seen + learned

Focusing on the future – website planning for the International Development Innovation Network

Posted: Monday, March 31, 2014 | Posted by Debby Levinson | Labels: , , , , , , , 0 comments

The International Development Innovation Network, led by MIT’s D-Lab, provides training and resources for innovators worldwide to create new processes and products that improve the lives of people in poverty. IDIN works from the ground up by serving local innovators; community members are most familiar with their own situation, and most motivated to improve it.

We helped the IDIN team organize and narrow down its goals for a new site by developing user scenarios with the team and mapping goals to specific audience needs. Through an interview with the program's sponsors at USAID, as well as a paper prototype review session with summit alumni, we gathered audience feedback on valuable features and expected usage, which provided further insights into how to structure the site and design key interactions.

Moving from audience and feature analysis into information architecture, we led a collaborative workshop with IDIN staff to map content and features into page types and a high-level site organization. This groundwork helped prepare IDIN for usability testing and a full site redesign.

Work included:

  • stakeholder and user interviews
  • user scenarios – based on real people and interactions
  • prototype development
  • site map
  • content inventory and planning
  • high-level wireframes

whiteboard noteswhiteboard notes
Whiteboard notes from content mapping session.

home page wireframe (mobile view)project page wireframe (desktop view)
Left: home page wireframe (mobile view). Right: project page wireframe (desktop view).