Improving the volunteer registration experience
I used a user-centred design process to increase volunteer registrations by redesigning Wayside’s volunteer page, and working with them to improve their application process.
My Role
UX Design
UI Design
Client
Wayside Chapel
Tools
Figma
“The project illuminated issues I had not thought of nor was I aware of, and enabled me to make immediate changes to address these issues. The prospective volunteer experience will be greatly improved, there will be a positive impact on the volume of applicants. This will also streamline the process for me as a manager, as the new design will enable individuals to easily find relevant information and intuitively navigate through the process. The project has been incredibly helpful and I am very pleased with the outcome.”
– Alice Anderson, Volunteer Lead, Wayside Chapel
Project background
Wayside Chapel provides unconditional love, care and support to the most marginalised people on and around the streets of Sydney. They address underlying issues of inequality, wellbeing, and loneliness and offer a range of support services.
Volunteers are at the heart of the Wayside Chapel community, and are central to achieving their mission of creating a community with no ‘us and them’. The Wayside volunteer program allows individuals to serve the community, support Wayside operations, and create meaningful connections.
The challenge
Wayside relies on hundreds of volunteers to operate, however since Covid-19, a large number of volunteers dropped off and an increased volunteer intake is needed. The current design of the Wayside Chapel volunteer page and application form is unclear and unintuitive, which is a barrier to volunteer registrations and needs improving.
Project goals
To design a clear, intuitive and accessible volunteer registration experience resulting in increased volunteer registrations.
Project Scope
First impressions
Upon first visiting the site and going through the signup process, I saw lots of areas for improvement as questions popped up from my experience. I also quickly realised that registering to volunteer wasn’t a straightforward process as there were many more steps involved than I had initially assumed.
There was very little information for volunteers and a lengthy, complex application process. To attend an information night volunteers needed to create a user account and password, enter personal details, complete an application form, read an email, log in to a new system, locate the info session page and session dates and then register. This seemed like a big barrier if you were undecided if you even wanted to volunteer there in the first place.
Key constraints
The reality is that projects come with constraints and because of the client’s third-party volunteer management system (necessary for managing hundreds of volunteers), changing the forms was very restricted. Additionally getting people to the info night before doing the form filling, wasn’t possible. The constraints were as follows:
Existing Wayside site architecture should be maintained
Brand aesthetics and style guide to be maintained
Third-party volunteer management system needed to be maintained
Changes to third-party form structure weren’t possible (content changes were possible)
The project scope was to work within the constraints and thus focused on redesigning the volunteer page and working with the client to improve the main application form.
Existing design and process
The existing process is complex and lengthy.
Research
Talking to people about volunteering
I began by interviewing both registered and prospective volunteers to understand their experience when searching for a volunteering opportunity, what information they were looking for, and what appealed about volunteering at Wayside. I also had them review the content about volunteering on the Wayside site and provide feedback on the registration experience. This was helpful in validating my instincts and also providing additional insights.
Pain Points
Unclear about time commitment and logistics
On a very basic level, users didn’t know what time commitment was expected of them and how easy it was to get to Wayside’s location – to fit volunteering into their lives.Gated content
More detailed info about volunteering could only be accessed from the application form, after a user profile and password were created.Unclear about volunteer role tasks
Users didn’t understand what they would be doing or how the skills and qualifications they ticked might be used.Uncertainty and fear volunteering might be confronting
Users were unsure if the experience of helping the homeless would be confronting and had some fear about risks to their safety.
Understanding the users
From my initial research, I put together a persona so I was clear on who I was designing for.
Maggie is a retired woman who wants to volunteer somewhere she finds interesting, is different to her career, and fits into her life because she has been fortunate in life and wants to give back to the community.
UX Research
The volunteer journey begins when people start looking for a volunteer role, and as a result of my user interviews, I realised that the majority of advertised volunteer roles are unpaid skills roles. As Wayside largely needs unskilled volunteers interested in helping people directly (which is incredibly rewarding) there was a great opportunity to leverage this when they advertise.
There were plenty of other opportunities to improve content, information, the application form, the email design and content, provide supplementary information, and simplify instructions and communication more clearly.
I also realised registered volunteers had nowhere on the existing site to log in to the volunteer portal and sign up for shifts.
Competitor audit
To understand how the volunteer registration experience elsewhere, I visited 12 sites with volunteering opportunities. I found a huge variety of content depending on the needs of the organisation, roles where volunteers were needed, and whether a volunteer management system was used. I also found some great inspiration.
Additional insights
After putting together an experience map it was easy to see that there were many opportunities for improvement in the whole registration process. Whilst this was a bit out of scope, I was able to use this to put forward suggestions to the client.
Ideation
Solution to improve the user experience
Some improvements for the main volunteer page included:
• A way for new volunteers to register and for existing users to log in
• A way for people to find practical information
• A simple way to show the numerous volunteer roles
• Separating single-event volunteering from regular volunteering
• A place to show specific urgent volunteer roles
• A way to express the massive need for volunteers to build urgency
• A way to show volunteers they will be supported
• Volunteer testimonials to help explain the experience and the types of roles
• Additional ways for people to do more to help Wayside
Whilst the styling of the form couldn’t be changed (due to its third-party platform) some improvements that we could make to the form included
• Clearer headings and sections
• A list of requirements upfront
• Inclusive language and preferences options
• Dropdown menus to shorten the overall length
• Simplified skills and interests list
• Removal of compliance checks, referees and other info at this stage
If we could have, we would have loved to have had segmented forms separated into stages, different forms for regular vs single event volunteering, and improved the visual design further.
After iterating with paper wireframes, the final lo-fi wireframes are below. In addition, I also showed how the corporate volunteering page could be refreshed, and looked for opportunities elsewhere on Wayside’s site to direct back to the volunteer page – such as by adding a volunteering link on their careers page and adding a section with ‘additional ways to get involved’ above the footer asking to give time, goods or money.
Usability Study
User insights
To understand how my design would resonate, I conducted user interviews.
My goal was to find out if the new design was intuitive and easy to use and what the main challenges were around the design and the form. Overall the design was very well received and users felt the practical information was addressed, task descriptions were much clearer and the form was also hugely improved. This was great news. However, as expected there were some great insights and suggestions.
Key Insights
Support for volunteers needs more prominence as several users couldn’t find this info
Some of the language could be a bit clearer and a few things needed rewording/ reframing
Functionality of the carousel needs to be improved
Placement and wording for ‘Current opportunities’ lacks promience and is misleading
Content from the Wayside visitor’s perspective their appreciation for volunteers is missing
This feedback was helpful for improving the design, and many small changes were made including subtle copy changes that emphasised the presence of professional staff on shifts and pushing the FAQ on volunteer support higher in the list.
“Support information - I missed that!”
“The opportunities don’t jump out enough.”
“I loved the carousel and the pictures are really great but it moves a bit fast.”
“There’s nothing about the visitor perspective about how much they appreciate the volunteers.”
“I think it’s clear and well put together. It’s easy to negotiate. Everything you need to know is there, everything I would need to know is there.”
The final design
With some love, care and valuable user insights, Wayside has a much-improved volunteer registration experience. One of my biggest learnings from this job was understanding the many touchpoints involved in the greater registration experience – which opened my eyes to how many more opportunities for improving the experience there are.
I also learned how to bring the client along on my journey by presenting them with the evidence they needed to understand the user's pain points and make the case for change.
“Oh I think the whole thing sounds very positive - I’m thinking I might like to actually volunteer. There are lots of ordinary everyday people. It’s easy to find where to sign up. It tells you everything you want to know. It looks very good.”
– Participant from usability study
