![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.qgiv.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Cristina-01.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nCristina Ordaz is a Senior UI\/UX Designer at Qgiv. She’s a member of the Fundraising Team and works to enhance the fundraising and donor experience across Qgiv products, challenging assumptions and championing users every step of the way.<\/em> Christina used three different phases of research to jumpstart the new forms\u2019 design. First, she did more \u201cacademic\u201d research\u2014she attended lots of webinars and read research from other companies that work closely with nonprofits to market their missions and encourage donations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, Christina conducted interviews with 5 different donors. She focused on their mindsets and preferences while they donated, but she also worked hard to understand their mindsets throughout the donation processes. \u201cI really wanted this to be an opportunity to build empathy with them,\u201d she said, and explained that being able to understand donors\u2019 thought processes is an important part of the design process.<\/p>\n\n\n Lastly, Cristina and her team conducted user testing with 10 different donors of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. Each donor received a credit card and a scenario to guide them through making a donation. 5 of them were on desktop computers and five were on mobile devices. Cristina didn\u2019t guide them through the donation process\u2014she just observed them as they interacted with Qgiv forms. The notes she took about their reactions, preferences, and sticking points played heavily into the final design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donors had some similar feedback about the forms they used to give online. They found the forms \u201clong and busy,\u201d even when the number of fields on the forms were kept to a minimum. \u201cThe forms asked for too much information,\u201d Cristina explained. That feedback resulted in some small but important changes in the new forms, including updates to the list of fields that were automatically included on legacy forms. Even small changes, like not automatically including a special field for the donor\u2019s title, can make a big difference!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cristina explained that though much of the feedback she received during her research was expected, she learned a lot from watching donors interact with the forms. \u201cWhat\u2019s great about user testing is that you watch people struggle with the small things that you didn’t expect to be challenging. You can then make little changes that have a big impact,\u201d she said. She noted that some of the small details donors found difficult included the date picker donors use to set start and end dates for recurring donations and the process of applying promo codes to event registrations. Donors\u2019 reactions to everything\u2014even choosing a date or applying a promo code to a transaction\u2014informed the new design.<\/p>\n\n\n Cristina mentioned that she interviewed an elderly woman who had previously donated to her granddaughter\u2019s peer-to-peer fundraising page. The donor mentioned that she actually preferred to give online, which Cristina found surprising\u2014our Generational Giving Report<\/a> found that the majority of donors in her age group prefer to give by personal check! This just goes to remind us that while we can make general conclusions about donor preferences, donors are individuals with their own unique habits! Cristina also mentioned that another donor felt safer giving online than she did when giving other ways. To her, processing a gift online felt much safer than, say, giving her credit card information to nonprofit staff over the phone or through the mail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cristina was also surprised by some of the things that inspired donors to give in the first place. \u201cOne girl said she was sitting on her couch working on her budget, and she realized she had a little extra room in her budget that month,\u201d Cristina explained. \u201cShe was sitting in her living room with her dog. It was snowing, and she was thinking about how if she hadn’t adopted her dog, he could be out in the cold and the snow.\u201d That thought inspired the donor to go online and make a gift to the local animal shelter. The donor didn\u2019t respond directly to an appeal or a call to action\u2014she was moved to give by her circumstances. Anything can inspire a donor to give!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c’Chunking’ actually comes from psychology!\u201d Christina explained. It\u2019s a way to take a large thing or process and break it into smaller, more manageable \u201cchunks.\u201d It makes processing information easier, which reduces the mental load a person has to manage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why new Qgiv forms offer a multistep layout option that separates different parts of the donation process into their own \u201cchunks.” If you have a donation form with a few custom fields on it, consider trying the multistep layout.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cThis makes something feel less complicated, and sometimes that\u2019s even more important than it actually being<\/em> less complicated,\u201d Cristina explained. When the donation process is divided into chunks, donors perceive the giving process as being less complex\u2026 even if the process is exactly the same as it was when it was all on one page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFriction is basically anything that keeps a donor from finishing their gift,\u201d Cristina explained. \u201cAnd there are lots of different kinds of friction!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the kinds of friction tackled by the new forms is device friction. Cristina explained that the new forms were designed intentionally to make donating on any device as simple as possible. \u201cWe don\u2019t see as much conversion on mobile, but we know the traffic is there,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of opportunity there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2019, half of all nonprofit website visits came from users on mobile devices (up 11% from 2018)! Between mobile + tablet, that\u2019s almost 60% of traffic! Making the most of that opportunity was at the forefront of the form redesign, and the new forms were built specifically to capitalize on all the traffic to mobile forms with thoughtful touches like finger-friendly touch targets (i.e.\u00a0look<\/em>\u00a0bigger and clickable area is expanded and optimized for fingers) and bigger, clearer, more legible text and headings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other kinds of friction, like field friction (too many fields intimidated and overwhelmed donors) and decision friction (too many options, like lots of restrictions, many different recurring options, dedication options, etc.) are also addressed in the new design. Cristina and her team used chunking and other design updates to reduce friction points and make forms less overwhelming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen we talk about anxiety, it\u2019s more of a subconscious anxiety,\u201d Cristina explains. \u201cDonor anxiety happens when a donor has unanswered questions.\u201d That\u2019s why it was so important to Cristina and her team to interview donors and watch them go through the donation process! Understanding what caused donors\u2019 subconscious anxiety helped the team make small design changes to answer their questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One example came up when donors made recurring gifts. \u201cDonors wanted to know, \u2018Can I cancel if I need to?\u2019\u201d Cristina explained, \u201cSo we added a tiny bit of text saying donors could cancel their gift any time.\u201d She also explained that some people encountered unanswered questions when they were asked if they\u2019d like to add a little to their gift amount to cover processing costs. \u201cThey wanted to know, \u2018What does cover costs mean?\u2019 So we added some tool tips that help explain it.\u201d Those tool tips are a way to answer questions without adding lots of extra text to the form, which can intimidate donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cristina said that another area that prompts lots of unanswered questions for donors is the personal information section. \u201cThere are lots of questions there. Why do you need my phone number? Will you call me? Is my credit card information safe?\u201d She and her team spent a lot of time focusing on the personal and payment information sections to make donors feel safe. They also intentionally added small bits of text to the form to let donors know what to expect, like a small note that says \u201cWe use your email address to send you your receipt!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One important change to the new form design is the widget to add a footer to the landing page. The footer is a valuable place to add trust indicators that answer donors\u2019 subconscious questions about the organization\u2019s legitimacy. \u201cOne big question donors have is about the organization itself. \u2018Is this a legitimate organization? Will they use my money well? Can I trust them?\u2019\u201d Cristina said. \u201cAdding information to your form that makes donors feel like you\u2019re trustworthy is important. Even something as simple as adding a phone number can make a big difference.\u201d The new footer widget is a valuable way to display your organization\u2019s contact information, 501(c)(3) information, and other trust indicators that show donors you\u2019re a legitimate organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was the hardest question for Cristina to answer! After some thought, though, she came up with two really great answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cristina\u2019s first answer boiled down to the cosmetic changes to the form style. \u201cI like looking at pretty things,\u201d she said, \u201cAnd it\u2019s so nice to look at! It\u2019s like a breath of fresh air.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other feature Cristina\u2019s especially excited about is the stronger defaults for new forms. \u201cSome organizations don\u2019t have time to sit down and build a whole new form right away,\u201d she said. \u201cThese forms will be stronger right away.\u201d Some of the stronger defaults she mentioned are simple, like excluding some personal fields to adapt to changing best practices. Displaying the \u201cTitle\u201d field, for example, used to be best practice but isn\u2019t any more. That field is now hidden by default (though you can always turn it on if you need it). Another new default is the \u201cupgrade nudge\u201d that asks donors to consider making a recurring gift, which is a strong way to connect with donors while they\u2019re already feeling great about supporting your organization.<\/p>\n\n\n Interested in using new forms? If you\u2019re already using Qgiv, send us an email at support@qgiv.com<\/a>! We can answer your questions and talk to you about how to upgrade existing forms or build new ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her career has spanned a variety of design roles with a growing focus in user research and product design. She brings an extensive background in usability and visual design to her current role, and never gets tired of creating interfaces that are beautiful and easy to use.<\/em>
Cristina also enjoys reading, table-top gaming, and talking about her cats. Yes, she will judge a book by its cover.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nFirst, what kind of research went into designing the new forms?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.qgiv.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Impact-Statement-with-Picture.jpg\")
What did we discover about donors\u2019 pain points while they give online?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Was Cristina surprised by any donor feedback or preferences?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
When Cristina started building the new forms\u2019 layout, she used a concept known as \u201cchunking\u201d to make it easier to give. But what IS chunking? And why is it important?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.qgiv.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/LFPMulti.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nOne of the biggest goals for the form redesign is to \u201creduce friction\u201d for donors. But what does that really mean?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
We talk about using design choices to \u201creduce anxiety\u201d for donors. Are donors actually anxious when they give?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What other changes will help answer donors’ questions?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
After months of research, interviews, and development, what changes does Cristina find most exciting?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.qgiv.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Recurring-nudge.jpg\")
New forms are coming soon\u2014keep an eye out for updates!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n