UX Project Engagements
Student-Led Pro-Bono UX Work
At Prime, we believe that there is plenty of human-centered design work out there that needs be done. There's no need for making it up. Which is why we go straight to the source: real organizations with real users and real problems to solve! Our employer network loves knowing that projects completed at Prime were as real as they get—no "happy paths" or textbook-only experience here.
Typical project partners are…
- Entrepreneurs who are challenged to get to the next step in their design process (e.g., an MVP prototype for an RFP or investor pitch, or wireframes to share with a development team).
- Non-profits who have many rainy-day projects but not enough rainy days (or resources!) to work on them.
- Local companies with small teams looking to demonstrate the additional value that UX can bring to their approach.
Claim your spot!
Each pro-bono UX project opportunity runs 3-5 times every year.
Schedule an informational call with us today.
Available Projects
Usability Evaluation & Report
Student teams work on behalf of the partnering organization to construct and moderate a think-aloud usability test on their application or product with between 10-20 research participants.
Project Partner Requirements
- Share site/user goals, list of key tasks, and any areas of interest for testing
- Provide access to development/sandbox environment, if applicable
- Confirm project overview writeup
- Allow student work (e.g., process work, research insights, prototypes/designs) to be included in their online portfolios (written consent required upon scheduling).
Typical Student Deliverables
- Multi-page report detailing the research effort, learnings, and recommended actions
Prototyping Improvements to a Tool
The focus is on evaluating an existing tool with current users in their context-of-use (e.g., in their workplace, on-the-go) in order to identify opportunities for usability improvements as well as enhanced meaning for those users.
Project Partner Requirements
- Provide tool access (preferred) or a recorded video demo of key tasks being performed in the tool
- Schedule/Arrange sessions with 3 users
- Share the tool's design style guidelines and assets for temporary student use
- Allow student work (e.g., process work, research insights, prototypes/designs) to be included in their online portfolios (written consent required upon scheduling)
Typical Student Deliverables
An interactive prototype which demonstrates, explains, and rationalizes the improvements and adjustments made to the existing design
Designing & Prioritizing New Features
The focus is on rapid, iterative prototyping of new features for an existing application based on developer feedback, budgeted time constraints (ie. 400 development hours), and a user-value survey.
Project Partner Requirements
- Attend a kick-off meeting to share insights on how the application currently works (1-2 hrs)
- Provide a software developer who can engage in a live scoping activity (2 hrs)
- Provide access to 3-5 *pre-consenting* users who are willing to commit to completing an online survey with a 12 hour turnaround period
- Allow student work (e.g., process work, research insights, prototypes/designs) to be included in their online portfolios (Written consent required upon scheduling)
Typical Student Deliverables
Set of high-fidelity annotated wireframes and associated tech/implementation costs of each.
Multi-Touchpoint Design Strategy
Students leverage existing data and secondary research to propose a user-focused design strategy and a related system of touchpoints that engages the organization's users in a meaningful way that also meets their organizational goals.
- Share existing assets and research data (e.g. Google analytics, survey data, etc)
- Attend overview/kick-off presentation (1-2hrs)
- Attend retro meeting (Optional)
- Allow student work (e.g., process work, research insights, prototypes/designs) to be included in their online portfolios (Written consent required upon scheduling)
- Video presentation (8-10 min) of their strategy and how 'looks'
- PDFs of prototypes
- Implementation plan of how they would employ the strategy and measure the success of the tactics/methods over time
Team Client Project
Each cohort experience culminates in this project engagement, which is a good fit for clients who have a well-defined, robust area of research and prototyping for students to tackle.
A client presents a clearly defined problem area and proposed solution. A team of 3-5 students will work towards designing the solution, supported by secondary and primary user research.
- Introduce and discuss the importance of project focus area through kick-off meeting with the team
- Provide existing supporting documentation (if applicable) to guide research and design efforts
- Identify 4-5 pre-consenting research participants within each primary user group
- Participate in an interim project check-in with the team to answer key questions
- Attend final presentations
- Allow student work (e.g., process work, research insights, prototypes/designs) to be included in their online portfolios (Written consent required upon scheduling)
- Key research insights documentation
- Information architecture diagrams
- Interactive prototypes that demonstrate design intent
Not sure which to pick?
No problem! We can help determine if a pro-bono UX project could be a good fit for you.