Duration: 10 Months
Project Healing Waters (PHW), a non-profit founded in 2005, aids veterans' healing through fly fishing and therapeutic outdoor activities. Initially focused on wounded service members at Walter Reed Army Medical Center from Iraq and Afghanistan, PHW has since expanded nationwide. I helped PHW broaden its audience and donor base by leading efforts to evolve its brand identity, voice and tone, and website for a more streamlined brand journey.
Challenges
PHW's previous brand and website did not align with their vision, was difficult to navigate for all users, and did not attract a diverse demographic. Their main audience was Vietnam-era and older veterans, but they needed to include younger individuals, women, and people of color. Volunteers and donors also faced navigational issues on the site due to the amount and organization of pages nested within the menu.
After all insights were collected from the discovery phase, I created a content schematic [left] for the homepage that aligned to PHW’s mission, audience & goals. Receiving funding was a top priority for PHW and needed to remain prominent and easily accessible throughout the page. Gaining new members was second priority, and gaining volunteers was third priority. The page also needed to provide plenty of insight into what PHW is all about as they expand their reach.
As a final deliverable for development handoff, each module was designed with several configurations around text size, justification, placement and CTA amount in order to maximize flexibility.
Brand Identity
Bold typography and strong, earthy color palette makes a powerful emotional impact and ties back to nature. PHW aims to inspire and engage its audience - these two elements helped convey the importance and urgency of their mission. Together, these elements convey strength, adventure and support. Larger typography would also help make content easily understandable for older veterans who might have visual impairments.
Project Healing Waters & Elva
Kelly Quesnel
UX Direction
Miranda Rose Othberg
UI Support
Manny Berkal-Sarbit