Members’ Portal
Norsk Folkehjelp members’ portal
Challenge Area
The work of Norsk Folkehjelp (or Norwegian People’s Aid) is achieved through member engagement in emergency aid, community work, and peace efforts. The organisation faced significant challenges managing member engagement and operational efficiency due to multiple login systems and platforms. The current system landscape did not support streamlined communication, resource management, or centralized access to essential tools and information. To address these challenges, Norsk Folkehjelp seeked to develop and implement a new, integrated portal for its members.
Possible Solution
The proposed solution was a new, integrated member portal, leveraging modern technologies such as the MS 365 platform. The integrated solution consolidates all functionalities into a single, user-friendly portal, enhancing the overall member experience and operational productivity. The portal should be scalable and evolve to incorporate advanced features in the future.
Approach
To optimize our team's time, knowledge, and resources most effectively, we adopted the Agile methodology, utilizing 2-week SCRUM sprints. Each sprint included planning, development, testing, and review phases, enabling continuous feedback. Through close collaboration, we responded swiftly to changing requirements and aligned our solution with user needs and project goals.
User research
My Role
As a UX designer, I engaged in interviews, workshops, and surveys with stakeholders to understand their needs and challenges. By leveraging insights from user research, I assessed the structure, navigation, main categories, and user journey in collaboration with other designers and front-end developers to streamline interactions within the portal. I developed sketches and wireframes in Miro and Figma, adhering to WCAG 2.1 standards.
Sketching
Agile development
Affinity diagrams
Wireframing
Workshops
Low-code prototyping
Information architecture
User testing
Define
Product Requirements
I entered the project with pre-defined requirements, which were determined through an ideation workshop with the customer. This workshop facilitated a collaborative environment where we could identify and prioritize the key features and goals for the project. The pre-defined requirements provided a clear foundation and direction for our development process.
User Personas
Personas were established based on data obtained from Norsk Folkehjelp through conversations with their members, local leaders, and volunteers. These personas represented the diverse range of individuals who would benefit from the resources and information provided by Norsk Folkehjelp, ensuring that our solutions were tailored to their specific needs and contexts.
Problem Statement
Volunteers struggle to efficiently locate necessary resources due to the fragmented nature of multiple platforms.
UX Design
Design board
We explored how similar organizations had set up similar employee or members’ portals in SharePoint and also examined examples from organizations outside of their industry to gather additional insights. To facilitate this process, we established a design board for inspiration, which helped us identify best practices and innovative ideas that could be applied to our project.
Information architecture
We collaborated with our front-end SharePoint developers to gain a deeper understanding of SharePoint's structure and built-in functionalities. This collaboration enabled us to begin conceptualizing the page structure based on different admin rights and user roles, ensuring that our design would leverage SharePoint’s capabilities effectively. To ensure easy portal maintenance and navigation, we kept a simple site structure.
From there, we needed to determine where each portal feature that addressed the users' needs would fit within the portal. To accomplish this, we created a feature map that outlined the page hierarchy. The map was then used to specify the placement of each feature, ensuring that the portal’s structure aligned with user requirements and provided a coherent user experience.
We placed strong emphasis on ensuring that resources were accessible and easy to locate within the portal. To address this, we decided to create a "Resource Vault." I developed a structural sketch of the proposed categories for this vault, informed by a card sorting exercise and expert input from Norsk Folkehjelp members. The sketch resembled a Venn diagram or folder system, which was the visualization best understood by the customer and allowed for flexibility as new documents were produced or as information became available.
Consistent Feedback
Throughout the design process, we conducted regular workshops and meetings with Norsk Folkehjelp to obtain immediate feedback on our approach. Their expertise in the organization and its operations was invaluable in ensuring that the portal's structure was logical and effective and that the design met the organisation's brand identity. Additionally, Norsk Folkehjelp presented our designs to volunteers and local leaders to validate our concepts and gather further feedback for our team to iterate upon.
UI Design
Sketching
Although the portal was built on SharePoint, which imposed certain design restrictions, it encouraged our team to think creatively. In a workshops with the customer, we initially sketched design ideas without considering SharePoint’s limitations. We then evaluated the strengths of each design and translated these concepts into features and components supported by SharePoint, allowing us to explore how to meet user needs effectively without being immediately constrained by platform limitations.
Wireframing
Low-code prototypes
Developers used the wireframes as a guide to translate the designs into the SharePoint test environment. Throughout the process, adjustments were made to support various features. Additionally, we included developers in workshops with the customer during later stages to adapt the prototypes in real-time, ensuring that the final implementation aligned closely with user expectations and requirements.
Given the flexible nature of SharePoint’s component blocks, we collaborated closely with developers in workshops to ensure that all user needs were effectively addressed through the portal’s functionalities. We made this collaboration a crucial part of our development process, creating an open space that encouraged exploration and questions, and allowing us to iteratively refine the portal based on ongoing feedback.
User Testing
We conducted user testing with the low-code prototypes, which included A/B testing of login pathways, observations of user interactions with the resource vault, and task-based tests. Additionally, we conducted user interviews to gather feedback on the overall experience of the portal. The results from these tests were used to inform and guide further iterations of the design.
We translated these sketches into wireframes using Miro to clarify the design for potential users and the front-end developers who would implement them in SharePoint. We focused on basic shapes and functionalities, knowing that the final appearance might vary due to SharePoint's components.
Deliver
Once the design was validated through user testing, it was transferred to a production environment where the front-end was integrated with back-end functionalities. This final version was then released to Norsk Folkehjelp members.
