Dress for Success Washington D.C.
Website Redesign - RESEARCH
An uplifting platform empowering women to pursue their career aspirations.
Estimated reading time: 6-7 minutes
Project duration: 8 months
My Research Process
Here are the main insights identified from the research I conducted.
A lack of consistency is a recurring issue throughout the website
The language that is used to refer to different resources in links and buttons can easily mislead users. Every page of the website is also designed with a different style, so it is difficult for users to grow familiar with the pages’ layouts over time.
Many of the resources available on the Virtual Career Center are extremely generalized and lack personalization
A lot of the resources have very vague and generic wording, and there are not a lot of resources tailored to federal jobs or other specific industries.
Unclear calls to action can make it difficult for users to determine how to use different career resources
A lot of the jargon used to refer to different resources can be especially confusing to users who are new to DFSWDC and are unfamiliar with the phrases that they use to refer to their resources.
Different circumstances such as location and disabilities prevent users from accessing in-person resources
This increases the importance of the online resources available. So far, the Virtual Career Center resources are not usable and detailed enough to give users a similar experience to in-person resources.
It is difficult to scan the website and get an overview of all the different resources
Many key pages are hidden under navigation menus or are embedded in hyperlinks within large paragraphs of text. Therefore, it takes users more time to figure out what is available for them and if any of the resources would be helpful for their specific goals.
Users like receiving personalized career resources
Whether it is through an online portal, a newsletter, or some other form of custom media, users like to be presented with resources that can benefit their specific circumstances in some way.
Long-time DFSWDC users have become accustomed to working with career coaches & utilizing other in-person resources
These long-time users are less motivated to explore the Virtual Career Center or other online resources on their own because of their typical reliance on career coaches and other in-person resources.
Many positive emotions arise when using DFSWDC’s in-person resources – especially empowerment
Users seem to enjoy the personal connections that they can make through in-person interactions at the organization – this is a big factor that keeps users coming back to DFSWDC.
My detailed research process is outlined in the rest of this section.
1
Heuristic evaluation
I began my research process by conducting a heuristic evaluation of the existing DFSWDC website (as of early 2024).
I found that 7 out of 10 usability heuristics from Nielsen Norman were violated.
7/10
violations
Visibility of system status
Career coaching registration process is confusing and does not have a clear step-by-step process.
Error prevention
There are many hyperlinks that open in the same tab without prompting the user about leaving the page first.
Flexibility and ease of use
Resources are embedded in hyperlinks within large paragraphs of text, so they are easy to miss. There should be an easier way for users to find resources.
Help and documentation
It is unclear how users are supposed to get help if they cannot find what they are looking for on the site.
Consistency and standards
There are many buttons that appear to be the same thing, but lead to different redirects.
Recognition rather than recall
There is a navigation bar for parsing through the site; however, the path to finding specific resources is unclear and it is difficult to understand what each of the navigation bar items means.
Aesthetic and minimalist design
There are a lot of unnecessary details, links, and pages within the website. The colors used on the site can also be visually overwhelming.
2
Comparative analysis
I identified 4 websites that are similar to DFSWDC’s website for the comparative analysis.
My client contact Angela let me know that they really loved the websites of two other Dress for Success organizations - Dress for Success Phoenix and Dress for Success Twin Cities - so I decided to use those in this analysis. I also chose websites from two other organizations that have similar missions as DFSWDC - Women’s Employment Network and Suited for Change.
In this analysis, I found positive aspects of the other websites that would be helpful to include in DFSWDC’s redesigned website.
3
Usability testing
Participants
I collected insights about feelings and behavior from 8 participants as they navigated the current website. Each of these participants was new to the website and had never used it before. They each had varying backgrounds, ages, and occupations.
Tasks
Find the Virtual Career Center.
If you were looking for resources on creating a resume, where would you go?
Show me where you would go if you wanted to find tips on how to dress for an interview.
If you were looking to get a career coach, how would you go about starting that process?
If you were looking to make a federal resume specifically, how would you find a template for it?
Findings
Overall, all tasks were completed by the majority of participants but not with ease.
Issues identified
The navigation bar is not organized intuitively and is dense
Many participants had to go through a long trial-and-error process to find the Virtual Career Center. Users also mentioned that looking through each drop-down section felt tedious.
Search bar did not provide relevant results
Participants attempted to search keywords as a last resort while searching for resources, but received unrelated results.
Lots of easy-to-miss hyperlinks in paragraphs of text
Most participants located resources within the hyperlinks in the Virtual Career Center, but were not interested in fully reading each paragraph. This led to information being missed due to skimming or clicking on the wrong link.
Confusing language for new users and frequent jargon
Each participant was misled at least once by the titles of sections and pages (e.g. “The Little Black Dress Club”). They did not feel like it helped guide them or indicate the type of information on each page.
Lack of consistency across the website
Many buttons appear to have the same intended action, but do something different or nothing at all. There are also no naming conventions or patterns to recognize across the page, making it difficult to quickly find information.
Users are redirected to an email address when trying to access some resources
It seemed frustrating to select “Career Coach” but instead be led to an email template with no explanation.
4
User interviews
Participants
A total of 8 participants were interviewed. They all had different backgrounds, history with the organization, and experience levels with the website.
6
DFSWDC
clients
2
DFSWDC
volunteers
Findings
Key Finding #1: Along with career coaching, clients of DFSWDC rely on volunteers to fill in the gaps on the website. Volunteers are not always able to support clients in this process and wish clients could independently navigate the website more easily.
Clients often request volunteers’ help on how to sign up for various events and programs on the website or navigate to other resources within the website. Sometimes, volunteers feel as though they cannot help clients with their needs, as they are not well-versed in every part of the DFSWDC website.
I also learned that volunteers cannot provide sufficient information to clients just by using the website. Many of the resources they recommend are outside of DFSWDC and may include things like YouTube videos, podcasts, or articles.
“I was very unfamiliar with it, so I couldn’t really help”
Participant 6
“She needed a lot more help with how to sign up, how to figure out which track to enroll in, and she looked to me for that”
Participant 6
“Stylists couldn’t find how to help coach reach out to the client and find resources for interview wardrobes”
Participant 4
“...but with like the help of a coach, it kinda gets me back on track with it, cause I struggle a lot...”
Participant 1
Key Finding #2: Many long-time users are unaware of the Virtual Career Center’s existence. Even if they are aware of it, they still do not use the resources available within it.
Many DFSWDC clients experience tough life circumstances that lead them to support programs. Thus, the website is not used frequently. Occasionally, the Virtual Career Center is mentioned in webinars and workshops, but most users are never informed of its existence. If online resources are shared, they are sent to through email.
I tailored most of my interview questions to be centered around the users’ experience using the Virtual Career Center. However, it was quickly brought to my attention that many of the women we interviewed did not actually use the Virtual Career Center despite their engagement with other DFSWDC resources. Many of the resources on the Virtual Career Center are not presented clearly and are inaccessible. They often lack enough detail to be helpful to users. These are often replaced with career coaches so users can receive individualized support. Some users who accessed in-person DFSWDC resources in the past are now unable to because of obstacles such as location and disabilities, and they indicated a desire for the online resources to be as helpful as the in-person ones.
“I didn’t utilize that part [Virtual Career Center]. Because I was already in a program that took care of all that”
Participant 2
“I had no clue they even had one [a website]. The virtual offerings are not well done”
Participant 3
Key Finding #3: In-person/synchronous resources and interactions leave users feeling positive emotions.
DFSWDC clients who have received help from staff, volunteers, and coaches expressed the positive impact it has had on them. Most of these feelings are attributed to the interactions and support they get outside the VCC or website. Clients especially feel like the volunteers genuinely care about them and their path to success.
Out of all the resources available, clothing and styling resources were brought up most often when recalling the most impactful support they received. These services were mentioned by 7 out of the 8 people I interviewed.
During these conversations, many mentions of empowerment and support came up.
“They were very empowering, so no, they make the jitters go away. They were very great to work with”
Participant 5
“I felt pretty again, I felt like a woman again... very empowered that I can take on the world, so I can say that has stayed with me”
Participant 5
“You might not see them again, so for them to ask you to let them know you got the job or when you have another job interview... it’s very, very heartwarming”
Participant 2