– By Eden Bliss Rowe
Communication – Public Relations major
Improvement and growth are ongoing journeys—for both people and organizations. While change is usually meant to make things better, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to figure out where to even begin.
For my Senior Project, I had the opportunity to work with an incredible nonprofit based in California called iFoster. Their mission is to support foster youth as they age out of the system, helping them transition into successful adulthood. They provide a wide variety of resources—all aimed at empowering these young people and giving them the tools they need to thrive.
With such a wholesome mission and impactful work, it wasn’t immediately obvious what iFoster could improve on. So the first step in my project was figuring that out. I conducted a situational analysis, which included an internal audit, public perception study, SWOT analysis, external audit, and a lot of research.
From all that, one clear opportunity stood out: iFoster’s website needed to be more user-friendly, especially when it came to how their resources were organized. Right now, resources are scattered across different parts of the site—some on the homepage, others buried under the “Who We Are” section. It wasn’t the easiest experience for users trying to find help.
Once I had my objective, I dug into research about what makes a website easy to navigate. Some key takeaways:
- Users need a search bar to find what they’re looking for quickly
- Organized drop-down menus make navigation smoother
- A strong homepage that clearly explains the purpose of the site is essential
I also looked at 100 nonprofit websites to see what the best ones were doing. Here’s what I found:
- 60% had their mission statement right on the homepage
- 77% featured testimonials
- 78% included a “Donate Now” button, front and center
iFoster’s website didn’t have any of these elements.
For the final part of my project, I created a mock redesign of iFoster’s homepage and resource page using Canva. I also designed a book to showcase all my findings and ideas, making sure everything followed iFoster’s brand guidelines so it felt cohesive and professional.
This project taught me so much—not just about web design, but about the importance of taking a step back and really analyzing where change can make the most difference. Sometimes, choosing to focus on just one meaningful improvement is the most powerful thing you can do.
