Outcome Statement
Solving Wikimedia donations declining numbers
A redesigned donation structure and information architecture, along with interaction design changes, aims to increase donor engagement and volume and reduce abandonment rates during the donation proccess.
Problem Statement
Wikipedia has been facing financial struggles in recent years as donations are its only source of revenue.
Wikipedia needs donations because they do not run ads, sell user data, or charge fees; To preserve independence from the influence of organisations on their content; A significant portion of donations supports technology and staff, maintaining content in 300 different languages.
The Audience
Making donations easy for
tech-savvy millennials
• The audience motivation to donate is to make information accessible in neglected regions of the planet;
• They consider the donation process complicated and unclear regarding how the donation money would be used;
• The audience had the impression that the organisation was desperate for money.
My Scope
As the sole product designer for this Wikimedia pitch:
• I started with user research and user testing to uncover what was holding donors from donating.
• With those insights, I conducted a UX audit, created a new navigation structure, refined the donation flow, and tested it with prototypes, resolving all UX and UI issues with a new interface.
Project Type
Pitch to Wikimedia
Timeline
10 days
Year
2023
User Research
Biggest donation turn-offs are: unclear mission, methods, and accessibility.
62%
of users wanted to know what the organisation goals are
57%
told that reputation of the organisation was important
57%
asked for clarity on how their contributions would be used;
*NNGroup study results, after testing 20 users across 60 different donation websites.
User Testing
Tested 5 donors on Wiki's donation process; they felt skeptical and confused.
Task 1: They were given two donation options, Wikimedia and charitywater, to donate 5€.
Task 2: Since nobody chose Wikimedia, I asked them to donate 1€ to it;
Post-task questions: I asked what influenced their donation choice, how could the process improve and if were there any confusing aspects.
User Scenarios
I created scenarios to address these key concerns and wishes:
Billing address, recurring donations, terms & conditions, tracking, cryptocurrency, tax benefits, and offline donations.
*Based on user feedback
Checkout for Higher Conversions
Solving checkout abandonment rate
A redesigned checkout structure, along with the addition of new features, aims to give clarity on how the contributions are used, improve costumer service, addressing privacy issues, and include decentralised payment methods for tech-savvy users.
Donation Impact Insights
Allowing donors to learn about the local impact of the organisation would increase donations and credibility.
57% of potential donors claim that the lack of clarity on how donations would be used is pushing them back from donating.
Inclusive Payment Solutions
Faster payment systems, alternatives for tech-illiterate donors, and improving donors attachment to the cause
• Some donors felt disadvantaged because of the inability of making UPI payments and the absence of an offline payment method for those skeptical about sharing banking details online.
• Some donors mentioned that the lack of a clear mission attachment discouraged them from donating. Including these features would increase donations and improve bounce rates.
Learnings and Next Steps
Things I‘ve learned from designing for nonprofits:
• User Expectations vs. Reality: Some user expectations—like seeing more personalised feedback on donation usage—were not fully addressed. Creating these elements require more data access than anticipated.
• Limited Testing Scope: Testing with five users gave useful insights, but fell short of my goal to test with 15 users across three demographic groups. Broader testing, especially with older or less tech-savvy donors, could have revealed more diverse perspectives, who might react differently to features like cryptocurrency.
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