BEING Studio is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting artists with developmental disabilities by providing an inclusive space for creative expression. Through visual arts and creative writing programs, they empower 70+ artists — offering their work for sale online and showcasing their talent in local exhibitions and collaborations.

This project was completed through the HEC Montreal UX Apprenticeship Program. BEING Studio wanted to determine how effectively their website was supporting three critical goals: increasing donations, boosting merchandise sales, and growing program registrations.

My role: Team Lead — managed communication, project objectives, team coordination, and timelines. Mentored two teammates still learning UX. Conducted 9 of 14 usability tests and guided quality across remaining sessions. Collaborated on affinity analysis, synthesized key insights, designed the final report, and served as lead presenter.

Team: 4 members. Presented to Walter Howell (Executive Director) and Yvette Lapa Dessap (Senior Lecturer, HEC Montreal Digital Transformation Department).

BEING Studio had a meaningful mission and real products to sell — but their website wasn't converting visitors into donors, buyers, or program registrants.

How might we improve BEING Studio's website to boost donations, increase merchandise sales, and encourage program registrations?

Goals:

• Evaluate the donation and shopping workflows to identify usability barriers
• Understand what stops users from contributing financially
• Compare the experience between first-time donors and frequent donors
• Assess how overall website usability affects users' willingness to support

Process

As team lead, I managed this project from mandate to delivery — coordinating timelines, keeping the team aligned, coaching members through their first usability sessions, and taking ownership of quality throughout.

Participants

• 14 participants, between-subject design
• 7 First-Time Donors vs. 7 Frequent Donors
• Recruited via personal/professional networks and social media outreach
• Inclusion: No prior BEING Studio knowledge; had donated online at least once (or never)
• Exclusion: UX students or professionals

4 Tasks

Post-evaluation: SUS, Likelihood to Purchase and Donate scale, semi-structured interview.

Analysis: Affinity diagramming to identify recurring usability themes across sessions.

Insights

1. Mission Misunderstood

Only 31% of participants fully understood the organization's mission and purpose.

• Despite describing the mission page as "straightforward," many participants misunderstood or only partially understood what BEING Studio does
• Most skipped the "About Us" page entirely — they hovered over it but didn't click
• Instead, participants navigated to the "Manifesto" page, which didn't give them the organizational clarity they needed

"I only have a vague understanding of what the organization does." — P7

2. Frustrating Shopping Experience

70% of participants failed to find the water bottle — and added a mug instead.

• The water bottle was buried under a category called "20th Anniversary Collection" rather than a clear label like "Merchandise"
• Unintuitive product categories made navigation a guessing game
• Only 30% found the correct product without moderator guidance

"The categories of products are not well defined." — P8

"I had to go through 7 pages in merch to find the water bottle." — P10

3. Mutual Fund Donation Was Easy to Miss

Only 46% made a mutual fund donation without guidance.

• The mutual fund option was buried as a small pink hyperlink inside a sentence — easily overlooked
• Clicking it opened an outdated version of the BEING Studio website in a new tab, breaking the user's flow and causing confusion
• Participants didn't understand why they were suddenly on a different platform mid-donation

"It was easy to miss the mutual fund option." — P10

"It's unnecessary to go to another page for the mutual fund donation." — P5

"Is it normal that the platform of the website changed in the middle?" — P9

Design Recommendations

Mission Clarity

• Simplify and prominently display the mission on the homepage — eliminate confusion and inspire action
• Incorporate interactive elements to dynamically convey the organization's impact (artist stories, live donation counters, program impact stats)

Donation Flow

• Remove the link to the outdated website — streamline the donation process and eliminate unnecessary redirects
• Add Securities and Mutual Fund as tabs directly within the main donation form, alongside Donate Once and Donate Monthly — keeps the process in a single, unified flow

Shop / Product Navigation

• Consolidate Apparel + Merchandise into one unified section
• Create clear subcategories: Clothing (Tops, Bottoms), Accessories (Hats, Tote Bags, Cards, Drinkware)
• Add dynamic filtering with specific attributes (e.g., canvas size for Original Art)

Outcomes

A year after delivery, I followed up with Walter Howell, BEING Studio's Executive Director.

What was implemented:

• Simplified the organization's mission on the homepage
• Added the mission to the Infobar at the top of every page
• Added more visuals to show the organization's work and artists in action
• Fixed the securities/mutual fund donation — removed the redirect to the outdated website
• Restructured product categories for clearer navigation

"The biggest takeaway from the UX Evaluation is there were moments of confusion due to a lack of clarity around our organizational identity. Over the past year, we've taken small but intentional steps to simplify our messaging. These efforts have already made a difference, with increases in sales, donations, and most importantly, programming registrations." — Walter Howell, Executive Director

Reflection

Servant leadership is a skill. Guiding a team of peers still learning UX meant balancing direction with support — I had to lead without taking over.

Collaboration through ambiguity is hard — and essential. Varying skill levels and unclear expectations are the norm in real client work. Learning to navigate that without losing momentum was one of the most valuable lessons from this project.

Track your metrics. Even small design changes can drive meaningful outcomes. Having concrete impact data — increases in sales, donations, and registrations — validated the work in a way no deliverable alone could.

Staying proactive matters, even when resources are limited. BEING Studio had a tight budget and a small team. Proactive follow-through and clear prioritization made the recommendations actionable within their constraints.