94%
Story Engagement
+276%
Time on Site
Judged by
OVERVIEW
FullCircle Experience connects the African Diaspora to their heritage, but their website wasn't telling the story
FullCircle Experience is a 501(c)(3) non-profit building platforms that connect members of the African diaspora through shared cultural history.
However, the existing website did little to support participation or ongoing interaction.
My team redesigned the platform to make storytelling and community engagement central to the product experience.
Key Issues
Every issue traced to one of the following root problems:
No Proof of Impact
Visitors lacked clear evidence that the organization was credible or effective
No Reason to Return
Nothing gave visitors a reason to participate, share, or return
Donation Friction
Supporting the mission required too many clicks and felt transactional
Search Engine Invisibility
The site didn't rank on Google, so potential visitors couldn't find site
RESEARCH
Stakeholder Focus Group
I initiated a team meeting with FullCircle's advisory board and target users to understand website expectations vs. reality.
6 Participants
60-90 Minutes
114 Total Cards Sorted
Focus Group Meeting (Zoom)
Hybrid Card Sort → Data-Informed Site Map
I led a remote card sort to reveal mismatches in users' mental models of the website. This informed the new site map.
Raw Card Sort Outcome (FigJam)
Card Sort Analysis
3. Site Map
User Interview Insights
We went in thinking the main problem was fundraising, so we A/B tested different donation flows.
Users told us something different.
Overly Formal Language
Visually Flat
No Sense of Community
Participatory Design with Stakeholders
ISSUE
Unapproachable Language
SOLUTIONS
Stakeholders collaboratively edited the website copy in a shared Google Doc.
Stakeholders continued to provide quality assurance (QA) feedback throughout website implementation.
Stakeholder Feedback on Shared Google Doc
APPROACH
Incorrect Initial Hypothesis → Reframing the Problem
Users wanted connection rather than solicitation.
Nov - Feb Timeline
SOLUTIONS
Building Community Around FullCircle to Inspire Support
Select one of the previews to view solution
1.0
Proof of Impact through Storytelling
Communicating Reputability on First Impression
ISSUES
SOLUTIONS
Lead with FullCircle's mission and accomplishments
Showcase tangible projects and outcomes
Highlight credible individuals associated with organization
Diversify color palette and add micro-animations
User Testimonial
Home Before vs. After. Annotated with each new section added.
Dedicating Attention to FullCircle's Story and People
ISSUE
SOLUTIONS
Split About page into Team and Organization History (About)
Highlight past events as proof of impact
Feature former collaborators for increased reputability
Past Events as Proof of Impact
About Page Restructure: One Bloated Page Split into Team and Organization History (About)
Custom CMS for Non-Technical Content Updates
ISSUE
Non-technical FullCircle staff needs to maintain website updates after handoff
SOLUTIONS
Custom PHP content management system developed with dev team
Simple interface that lives within WordPress dashboard
Board member updates automatically populate website with proper styling
AI-assisted coding workflows accelerated development
TOOLS
Figma
ChatGPT
WordPress
2.0
Community-Generated Storybank
Building Community through Shared Stories
ISSUES
SOLUTIONS
Interactive geographic storybank
Users can pin location on map and share heritage stories
Users can read other stories
Inspired by the Queering the Map, a mapping site for queer stories.
Storybank Submission
Shipping with Constraints
ORIGINAL DESIGN
Users connect multiple geographic locations to a single heritage story
TECHNICAL & BUDGET CONSTRAINTS
FullCircle did not want to pay for premium mapping platforms, such as Mapbox.
SOLUTION
Free WordPress plugin with a single-pin model
Tradeoff keeps feature shippable without sacrificing the core experience
Early Map Prototype (Figma)
Outcome
The Storybank became the highest performing page on the site. Stakeholders love the feature.
Stakeholder Testimonial
3.0
Streamlined Donation Pathways
Reducing # of Clicks to Donation Form from 4 → 2
ISSUES
SOLUTIONS
Hamburger navigation → top bar with "Support Us" CTA
Footer of each page has banner with CTA
Updated donation form with donation options upfront
Provide information for "More Ways to Give"
Top Bar Navigation with "Support Us" CTA
4.0
SEO for Discoverability
#1
Search Result
39 → 70%
Engagement
+276%
Time on Site
From Search Page 10+ → Result #1
ISSUES
Before the redesign, the website did not appear within the first 10 pages of Google results for "FullCircle Experience."
Today, it ranks #1.
What Changed?
Semantic Page Structure
Clear H1-H3 hierarchy improved indexing and search understanding
Keyword-Rich Content
New pages highlighted FullCircle's mission, leadership, and story with strategic phrasing
Metadata Optimization
Custom page titles and descriptions implemented across all pages
Internal Linking Architecture
Pages connected to encourage deeper browsing
93/100 SEO Score Audit
Page-level SEO scores significantly improved after optimization, measured using AIOSEO.
Before and After Optimization (AISEO)
Organic Traffic Growth After Launch
Following launch, improved search visibility translated directly into increased organic traffic and engagement. A steady rise in impressions, clicks, and session duration were tracked across Google Analytics.
Organic traffic increased immediately after launch (Google Analytics)
LEADERSHIP
Leading a Team of 6 Designers and Developers
Early on, I ran 1:1s with each team member to understand their interests, experience levels, and growth goals.
I delegated tasks accordingly—developers who wanted to stretch took on PHP backend development, while designers with strong brand instincts led the visual direction.
Weekly Client + Team Meeting (Zoom)
Identifying the Right Problems. Shipping on Time.
I helped the team focus on the highest impact problems, most notably the community-generated storybank and the custom PHP CMS for non-technical website maintenance.
When the pivot happened mid-project, I ran a full team re-orientation session to rebuild alignment around the new direction. The team stayed intact, priorities were restructured, and we delivered the project on schedule.
Notion Task Boards: Work Assigned by Team Member Strength and Project Timeline
FEEDBACK
What the Clients Had to Say…
Testimonials from FullCircle's Co-Founder, Executive Director, and Strategy Leader
Most Aesthetic Design Award
Our team was one of three winners selected from a cohort of 35 teams.
After presenting our work to judges from leading tech companies, FullCircle received the Most Aesthetic Design Award.
JUDGED BY
Most Aesthetic Design Award
REFLECTION
Lessons Learned
Leading a cross-functional team of developers and designers taught me lessons I could only learn from experience:
Talk to Users as Early as Possible
We spent the first three weeks solving the wrong problem. Had we scheduled the focus group sooner, we would have saved significant time and avoided a full strategic pivot.
Budget Constraints
Clients can have ambitious visions that their budget can't support. Working with a nonprofit taught me to design with real constraints.
For example, the ideal multi-pin architecture wasn't feasible for the Storybank map wasn't feasible with the available resources, so we shipped a single-pin model that still delivered the core experience.
Working Across Designer-Developer Teams
The most friction came not from design decisions, but from communication gaps. I learned to translate between design intent and technical constraints by writing clearer handoff notes and understanding developers' tools.
Leadership is Setting the Vision
As both lead designer and PM, I learned the most important thing I could give my team was clarity on where we were going and why.
ALL DELIVERABLES
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