LinkedUP App/Website Redesign

Background

LinkedUp is a church that is passionate about connecting people to God, their Purpose, Family, and Community. My task was to increase the functionality and productivity within the app without sacrificing the personality of the organization.

Challenge

How can we increase the need for the app and clarify a clear call-to-action?

Solution

Add in community building features such as in-app event sign ups and an in-service guide to encourage engagement with services.

Research

I started off my conducting a survey of over 300 people who attended Sunday service. Over 67% of users reported not using the app at all and deferring to the website or provided QR codes to engage with the church online.  Here are some additional insights gained from the survey:

• 64.2% of users solely use the app for online giving and live viewing.
• 52.5% of users rate their experience with the app as a 3/5.
• 72.2% of users report that the application does not help them achieve their goals.

I also discovered that most users would like more interactive features that allow for more community and engagement.Some examples listed were: friends feature, in-app note-taking, and the ability to share messages.

User Research

I conducted 4 user interviews asking questions on usability, goals, and features.

• What features would you most like to see in the LinkedUp application?

"Personalization, a way to keep up with events and groups. Easier way to follow along during service; i.e note-taking and connection card access?"

• What is your main goal when using the LinkedUp app?

 Most reported only using it to access a direct link to the YouVersion app notes.

• What do you like about the current app?

It has most of the features that I want, it helps me navigate the website better as it provides direct links to where I am trying to get.

User Insight Statement

Churchgoers need a visually appealing app with organization, clear direction, and calls-to-action in order to both help them find their target and also introduce them to new experiences. When visiting a new application, usability is highly imperative to the user finding information quickly and encouraging the continual use of the app. 

During the survey, I discovered that 64.2% of users download the app in order to watch live and donate. Further, I discovered that 78% of users would be open to engage more with the church if their app experience felt more personal.

In order to best help the users accomplish their goals and encourage new experiences, I will focus on clear navigation and focal points on the home page to ensure exposure to the main user goals including, Events, Connect, Student Ministries, Watch, and Online Giving. I will also maintain the church’s color palette to ensure not to erase the personality. Doing this will allow the product to gain more use and provide help to users in addition to better organization on the back end for the church to keep track of members, events, and classes.

User Personas

Based on the information gathered through surveys and interviews, I put together three user personas for our intended audience.

Success Criteria

• Organize information to create a clear hierarchy in order to direct users towards their goals.
• Simplify and Reduce the amount of unnecessary information and crowded images to lessen strain and confusion when navigating the app.
• Introduce or remind users of new experiences and events that might not have been known about before.

Business Goals: Maintain LinkedUp App’s personality and main visual components while creating an opportunity for the organization to grow and build its online community. Additionally, the redesign will provide an organized method to keep track of members, events, connect groups, and dream teams by allowing users to input their own data.

‍

Project results

This project was near and dear to my heart as I was able to work on improving an app that I use every week. With it being a solo project, I learned heavily on research and data to avoid imposing my own opinions into the adjustments. Another challenge would be avoiding scope creep. I often found myself wanting to keep adding more and more features, but realized that it would be much more effective if I focused that energy on the main goals. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project and found joy in the challenge.

Areas for Improvement

• Socialization: As the app grows, I’d love to add more of a social feature to the app including friends, messaging, and more detailed profile pages.
• Animations: Add more micro animations and transitions in order to improve the user experience.
• Create: I would love to introduce a feature that allows users to create their own small groups for sign-up in addition to signing up for others.

"Wow, this looks great! I love that I immediately see upcoming events and recent sermons, it encourages me to scroll through all of the events to see if I’m interested in any. The in-service guide is super helpful and hard to miss. I love the idea of an online connection card, I always feel left out while watching online because it’s hard to find the card on the website, so I really like how this simplifies everything."