The Freedom Center
A survivor-first resource and community bolstered by experts, survivors, and loved ones
In compliance with my non-disclosure agreement, I have omitted confidential information and used placeholder text in this case study. All information in this case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of the organization.
The Freedom Center
A survivor-first resource and community bolstered by experts, survivors, and loved ones
In compliance with my non-disclosure agreement, I have omitted confidential information and used placeholder text in this case study. All information in this case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of the organization.
The problem
How can we best utilize trauma-informed design to craft voice and tone?
The Freedom Center is launching a new website and asked for our help in making sure The Freedom Center actually sounds like The Freedom Center.
They were previously using Dr. Doe's personal blog as their point of contact but now want a separate, more robust website. They've never built a website before so they've also never had a content style guide before. We can fix that.
The solution
The problem
Get insights from cross-team collaboration to inform the copy we write
Our team collaborated with the client and the Research, Design, Strategy, and Development teams to learn a) what content took priority and b) how we can create copy that sounds friendly, knowledgable, and welcoming without also sounding clinical, condescending, or triggering.
The content/UX Writing team, which I was on, worked on three priority projects over the course of 8 weeks: 1) creating a content style guide, 2) revamping the newsletter, and 3) donation page copy.
How can we best utilize trauma-informed design to craft voice and tone?
The Freedom Center is launching a new website and asked for our help in making sure The Freedom Center actually sounds like The Freedom Center.
They were previously using Dr. Doe's personal blog as their point of contact but now want a separate, more robust website. They've never built a website before so they've also never had a content style guide before. We can fix that.
The solution
Get insights from cross-team collaboration to inform the copy we write
Our team collaborated with the client and the Research, Design, Strategy, and Development teams to learn a) what content took priority and b) how we can create copy that sounds friendly, knowledgable, and welcoming without also sounding clinical, condescending, or triggering.
The content/UX Writing team, which I was on, worked on three priority projects over the course of 8 weeks: 1) creating a content style guide, 2) revamping the newsletter, and 3) donation page copy.
Project 1: Content Style Guide
Project 1: Content Style Guide
Using information from the client intake form and user data and insights from the research team, we brainstormed which words or tones would be appropriate to use.
We wanted to use terms that reaffirm survivors' experience while also being welcoming and supportive so that they knew the Freedom Center website was a safe space. We also had to be careful not to use words associated with cults that could trigger potential users and give them a negative experience with the website. Not only did we consider the verbiage used, we also referenced the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for items like headings, text styles, and color contrast so that the style guide is as accessible as possible.
We then referenced MailChimp's content style guide for the first iteration of our style guide framework because of how clean and easy to navigate it was.
Using information from the client intake form and user data and insights from the research team, we brainstormed which words or tones would be appropriate to use.
We wanted to use terms that reaffirm survivors' experience while also being welcoming and supportive so that they knew the Freedom Center website was a safe space. We also had to be careful not to use words associated with cults that could trigger potential users and give them a negative experience with the website. Not only did we consider the verbiage used, we also referenced the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for items like headings, text styles, and color contrast so that the style guide is as accessible as possible.
We then referenced MailChimp's content style guide for the first iteration of our style guide framework because of how clean and easy to navigate it was.
Project 2: Revamping Newsletter Templates
Project 2: Revamping Newsletter Templates
Left to right: newsletter guidelines, template for new subscribers, template for current subscribers
Left to right: newsletter guidelines, template for new subscribers, template for current subscribers
The Freedom Center already had a pre-existing newsletter template but wanted a set of consistent guidelines as well as a new template that emphasized readability and accessibility.
To do that, we decided to include more visuals and media to break up blocks of text to make the newsletter easy to read. We also wanted to engage subscribers more by giving them these different avenues of interacting with the Freedom Center's content.
And it worked! We saw a 25% increase in click-through rates to the website from the newsletter.
The Freedom Center already had a pre-existing newsletter template but wanted a set of consistent guidelines as well as a new template that emphasized readability and accessibility.
To do that, we decided to include more visuals and media to break up blocks of text to make the newsletter easy to read. We also wanted to engage subscribers more by giving them these different avenues of interacting with the Freedom Center's content.
And it worked! We saw a 25% increase in click-through rates to the website from the newsletter.
Project 3: Donation page
One of the things the client prioritized was a donation page. They're currently being funded almost solely through donations so it's important to them to have it set up as soon as possible.
We took inspiration from other nonprofits' donation page copy but had a hard time visualizing how it would look for the Freedom Center; so we reached out to the design team who then created a wireframe for us.
In the first image, clicking on "Donate" in the top right corner takes you to the screen in the second image.
The darker blank rectangles, indicating where content would be, gave us guidelines as to how much copy we should generate and how that copy would fit in with the look of the website.
Project 3: Donation page
One of the things the client prioritized was a donation page. They're currently being funded almost solely through donations so it's important to them to have it set up as soon as possible.
We took inspiration from other nonprofits' donation page copy but had a hard time visualizing how it would look for the Freedom Center; so we reached out to the design team who then created a wireframe for us.
In the first image, clicking on "Donate" in the top right corner takes you to the screen in the second image.
The darker blank rectangles, indicating where content would be, gave us guidelines as to how much copy we should generate and how that copy would fit in with the look of the website.
Conclusion + Lessons Learned
Teamwork truly makes the dream work.
This was my first time working on a team of fellow UXers as well with other teams of UXers and everything we accomplished was because every single person on this project all put in the work.
You need to know what other teams are doing.
What is it they say, “no man is an island?” I would argue no team is an island either! There were many, many times we collaborated with other teams because the work everyone does overlaps and bleeds into other teams’ work as well.
Don't be afraid to speak up.
I didn’t have as much experience as some other project-mates but my questions, thoughts, and concerns were equally as valid, especially since we were all working toward the same goal.
Having a client that's super involved and communicative is awesome.
We often got feedback directly from the client, and I cannot overstate how incredibly helpful it is. It took a lot of the guesswork out of the process so that we could focus on the things that mattered.
Conclusion + Lessons Learned
Teamwork truly makes the dream work. This was my first time working on a team of fellow UXers as well with other teams of UXers and everything we accomplished was because every single person on this project all put in the work.
Don’t be afraid to speak up. I didn’t have as much experience as some other project-mates but my questions, thoughts, and concerns were equally as valid, especially since we were all working toward the same goal.
You absolutely need to know what other teams are doing. What is it they say, “no man is an island?” I would argue no team is an island either! There were many, many times we collaborated with other teams because the work everyone does overlaps and bleeds into other teams’ work as well.
Having a client that’s super involved and communicative is awesome. We often got feedback directly from the client, and I cannot overstate how incredibly helpful it is. It took a lot of the guesswork out of the process so that we could focus on the things that mattered.
Thank you for reading!
Thank you for reading!
If you'd like to reach out or connect, please email me at: julienguyen.ux@gmail.com
If you'd like to reach out or connect, please email me at: julienguyen.ux@gmail.com
Slide deck link: coming soon
Slide deck link: coming soon
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