Furniture Repair Bank
Streamlining the group volunteer onboarding experience
Furniture Repair Bank (FRB) is a Seattle-based nonprofit rescuing furniture from landfills to support refugees and low-income families. Volunteers handle repair and transportation, while funding comes from grants and donations. FRB welcomes individual, group, and corporate volunteers and seeks financial support through grants, donations, and corporate matching.
Sara, FRB's Outreach Manager, spent excessive time onboarding group volunteers via email, reducing her focus on grants and outreach. The challenge was to minimize repeat queries, and keeping conversations concise.
Streamlined FRB’s group-volunteer onboarding process on the website. This leading to reduced emails, improved clarity for clients, and freeing Sara for grants and outreach. A 50% decrease in effort.
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Request Form
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Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
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Web page content
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UX Audits
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User Research (Interviews)
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Competitor Research
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Collaborative content design
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Usability testing
New and improved
Through conversations with Sara, I gained insight into her role at FRB. As the Communications and Outreach Manager in a small nonprofit, she juggles multiple responsibilities, including public relations, securing grants, record-keeping, social media marketing, and organizing volunteer events. However, the outdated group-volunteer onboarding process required excessive communication, limiting her ability to focus on grant acquisition and outreach.
I conducted in-depth discovery sessions with my client and stakeholders to identify gaps. Through client interviews, field research, and internal data analysis, I pinpointed online onboarding as the key area for improvement. I began with an audit to uncover inefficiencies, then validated my solutions through user research and competitor analysis to ensure effectiveness.
I stepped into the client’s perspective to identify the key information they would seek.
I interviewed 4 of FRB's past clients to test my assumptions, understand their workflow and what they would like to see on the page. Heather is my representative persona.
I conducted a comparative study of other nonprofits offering corporate volunteer events to identify best practices to adopt and gaps FRB could avoid.
Drawing from interviews, nonprofit websites, and common inquiries, Sara and I collaborated to create a list of essential questions for the request form and FAQs, ensuring a smoother event planning process.
I conducted a remote usability test over Zoom with Heather to make sure I had covered all her requests.
"It's already better than having to just email someone. Having a form is super helpful"
Heather Swanson
My solution provided clear, concise information to streamline event planning while also promoting donations and outreach. I maintained a casual and approachable tone aligned with FRB’s existing branding. The request form was implemented by a 3rd party on Airtable, and filled out the information sections- The Experience, Group Event FAQs and Corporate Matching Gifts & Volunteer Grants on the Squarespace website.
FRB currently lacks a content management system, requiring dates to be manually managed instead of being automatically blocked out in the form.
"Ten people have used the form for group requests so far and it's going well. Some people still ask questions that make it clear they didn't read the FAQ's but that will always happen. It's been simpler with some in scheduling their day since they put the three date options, but it usually still takes a bit of back and forth over email to confirm. The turn-around time still depends on how responsive the person is so that varies.
Thanks again for all of your help!"
Sara Dandy (3 months after launch)
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My process of initial assessment through audits and validating potential solutions during stakeholder interviews helped set the ground running and hone in.
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I needed a pool of event organizers who discovered FRB organically rather than through word of mouth. However, only one respondent matched my target persona, shaping my insights and direction. To improve recruitment, I plan to implement a sign-up form to attract and select participants more effectively.
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When FRB implements a Content Management System, scheduling will become seamless, with available dates clearly visible. No need to refer the Repair Calendar during the sign-up process.
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Add the option to choose session times on the Request Form- one less thing for Sara to confirm.
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Add a note to read the FAQs on the Request Form.
Next up: Cacti
User Researcher, UX Designer, Content Designer
2024