Dweebs Global
Dweebs Global is a nonprofit that emerged in response to the mental health crisis amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their mission is to provide free mental health support and mentorship to people around the world. As their reach expanded, the limitations of their website became apparent.
ROLE
YEARS
TOOLS USED
UX Designer
2021 -2022
Figma
Adobe Illustrator
Challenge:
Dweebs Global is a nonprofit organization founded in response to the growing need for mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the organization rapidly grew, their website originally built using a free template no longer met their needs. The site lacked structure, accessibility, and visual consistency, signaling an urgent need for a comprehensive redesign to better reflect their mission and improve user experience.
The original website was built using a free template with minimal customization. The design lacked hierarchy and visual clarity. Navigation was confusing and inconsistent. Accessibility best practices were not followed.The site did not reflect the credibility or compassion of the organization. These issues made it difficult for users many of whom were in distress to find help, resources, or learn about the organization's mission and services.
Process
I began with a UX audit of the existing site, highlighting usability issues, poor accessibility, and visual inconsistencies. I then met with stakeholders to understand user goals, organizational priorities, and technical constraints. Created user personas keeping the target audience in mind.
Created low-fidelity wireframes to explore layout and navigation options. After stakeholder validation, I built interactive high-fidelity prototypes to demonstrate interactions, hierarchy, and design intent.
A new visual style was introduced, balancing professionalism with compassion. Soft colors, clean typography, and whitespace improved readability and emotional tone. I followed WCAG guidelines to ensure contrast, keyboard navigation, and screen reader compatibility.
I conducted remote usability testing with real users to identify pain points and areas for refinement. Feedback led to simplification of certain flows and language adjustments for clarity.
Detailed design specifications and a style guide were shared with developers. I remained engaged during implementation to ensure accurate translation of the design and to support responsive behavior.
Wireframes
After validating the wireframes and user flows, I moved on to high-fidelity mockups using a small but consistent design system I developed. This system included typography, color palette, button styles, and layout components all tailored to reflect the organization’s branding and mission of support and trust. By applying this design system, I ensured visual consistency across pages while maintaining flexibility for future growth.
The high-fidelity designs helped bring the experience to life for stakeholders and enabled smoother collaboration with developers during implementation.
Outcome
60% faster task completion rate. Users could find help or sign up to volunteer more quickly. Increased trust and engagement, with positive feedback from both users and stakeholders. Created a scalable design system that the nonprofit can use as they continue to grow.