They gave because they believed in the museum.
Donors were motivated by the museum’s mission and wanted to help sustain its programs and experiences.
Case study · Website
Eric Carle Museum
Redesigning the donation experience around the needs of museum donors.
01 · Project at a glance
Focusing on the donor experience.
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art wanted to improve its digital experience for an important audience: donors. Over four weeks, our team researched donor behaviors and motivations, identified gaps in the existing online experience, and explored ways to make supporting the museum feel more personal, transparent, and connected to its mission.
02 · The challenge
Refocusing around donors.
We initially approached the project as a broader museum website redesign, but once our assigned audience shifted to donors, the problem changed. We needed to understand what motivated donors, where the online process created friction, and how the site could better communicate the impact of their support.
03 · My role
Research through prototype testing.
As a UX Designer on the team, I contributed across user research, synthesis, concept development, information architecture, wireframing, prototyping, and usability testing. I worked with the team to translate donor needs into a redesigned support and donation experience.
User research
Research synthesis
Information architecture
Wireframing
Prototyping
Usability testing
04 · Understanding donors
What donors needed from the experience.
Research helped us understand why people supported the museum and where the digital experience fell short.
Giving online wasn’t the preferred experience.
Many participants donated in person or by mail. Those who had donated online described the process as frustrating or impersonal.
They wanted to see what their support made possible.
Donors cared about the programs they were helping fund and wanted more transparency around how contributions were used.
65%of museum revenue came from fundraising
$341Kraised through the Annual Fund in 2017
2 in 3donors gave modest amounts
Source: Eric Carle Museum Director of Development
05 · Defining the donor experience
From donor needs to design principles.
We used the research to define Carol, an enthusiastic museum supporter who values the museum’s educational mission but wants a more personal and transparent way to contribute.
Carol
The enthusiastic museum supporter
Motivations
- Support arts and educational programming
- Help sustain a museum she believes in
- Understand how her contributions make a difference
Frustrations
- The online donation process feels impersonal
- Limited visibility into where donations go
- Difficulty finding information about programs and events
Mapping Carol’s experience revealed a sharp contrast between the emotional connection she felt at the museum and the experience of donating online.
Opportunity: Carry the sense of connection donors felt at the museum into the digital donation experience.
These findings became four principles that guided the concepts that followed.
Make it personal
Connect giving to the people, programs, and experiences donors care about.
Be transparent
Help donors understand how contributions are used.
Strengthen the connection
Make giving feel like an ongoing relationship with the museum rather than a one-time transaction.
Show the impact
Demonstrate what donor support makes possible through programs, stories, and outcomes.
06 · Exploring the experience
Exploring the giving experience.
We explored how the support experience could connect donors to the museum’s mission before, during, and after a contribution.
07 · Testing & refinement
Testing and refining the flow.
We tested whether donors could find the support experience, understand the available ways to contribute, and move through the flow with confidence. Feedback helped us clarify hierarchy and calls to action.
Give donation a stronger entry point
We separated donating from membership and made the primary path easier to recognize without hiding other ways to support the museum.
Add context before asking for money
We brought mission, fundraising context, and supported programs closer to the donation entry point so donors could understand why their support mattered.
Make support easier to follow over time
We explored sponsorship history, program progress, and contribution visibility to reinforce transparency after a donation was made.
08 · Final experience
Bringing the experience together.
The final prototype brought the strongest ideas together into one experience: explain why support matters, give donors flexible ways to contribute, and create more visibility into the programs their support makes possible.
Prototype walkthrough
See the full experience in sequence.
The walkthrough shows how the redesigned support and donation experience comes together from entry point through contribution and continued engagement.
09 · Reflection
Designing for the right audience.
We began with a broad museum experience, but focusing on donors revealed that the challenge was not simply making a transaction easier. The digital experience needed to reinforce donors’ existing connection to the museum, show the impact of their support, and make giving feel more trustworthy and meaningful.