The Team:
6 UX Researchers
4 Project Coordinators
13 UX Designers
6 Content Designers
6 Product Managers
6 Developers
My Role:
UX Researcher
Since prior research on the Resource Center and Groups feature was limited, we conducted SWOT and heuristic evaluations across 13 competitor platforms.
Competitive Analysis & SWOT
Heuristics Evaluation & SWOT
We interviewed 15 TDA graduates to challenge assumptions and gather firsthand insights. Despite limitations due to power and data access, participants were candid and generous with their time—sharing personal stories about community, emotional support, and self-protection.
LIMITATIONS & TAKEAWAYS
Interview participants were all located in Africa and the biggest challenges we encountered were data, power and connectivity issues, each of which presented significant scheduling difficulties. The circumstances necessitated a high level of flexibility and patience from both interviewers and participants.
"I want to broaden my horizons. I want to learn more."
COMMUNITY
Participants are enthusiastic about contributing to TDA community andvoiced need for ongoing emotional support.
EMPLOYMENT
Participants used referrals to ensure legitimacy and protect against threats including scams and human trafficking.
SELF GROWTH
Participants emphasized the importance of continued learning and access to mental health resources.
"After graduation, maybe not just part. Maybe we keep the bond."
CONNECTION
Above all, participants were overwhelmingly motivated by the desire to stay connected with one another post-graduation.
BEING REAL
Participants voiced the importance of vulnerability and authenticity in connections and self-expression.
SAFETY & ACCESSIBILITY
Participants continued to bring attention to concerns around online security as well as data, connection & power considerations.
We evaluated prototypes from Phase 1 through moderated usability testing with 6 users.
LIMITATIONS & TAKEAWAYS
Due to data limitations, users couldn’t click through on their own—so we adapted, screen sharing the prototype and asking participants to guide moderators.
Key Insights & Design Improvements:
We conducted a moderated card sort (via OptimalSort) to inform Resource Center organization.
Data analytics generated by OptimalSort gave us our quantitative findings from the card sort while further questioning and observation provided deeper insights into why participants made their choices.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Participants emphasized the importance of mental health resources and real-time emotional support. In response, we recommended persistent top-level access to crisis and wellness resources, now implemented via a banner connecting users directly with SPI wellness staff.
Based on a strong desire for continued education, we proposed hosting the full TDA curriculum within TDAConnect—making it easily searchable and accessible to graduates post-program. This pivot helped centralize all learning in one trusted place.
Design and development were directly shaped by the infrastructure challenges participants faced:
Groups Feature – Future Phase Recommendations:
Security & Privacy – Future Development Focus:
Wins:
Lessons Learned:
Client Feedback
"I am sure that this is going to be life-changing for so many people."
"It is just amazing seeing everything that we’ve been talking about, put into action. It’s so magical, I just cannot describe how happy I am."
Please don't hesitate to reach out if you'd like to learn more about me or if you're interested in working together. Shoot me an email at annaleightc@gmail.com