Our mission is to connect children with autism through unique tennis programs, and to develop and advance proven methods to positively impact the children, families and communities we serve.
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The Challenge
Design and create the new ACEing Autism website by utilizing the design thinking principles.
As a UX Designer, I was tasked with created a brand new, mobile friendly website for the ACEing Autism organization. I talked with Program Directors, volunteers, and staff members to learn about the brand and designed a website that is unique to the voice of the organization. As the lead designer, I mocked up wireframes and lead a small team through the entire design thinking process. The website had its successful launch in September 2019.
Clinics to Conversations
I had the pleasure of attending the annual tennis event at the US Open in Flushing Meadows, NY. I stepped back and observed the clinic; from the standard sign in process to the unique tennis curriculum supervised by volunteers and lead by Program Directors. Afterwards, I spoke with them about the program and collected insights on their methodologies; techniques each Program Director implements on the tennis court.
"It's always smiles and laughter on the court."
- Sue Hites
Program Director Atlanta, GA
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Each child is paired with a volunteer based on their individual needs. Each event must have the appropriate volunteer to participant ratios.
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The goal of the program is to increase their social skills through taking turns, working in teams, and following instructions.
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Program exercises must accommodate a child's needs and must remain flexible.
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Parent register their child online and sign them in before every clinic. They are encouraged to stay and watch from the viewing area.
"Our daughter has gone from a kid who couldn't focus, bolted all over the
place and put the clay from the courts in her mouth to a kid who loves coming to
tennis, follows the flow of the clinic like a champ and has a killer forehand volley."
- Mira Spiegel
Parent and Board Member
"Exercise is so important for kids on the spectrum, and after a session she’s always happier and stimming less. She met new people and she talks about them dearly."
- Bianca R.
Parent from Flushing, NY
Building Trust
After gaining some insight, I created a sitemap for the website. My primary focus was an easy to navigate design with a simple user flow that gives parents full transparency about the organization. My goal was to evoke the parents’ confidence and to reassure them that their child will receive the proper care and attention during the entire tennis clinic.
Navigation
Primary navigation focuses on the main pillars of the organization and encourages users to learn more about the program before registering their child. Clinic information, parent resources, and ACEing Autism's history and family are all available to the user.
Resources
Forms, instructions, outbound links to helpful articles, and recognition from organizations and other nonprofits are prominent throughout the website. This helps reinforce ACEing Autism's continued commitment toward excellence.
Volunteers
Video testimonials and shared stories by our volunteers regarding the impact of their work energizes the parents to take action. Volunteers and Program Directors also have quick access to resources and a direct line to the main office so they always feel supported.
Programs
Tennis programs are in three categories; school-based, community, and adult. This allows for easy recognition and quick sign up. Upcoming events and local tennis clinics are listed in the program directory on the locations page.
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The Brand & Wireframes
Working alongside various departments, I created a brand guideline that would heavily influence my design for the website. With the sitemap completed and the brand guideline as my tool, I began to wireframe the website. My objective is to represent ACEing Autism as the premiere tennis clinic in the country for children with autism spectrum disorder.
The video above show some early designs of the website. Coordinating the same blue and white color scheme as the brand guideline, the focus is simplicity that invokes friendliness by making our participants and volunteers the center of attention.
Collecting initial feedback from the staff at ACEing Autism, I continued to iterate on the website. The PDF document below are more examples of my early designs.
Working in an agile environment, I would coordinate weekly meetings with the ACEing Autism team. After each meeting, I mock up wireframe annotations and send them to the development team. The task for this webpage is to have users sign up and register for a program. After initial testing, "register your child" required more visibility and higher click-rate. The ACEing Autism team preferred the look and feel but felt that it was too hidden. My suggestions to add an extra slide and move the programs tab to the second spot on the primary navigation dramatically increased awareness to the page.
Conclusion & Launch
We had our successful launch of the website in September 2019. The ACEing Autism staff treasured the updated brand and mobile friendly interface of the new website. I continued to stay on with the team offering to do freelance work and continual iterations to the website. Today, ACEing Autism continues to carry on its mission for children with autism to grow, develop and benefit from social connections and fitness through affordable tennis programming, uniquely serving individual needs while filling a national void for this growing and worthy population.
