 220,000 volunteers in 140 countries. There are about 7,000 volunteers abroad right now. And when we think about who’s submitting those applications, we can see that today’s generation of volunteers is a little different that in previous ones. They’re still working on important issues, learning about the communities they’re in, and bringing pieces of that home.

Last year about 22,000 people submitted applications to join Peace Corps. So the website is a very important vehicle for them to deliver information, access recruiter events, and learn about what it’s like to serve as a volunteer.

Discovery

Discovery workshops

I know that at the beginning of a project it's vital to get all stakeholders aligned on the business objectives and priority audiences. That can be especially challenging with large groups that make decisions by committee. A key part is listening to their needs and vision, while also centering discussions around objective and audiences. I led nearly all of the discovery workshop activities.

Inventories

Our team conducted content inventories of the site, to better understand the depth, breadth, and performance of all content. Ultimately we inventoried 25,000 pages and after auditing them, we were able to reduce that down to 13,000 of relevant, on-brand content.

Customer Research

The company who completed the rebranding work also conducted market and customer research. We had a thorough hand-off with that team to ensure we were well versed in the research, customer needs, and brand messaging.

Design

Focus on Storytelling

We designed the Peace Corps site to feature stories ALL OVER THE PLACE. We created a new “stories” section to help share insights about what it’s “really” like to be a Volunteer. On most pages, we’re serving related stories to encourage users stay engaged and dig into content from real volunteers.

Two wireframes. We complete 50+ wireframes for the 13,000 page site.

Easy Access with Structure & Taxonomy

I led a component-based approach when creating the information architecture. We overhauled the site map, replacing a 64-link footer with new navigation to streamline and shorten the journey for targeted audiences. We integrated the new site with Peace Corps’ other website platforms, including the volunteer application portal, job listing site, university program search, and event listings. We crafted a new content model and taxonomy to better categorize content, allowing more dynamic experiences throughout the site and reducing content editor management time. I also streamlined country content. Previously each country had it’s own site AND a page on the Peace Corps site.

We created 6 color palettes that remained on brand and matched nicely with the flags of 60 countries with Peace Corps presence.

Design System (with Country Options)

Through design discovery we learned that all 60+ countries teams were used to doing their own thing, using their own colors. We needed to find a way to allow keep that customization within a systems approach. Our design team compared the flags from all 60 countries, looked at what they shared, then created 6 variations of a single color palette that the country teams could chose from. This gave the teams options, while so ensuring a consistent brand experience.

Inspiring Design Reviews

The whole goal of the design work was to inspire potential volunteers to apply. This idea of inspiring the volunteer was baked into every decision we made. It also showed up in our design reviews with the client. We password protected our InVision instance. I suggested that the password be "DoYouFeelInspired?" that way (theoretically) every time the client logged in, they typed the question we wanted them to answer when they looked at the designs.

This is the epic spreadsheet that helped keep us organized around what design work was complete and where to find it.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

To increase cross-functional collaboration, I introduced daily pair-design time and invited developers. To make it sound more fun, I named it "Peace Corps Powerjam!" It worked! It was fun! And developers knew they could always drop in to sketch with us, to ask questions, or just listen in. The outcome was shared clarity on design intent and vision. Our developers were with us through every decision in the design process and often where part of the discussion when we were making decisions and figuring things out.

Development & Delivery

Backlog Grooming + Dad Jokes

As the site moved into development, we had backlog grooming calls with the client, developer, project manager, and designers. Backlog grooming is important and impactful decisions are made during them (hello prioritization and functionality). But sometimes they can get dry and boring. So in an attempt to liven them up, I introduced dad jokes. We took turns telling dad jokes and the beginning and end of the call, and it was truly delightful.

Usability Testing

We conducted 10 unmoderated usability testing sessions with participants via UserTesting.com. Five were desktop users and five were mobile users. We drafted a script, outlined tasks, and gathered the results.

“All the positions were closed, which is really disappointing when you’re looking into something!”

While most participants found the site to be easy to use, simple, and user-friendly, a few patterns emerged that indicate there are areas that need improvement. We outlined themes and identified recommendations for:

Closed Volunteer Openings
‘What Volunteers Do’ Filter Label
Tags on Volunteer Openings
Search Results Feedback

Ultimately the Peace Corps team addressed these issues, further improving the site.

Results

Impact: Our work helped Peace Corps more than double the number of applications received per month in the first four months after launching the new experience.

How future design reviews went with the client:

“If it matches the design system, then we’re good!”

What my teammates said: The project manager had these kind words to say about me:

“Courtney Clark, UX Lead: Visionary, but the real kind, not the buzzword kind”

Peace Corps

Website Redesign & Brand Extension