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UX Research for Non-Profit

Summary

Context

Mezcla Media Collective is a Chicago-based non-profit arts organization transforming the local film industry for over 700 women and non-binary filmmakers who identify as ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American).

During my time as the Digital Resources Coordinator, I was in charge of maintaining and updating Mezcla's website.  I completed user research to better understand how members are using the website, member community platform, and uncover any additional needs.

Outcomes

User research revealed that Mezcla Media Collective's website primarily served transactional needs for members, focusing on membership sign-ups and community platform logins. Parts of the website were maintained to prioritize these core actions while others were altered to improve the overall user experience and effectively engage external audiences like allies and donors. 

Research Goals

  1. Understand usage of the website

  2. Uncover bottlenecks in the website user experience

  3. Develop a more intuitive information architecture

  4. Identify additional member needs 

Recruitment

I recruited 5 members by putting out a call on the community platform.  

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Research Methodology

Interview

15 mins

Usability Test

15 mins

Card Sort

15 mins

I spoke to members about their website and community platform usage habits. Additionally, I talked to members about their satisfaction with Mezcla's offerings and their future needs.

Interview
Zoom Interview
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Navigation Usability Test

Members must find certain information on the website.

"Show me how you would go about finding out who is a part of the leadership circle?"

 

"Imagine you have an idea for a workshop and want to share it with Mezcla? Where on the website would you go to accomplish this goal?"

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Card Sort

I conducted desk research on common information architecture for non-profit sites and created a hybrid card sort.

Key Takeaways

I learned four member values related to Mezcla's offerings and their online presence.

"Enage feels a little vague. Maybe Contact might be more direct."

Directness

Members value their time and need information organized and shared in digestible ways.

Members struggled to navigate the site to find information due to the non-traditional navigation menu names. Using standard navigation menu titles will allow members to find content more easily and quickly.

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“I'm glad they gave me the cost right 

up front."

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Members do not frequent the mezclamediacollective.org website because it does not best meet their need to find opportunities. They usually only use it to signup for a membership or log into the community platform.  I kept these two features easily accessible and recommended catering the rest of the website to other audiences like allies or donors.

“I don't view it [the website] often because they're so great with their email blasts.”

Opportunities

Members join Mezcla to access jobs and build experience.​

Social Proof
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Members like to hear about other members successes. They also view community partners/sponsors as good marketing tools and think more of this type of content would make the website stronger. 

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Members are excited about expanding their network with people of shared values.  Factors contributing to feeling connected are imagery, representation, and personality. Old photos with masks date the site and create a barrier for connection.

Overall, members want to learn more about people featured on the site and desire a way to  directly contact them.

Connection

Updated photos to be mask free and more dynamic.

"I like the moment, women of different colors...[but] this [masks] reminds me of COVID not the best time.”

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Revamped Community Spotlights to be more prominent and include details about Mezcla's impact on the member.

Updated the carousels to include more recent partners and supporters.

“Mezcla has some numbers they can hype up more.”

“Does it take me to what that person does and tell me a little bit about them?”

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Most members didn’t know what the Leadership Circle was and folks wanted to know more about them. I added short bios and emails to the Leadership Circle section.

Reflections

There were too few participants for a card sort and the members were biased by having viewed the live site. 

However, valuable qualitative insights emerged from follow-up questions and desk research on common non-profit menu structures which guided the final recommendations.

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