overview
Veterans Airlift Command
Veterans Airlift Command (VAC) is a nonprofit that provides free air transportation to wounded warriors, veterans, and their families for medical and other compassionate purposes. These services are offered through a national network of volunteer aircraft owners and pilots.
The VAC website, while providing a vital service, is easy to get lost in, due to its overwhelming forms, confusing organization, and lack of design consistency.
This redesign focuses on visibility of system status, information architecture, and a new design system. It provides a cohesive and intuitive solution for veterans to access the transportation services provided by VAC, allowing them to travel comfortably with minimal stress.
CLIENT
Veterans Airlift Command, Self-Initiated
TEAM MEMBERS
Sarah Brooking, Arianna Buller, Neil O'Mara
MY ROLE
User Research, Data Synthesis, Information Architecture, UX Design, User Testing
TOOLS
Adobe XD, Figjam, Figma, Google Forms, Trello
DISCOVER
Stakeholder Interview Insights
Participant
Founder and CEO Walt Fricke
objective
Understand the organization's goals for the website
Walt Fricke, Founder and CEO of VAC
insights
- The sky's the limit: There's no limit to the number of veterans the VAC would like to help
- In need of an update: Users have told him the website feels dated
- MVP: Travel requests from veterans are the website's most beneficial feature
- Multiple user types: There are three types of users that use website: pilots, passengers and donors. This case study will focus on passengers.
User Interviews
Participants
Veterans age 30-45
objective
Walk in the shoes of veterans and uncover their motivations and frustrations when accessing resouces
iNSIGHTS
- Most veterans are grateful for Veterans Affairs (VA) and benefits and opportunies it affords them
- It can be difficult to navigate the requirements of seeking benefits, such as VA travel reimbursement
- The veterans we spoke to are loyal, honest and hardworking and value those traits in the businesses and organizations they interact with
"People don’t realize how much of a pain it is to travel commercial airlines with prosthetics."
Secondary Research
SOURCE
237 user testimonials provided by greatnonprofits.org
objective
Understand the users who require travel assistance provided by VAC
www.greatnonprofits.org/org/veterans-airlift-command
FINDINGS
- Most veterans who benefit from this service have injuries or prosthetics that make flying commercially uncomfortable
- Most veterans choose to travel with their family
- Many injured veterans are undergoing medical care that requires frequent travel to specialty clinics
- Injured veterans are experiencing a variety of stressors and appreciate a simple traveling experience to take "one thing off their plates"
"At age 53, my stress level is one of the main contributing factors of my recovery with my amputation … I cannot express how much flying my family to Texas has made my mind, soul, and body stress free."
DEFINE
Meet Max
Problem Statement
Wounded veterans like Max want to be comfortable as they travel to receive specialty medical care during their recovery.
Max is currently flying multiple times a year on commercial flights to a visit a specialty clinic, which causes additional discomfort from his prosthetic. Traveling without his wife and son also causes Max considerable stress, but he cannot afford the extra expense.
Veteran Airlift Command provides a solution for Max, but the website is overwhelming and difficult to navigate. How might we redesign the VAC website so Max can can easily plan stress-free travel so he can focus on recovery with his family?
DESIGN
Ideation - Key Features
GOAL
Brainstorming website features to help Max reach his goals
methods
Collaborative "I Like, I Want, What If" brainstorming exercise, dot voting, and feature prioritization matrix
"I Like, I Want, What If" feature brainstorming exercise
FINDINGS
- Create Account: Empowering the user to save personal information and spend less time filling out travel request forms
- Preferences: Creating preferences for travel requirements and filter pilot/plane results based on offered services (ie, wheelchair, number of seats)
- Testimonials: Easily view testimonials, which can lead to increased trust while managing expectations
Mapping a smoother experience
methods
Card sorting and site mapping
The next step was information architecture. My role was to reorganize the information within the website in a more intuitive structure. Using post-it notes in Figjam, I reorganized the site's pages in a card sorting exercise.
The original website had information and links jammed onto the home page. Grouping like-with-like allowed website sections to reveal themselves.
After creating a first draft of the user flow, I reconvened with my group. As we hammered out each step of the user experience, collaboration was essential for each of us to get out of our own heads. Ultimately, we iterated the user flow four times before settling final draft, which relied on user teseting for validation.
Click to view larger card sorting exercise
User Flow
This user flow represents all iterations, including the changes made from user testing feedback.
From Sketches to Wireframes
SOFTWARE
InVision and Adobe XD
I collaborated with another group member to sketch out rough design ideas. We translated the ideas we felt were the strongest to Adobe XD wireframes. My role was to
DESIGN HYPOTHESES
- Consolidating all organizational information and testimonials into an About section makes it easy to learn more about VAC. This section also contains calls to action so browsers can easily convert to travelers.
- By containing all passenger info in the Passenger Hub in an easily scannable page with expandable info and intuitively placed buttons, both new and returning travelers will easily find what they need.
- Breaking the long trip request form into sections with a progress bar keeps the user from getting overwhelmed.
Details of InVision sketches and Adobe XD Wireframes
User Testing
Five user tests were conducted over Zoom. Participants were asked to complete the following tasks:
- View passenger testimonials
- Create an account and set passenger preferences
- Request a trip
User testing was conducted remotely over Zoom.
View Passenger Testimonials
Success Rate: 90%
Users wanted to look in Passenger Hub before looking in About
Suggestion: Increase visibility of dropdown menu to decrease amount of "clicking around"
Create an account and set preferences
Success Rate: 80%
Users had a difficult time finding the login area, located in the footer or passenger hub.
Suggestion: Add login direct link on navigation bar
Request a trip
Success Rate: 100%
Users took on of three paths, eachfinding them quickly: "Request Trip" buttons on About page, Passenger Hub, and home page.
Once in the request form, users had a hard time seeing all the details
Suggestion: Increase contrast and adhere with accessibility guidelines
RESULTS
Clickable Prototype
The high fidelity prototype includes revisions from two rounds of user tests. For best experience, please view
full screen on Adobe XD.Final Thoughts
It was challenging to work within the constraints of existing content, but ultimately rewarding. Conducting information architecture exercises was instrumental in keeping the site's vast amount of information organized. Content chunking and information hierarchy were both key to ensure that the website would be useful and intuitive.
