ConnectED Fellows
A ground-up redesign of the ConnectED Fellows nonprofit website in partnership with Develop for Good, serving education leaders across rural Guatemala and Colombia.
A ground-up redesign of the ConnectED Fellows nonprofit website in partnership with Develop for Good, serving education leaders across rural Guatemala and Colombia.
Product Design
Role
Product Designer
Status
In Progress · 2026
Type
Nonprofit · Website Redesign
Problem
Problem
A growing nonprofit’s WordPress site couldn’t explain its model, show donors their impact, or surface Fellows’ stories — while the team had no technical staff to maintain a rebuild.
Solution
Solution
Restructured navigation and information architecture, defined the PRD’s functional requirements, and wireframed a post-donation engagement page — all scoped to ship without a full rebuild.
Results
Results
PRD and functional requirements approved by the client; low-fidelity wireframes shipped for homepage, navigation, and post-donation flow; donation flow and analytics integration in progress.
Project Overview
My Role: Product Designer
Timeline: May – August 2026, ongoing
For: ConnectED Fellows, in partnership with Develop for Good
ConnectED Fellows supports local education leaders across Guatemala and Colombia. As a Product Designer on a Develop for Good team, I redesigned the platform's core user flows, homepage narrative, and donation experience to help non-technical stakeholders connect with prospective donors and partners.
01. Context & Problem Space
The Background
ConnectED Fellows is a non-profit that equips local educators in rural Latin America to lead community-driven educational projects. By expanding into Colombia, their network now reaches 92 schools and over 19,000 individuals.
Despite their growing real-world impact, their website—the primary touchpoint for donors, corporate partners, and prospective fellows—was underperforming.
The Problem
The existing web experience failed to convert casual visitors into active supporters due to four critical design friction points:
Dense, Academic Language: The site used heavy academic terminology rather than clear, relatable storytelling. Visitors struggled to quickly grasp what the organization actually does.
Opaque Value Proposition & Model: The core 2-year fellowship model and its 7 distinct phases were buried across subpages instead of being clearly introduced on the homepage.
Unclear Donation Impact: The donation process felt transactional. Donors couldn't visualize how specific gift amounts ($50 vs. $250) directly created change in rural classrooms.
Dead-End Post-Donation Flow: Once a donation was completed, the experience ended abruptly without guiding supporters toward other ways to stay involved.
Technical Constraints: The client had no technical staff, meaning all design solutions needed to be modular and easy to manage inside WordPress without custom code.
02. Research & Strategic Design Goals
To solve these challenges, we established three primary design objectives:
Clarity & Storytelling: Restructure the Information Architecture (IA) so any visitor can understand the mission, model, and geographic reach within 10 seconds of landing.
Transparent Giving: Design an intuitive, impact-linked donation experience with clear preset tiers and flexible payment options.
Sustained Engagement: Create a post-donation hub that converts one-time donors into long-term community members.
03. Design Execution & Core Flows
1. Restructuring Information Architecture & Narrative Flow
Above-the-Fold Clarity: Redesigned the hero section and primary navigation to answer three fundamental user questions: What is ConnectED? Why do they exist? How does the model work?
Visualizing the 7-Phase Model: Designed an intuitive visual breakdown of the fellowship lifecycle directly on the homepage, allowing users to scan the process before diving deeper.
Responsive Accordion FAQ: Built a collapsible FAQ component near the footer to resolve common donor and partner questions without cluttering the primary content stream.
2. Designing an Empathetic Donation Experience
Impact-Linked Tiers: Structured the donation interface around standardized giving tiers ($50, $100, $150, $200, $250) paired with contextual details showing exactly what each amount funds.
Frictionless Modal Integration: Designed layout support for a seamless Every.org popup modal, giving donors flexible payment choices (Apple Pay, Venmo, Credit, Bank Transfer) while keeping brand consistency.
3. Post-Donation Engagement Hub
Beyond the Thank-You: Replaced the generic confirmation screen with an interactive engagement hub featuring newsletter sign-ups, corporate partner paths, and a "Meet the Fellows" story directory.
04. Design System & Constraints
Mobile-First Responsiveness: Optimized all touch targets, modals, and navigation stacks for mobile screens, catering to visitors arriving directly from social media and WhatsApp links.
Modular Maintainability: Built reusable Elementor layout components using
#2C4450(Primary Blue) and#EE8721(Accent Orange) so non-technical client staff can update copy and fellow stories independently.
05. Expected Impact & Key Success MetricsTo evaluate the effectiveness of the redesign post-launch, we defined key performance metrics tracked through Google Analytics 4 (GA4):
Increased Time on Site: Targeting a 25% to 30% increase in average session duration by replacing academic language with clear, structured storytelling.
Lower Homepage Bounce Rate: Targeting a 15% to 20% reduction in landing page drop-offs through restructured Information Architecture and clearer calls to action.
Higher Donation Conversion: Tracking completion rates across the new Every.org impact-linked modal, leveraging multi-payment options like Venmo and Apple Pay to reduce drop-off.
Scalable Client Handoff: Delivering a 100% maintainable, low-code WordPress component library that non-technical client staff can update independently without developer support.
Project Overview
My Role: Product Designer
Timeline: May – August 2026, ongoing
For: ConnectED Fellows, in partnership with Develop for Good
ConnectED Fellows supports local education leaders across Guatemala and Colombia. As a Product Designer on a Develop for Good team, I redesigned the platform's core user flows, homepage narrative, and donation experience to help non-technical stakeholders connect with prospective donors and partners.
01. Context & Problem Space
The Background
ConnectED Fellows is a non-profit that equips local educators in rural Latin America to lead community-driven educational projects. By expanding into Colombia, their network now reaches 92 schools and over 19,000 individuals.
Despite their growing real-world impact, their website—the primary touchpoint for donors, corporate partners, and prospective fellows—was underperforming.
The Problem
The existing web experience failed to convert casual visitors into active supporters due to four critical design friction points:
Dense, Academic Language: The site used heavy academic terminology rather than clear, relatable storytelling. Visitors struggled to quickly grasp what the organization actually does.
Opaque Value Proposition & Model: The core 2-year fellowship model and its 7 distinct phases were buried across subpages instead of being clearly introduced on the homepage.
Unclear Donation Impact: The donation process felt transactional. Donors couldn't visualize how specific gift amounts ($50 vs. $250) directly created change in rural classrooms.
Dead-End Post-Donation Flow: Once a donation was completed, the experience ended abruptly without guiding supporters toward other ways to stay involved.
Technical Constraints: The client had no technical staff, meaning all design solutions needed to be modular and easy to manage inside WordPress without custom code.
02. Research & Strategic Design Goals
To solve these challenges, we established three primary design objectives:
Clarity & Storytelling: Restructure the Information Architecture (IA) so any visitor can understand the mission, model, and geographic reach within 10 seconds of landing.
Transparent Giving: Design an intuitive, impact-linked donation experience with clear preset tiers and flexible payment options.
Sustained Engagement: Create a post-donation hub that converts one-time donors into long-term community members.
03. Design Execution & Core Flows
1. Restructuring Information Architecture & Narrative Flow
Above-the-Fold Clarity: Redesigned the hero section and primary navigation to answer three fundamental user questions: What is ConnectED? Why do they exist? How does the model work?
Visualizing the 7-Phase Model: Designed an intuitive visual breakdown of the fellowship lifecycle directly on the homepage, allowing users to scan the process before diving deeper.
Responsive Accordion FAQ: Built a collapsible FAQ component near the footer to resolve common donor and partner questions without cluttering the primary content stream.
2. Designing an Empathetic Donation Experience
Impact-Linked Tiers: Structured the donation interface around standardized giving tiers ($50, $100, $150, $200, $250) paired with contextual details showing exactly what each amount funds.
Frictionless Modal Integration: Designed layout support for a seamless Every.org popup modal, giving donors flexible payment choices (Apple Pay, Venmo, Credit, Bank Transfer) while keeping brand consistency.
3. Post-Donation Engagement Hub
Beyond the Thank-You: Replaced the generic confirmation screen with an interactive engagement hub featuring newsletter sign-ups, corporate partner paths, and a "Meet the Fellows" story directory.
04. Design System & Constraints
Mobile-First Responsiveness: Optimized all touch targets, modals, and navigation stacks for mobile screens, catering to visitors arriving directly from social media and WhatsApp links.
Modular Maintainability: Built reusable Elementor layout components using
#2C4450(Primary Blue) and#EE8721(Accent Orange) so non-technical client staff can update copy and fellow stories independently.05. Expected Impact & Key Success Metrics
To evaluate the effectiveness of the redesign post-launch, we defined key performance metrics tracked through Google Analytics 4 (GA4):
Increased Time on Site: Targeting a 25% to 30% increase in average session duration by replacing academic language with clear, structured storytelling.
Lower Homepage Bounce Rate: Targeting a 15% to 20% reduction in landing page drop-offs through restructured Information Architecture and clearer calls to action.
Higher Donation Conversion: Tracking completion rates across the new Every.org impact-linked modal, leveraging multi-payment options like Venmo and Apple Pay to reduce drop-off.
Scalable Client Handoff: Delivering a 100% maintainable, low-code WordPress component library that non-technical client staff can update independently without developer support.
