Turning Prospects into Ambassadors
Led end-to-end research to reposition product in a saturated market, conducting market analysis and stakeholder interviews to identify opportunity areas. Research insights guided strategic pivot and informed the design and development of a new responsive web experience, iteratively refined through usability testing. This research-driven approach, coupled with hands-on design and development, delivered a cohesive digital platform that secured additional funding and unlocked unprecedented technology partnerships and government-funded opportunities.
Product Strategist
Challenge: Lack of differentiation in a saturated market
The education area within the social impact sector in India has experienced overwhelming attention and growth in recent years. Skill Vikas Foundation (SVF) was in this saturated space teaching conversational English in rural schools. While their work was anchored in the educational sector, they also had an emerging (but disconnected) natural-farming program taking shape. These programs functioned independently and caused confusion about SVF's aim and mission.
The lack of differentiation and disjointed programs led to a diluted brand and caused unnecessary confusion.
Setting clear and distinct mission, vision and values
When we started the Mission/Vision/Values work, we didn't realize all that it would reveal. During a particularly strained session, it became clear that given the option to lead with one of the two programs, the natural-farming work was the front-runner.
Even more surprising was what was driving the focus on natural-farming, a reframing of a forgotten financial asset. This was a seismic shift in SVF’s strategy and the breakthrough allowed for us to move through the rest of the work with creative confidence.
Distilling and productizing SVF's solution
Stakeholder research uncovered a critical insight: donors and partners struggled to distinguish SVF's unique approach to rural development from other organizations in the space. Through structured discovery workshops and collaborative mapping sessions, we distilled SVF's differentiating program elements and strategic value proposition.
This exercise allowed SVF to conceptualize the shift in their work and how they were delivering a cohesive solution rather a collection of separate programs.
Motivational interviews and usability studies
Motivational interviews with previous SVF donors and ambassadors (repeat donors) were focused on understanding how they selected philanthropic causes, and what deterred them from engaging with a cause.
Usability studies of the existing website helped answer the tactical question, i.e., "Are we building the thing right?" by revealing key opportunities for consideration in the new design.
A web and mobile experience designed for conversion
I translated the learnings from the research phase into distinct experiences in the website to build trust and move each user towards ambassadorship, no matter where they were at in the process.
A critical aspect of this redesign focused on the donation flow. Key improvements included offering a default donation option, introducing tiered packages, and enabling users to select recurring donations
Results: Securing funds and establishing unprecedented partnerships
Through redefining their product strategy, visual identity and web experience, we were able to communicate SVF’s unique approach, increase their impact and secure their position in a new, growing market.
Beyond securing funds, this work unlocked key technology and government partnerships that led to unprecedented growth.
*Note: Due to the sensitive nature of this work, I'm limited in the amount I can share. Reach out for a full case study.
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