UX and UI Design
What I did: Collaborated on designing the organization's website to lure in new volunteers
Results: Code for Greensboro gained more awareness and volunteers
Code for Greensboro was a civic tech brigade within Code for America's network that focused on using technology to fix problems within the North Carolina Triad region. They were in need of a new brigade website to promote their organization and help new volunteers join. I had joined the brigade to use what I was learning in graduate school at the time for the greater good while gaining real-world experience, so I quickly started to
I worked with UX designer Jordan Robinson to craft the prototypes and user interface of the website. I had joined the brigade to use what I was learning in graduate school for the greater good while gaining real-world experience, so I was thrilled to work with an experienced designer. We started by drafting the information architecture of the site, sketching wireframes, and mapping the desired user flow. Jordan then taught me how to use Figma and we both iterated on multiple website prototypes that were reviewed by our brigade members.
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After the prototype had been iterated on enough to be a good minimum viable product, the volunteers at Code for Greensboro who were software developers started to build out the website. I was still able to contribute at this point of the process with my knowledge of HTML and CSS by building out the code for a card component Jordan and I designed for the page about brigade projects.
Code for Greensboro's website launched in 2021 and helped generate more awareness of the brigade and bring in new volunteers. Jordan and I went on to design other app projects during our time at the organization. I also realized the usefulness of Figma as a collaborative design tool and told my graduate school colleagues about it. I used it on many major graduate school projects, including my capstone.
After I moved away from the Triad, I used the experience I gained from this project to make a WordPress website for Code for the Carolinas while designing their branding. Funnily enough, Code for Greensboro merged with Code for the Carolinas, so it was as if my civic tech involvement had come full-circle.
