TDAConnect

UX Research for a Community Platform Supporting Displaced LGBTQIA+ Leaders

UX Research | Community Platform | Agile | Phase 2

Overview
TDAConnect is an online community and resource platform designed for graduates of Safe Place International’s Dream Academy—a 10-week leadership program for displaced LGBTQIA+ individuals, primarily across Africa. I joined the Phase 2 team as a UX Researcher, focusing on how to best support TDA graduates in staying connected, accessing trusted resources, and continuing their growth journeys post-graduation.

Over 8 weeks and four agile sprints, I led and collaborated on research across the Resource Center and Groups feature, using mixed methods to inform platform design in an environment shaped by data, power, and safety constraints.

The Team:
6 UX Researchers
4 Project Coordinators
13 UX Designers
6 Content Designers
6 Product Managers
6 Developers

My Role:
UX Researcher

1

DISCOVER

2

EVALUATE

3

IMPACT

4

NEXT STEPS

5

REFLECTION

DISCOVER

We began by reframing our central question: "How might we provide access to life-changing resources and community spaces in a safe, trustworthy, and low-bandwidth environment?"

Examining the Competitive Landscape

Since prior research on the Resource Center and Groups feature was limited, we conducted SWOT and heuristic evaluations across 13 competitor platforms.

Resource Center

Competitive Analysis & SWOT

  • Competitors Analyzed: 7
  • Identified unique value propositions, advantages and disadvantages
  • Opportunities from SWOT prioritized with dot voting
KEY DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES
  • Prioritize community-driven content
  • Highlight sensitive or high-impact resources (e.g., mental health, employment)
  • Filter by location and type to improve discoverability
  • Build trust in external resources through clear sourcing
Groups Feature

Heuristics Evaluation & SWOT

  • Competitors Analyzed: 6
  • Established usability standards
  • Opportunities from SWOT prioritized with dot voting
KEY DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES
  • Safe, moderated spaces with options for private/public visibility
  • Clear code of conduct
  • Group discovery via shared interests or mutual friends
  • Admin tools for group leaders

Learning from TDA Graduates

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.

Uncovering Common Themes

Resource Center
"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.

Groups Feature
"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.

EVALUATE

Assessing Design Decisions

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.

Identifying Critical Issues (and wins)

Key Insights & Design Improvements:

  • Sign-Up/Login: Simplified copy and clearer CTAs improved onboarding flow
  • Quick Exit: Moved out of onboarding and reinforced with testing prompt
  • Sensitive Topics: Posts with tagged sensitive content now auto-hide post-submission
  • Friend Requests: Reworked interaction hierarchy to make optional messaging clear

Refining Information Architecture

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

  • Emotional health emerged as a distinct priority
  • Participants split topics like HIV and sexual health across physical and emotional categories
  • Based on this, we recommended renaming "Physical Health" to "Physical & Sexual Health" and validated emotional support as a top-tier IA bucket

IMPACT

Strengthening Community

  • Through research, we surfaced the importance of maintaining graduate-only access to protect trust within the platform. This shifted the client’s original intent to open access to current students as well. Design recommendations included visual indicators for community leaders (e.g., SPI Admin, Wellness Team) to encourage trusted connections and verified job boards to reduce risks of scams or trafficking.

Prioritizing Emotional Support

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.

Supporting Continued Learning

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.

Designing for Low-Bandwidth Realities

Design and development were directly shaped by the infrastructure challenges participants faced:

  • Switched to lightweight technologies (React → Preact, Redux → Zustand, Bootstrap → Tailwind)
  • Replaced infinite scroll with “load more”
  • Minimized page size and number of clicks needed to complete actions

NEXT STEPS

Connecting Users Through Groups

Groups Feature – Future Phase Recommendations:

  • Create spaces for collaborative passion projects
  • Event pages for virtual or in-person community connection
  • Admin and moderation tools to maintain safe group environments

Addressing Privacy & Security

Security & Privacy – Future Development Focus:

  • Implement end-to-end encryption and secure HTTPS
  • Limit data collection and ensure no sensitive data is stored on the frontend
  • Strengthen input validation and rotate secrets regularly

RELFECTION

Wins:

  • User Trust: We built strong rapport, leading to open, insightful interviews
  • Client Satisfaction: SPI directors praised the clarity and value of our research
  • Teamwork: Our agile collaboration with design, product, and engineering teams was fluid and effective

Lessons Learned:

  • Expand the Participant Pool: Many participants were program leaders—future teams should include a broader range of user voices
  • Scope Management: Misalignment on scope surfaced mid-project; clear expectation-setting and ongoing client check-ins are key for future phases

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."

Get in touch

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