04 / Designing for a Healthcare Nonprofit

Project details

Canadian Nurses for Africa is a nonprofit that sends volunteer medical teams to rural Kenya to provide primary healthcare, education, and support. The organization needed a refreshed brand identity and a modern, responsive website that could better support donations, attract volunteers, and tell their story.

Challenge

The existing website and brand lacked clarity, usability, and emotional resonance. The visual identity was dated, and the site offered limited functionality for engaging users or driving action. There was no system in place to manage content updates or track engagement, and the donation process felt disconnected from the core mission.

Key UX problems:

• Outdated brand identity and inconsistent visuals
• Cluttered, text-heavy pages with no clear hierarchy or calls to action
• Non-optimized donation and volunteer sign-up flows
• Limited mobile support and accessibility issues
• No infrastructure for tracking engagement or connecting to outreach tools

Scope of Work

From discovery through design and delivery, I worked across all phases of the project to shape the user experience and visual identity. Responsibilities included facilitating stakeholder discovery sessions, developing the information architecture, designing a new brand system, and creating a responsive website.

Working directly with board members and volunteers to understand organizational needs and support key goals such as increasing donations, attracting volunteers, and communicating impact clearly and effectively, translating those insights into a full redesign.

Key UX Improvements

Streamlined Navigation & Information Architecture
Created a clear site structure that made it easy to learn about the organization, explore impact stories, and take action.

A New Visual Identity System
Updated logo, color palette, and typography to convey warmth, trust, and medical professionalism

Optimized for Donations and Volunteer Sign-Ups
Redesigned the donation and application workflows with fewer steps, better messaging, and stronger hierarchy to reduce friction and boost engagement.

Mobile-First, Accessible Design
Ensured the site was fully responsive and compliant with accessibility best practices, so users could engage from any device or ability.

Integrated Brand System
Developed a cohesive visual identity, including logo, typography, colour palette, and UI components—creating consistency and familiar visual language.

Enhanced Backend updates
‍Using a user-friendly CMS so that non-technical team members could easily manage blog articles that outline the organization daily impact.

Connected to Outreach Tools
Integrated newsletter sign-ups and automation, giving the team better ways to grow and manage their community of donors and volunteers.

Outcome

The redesign modernized the charity’s digital presence, increased donor trust, and helped volunteers and partners better understand the organization’s work. With a more strategic structure and system behind it, the new platform supports CNFA’s long-term goals: growing their reach, building stronger relationships, and delivering healthcare where it’s needed most