Plavio Uganda
Project Year
2024
Client
HoneOkello Augustine Kezzy-Founder
Industry
NGO Uganda Africa
Project Year
2024
WebSite
www.planforthevillages.org
Client
HoneOkello Augustine Kezzy-Founder
Industry
NGO Uganda Africa
My Role
Plavio Uganda is a Christian NGO based in Lira City, Uganda, dedicated to transforming lives through spiritual growth, education, economic empowerment, gender equality, climate resilience, and community development. With programs that span vocational training for women, psychosocial support for the elderly, and discipleship projects grounded in storytelling, Plavio’s work impacts thousands across Northern Uganda.
As a volunteer UX/UI designer, I redesigned their website using Figma with a clear mission: the goal of this redesign was to create a human-centered, mobile-first experience that makes it easy for donors, partners, and local communities to understand the NGO’s mission and take meaningful action.
My Responsibilities
This was a self-initiated volunteer project, and my responsibilities covered the full scope of the design process:
- UX/UI Design: I restructured the website to be intuitive and mobile-friendly, ensuring it worked even in low-bandwidth areas.
- Content Architecture: Organized vast information about programs, leadership, and impact into digestible sections with clear navigation.
- Visual Identity: I created custom visuals with Leonardo AI to reflect Ugandan culture, community life, and dignity.
- Web Strategy: Advised on how to position Plavio’s impact for donors and potential partners, emphasizing transparency and human-centered narratives.
The Challenge
Visual Storytelling
The Challenge
Visual Storytelling
Plavio’s old website had valuable information but lacked coherence, structure, and modern appeal. Key challenges included:
- Overwhelming text-heavy content: With no clear hierarchy, users struggled to understand the organization’s impact.
- Lack of visual storytelling: The site had few emotional cues to help users connect to the mission or feel compelled to support.
- Unclear call-to-actions: Visitors weren’t guided toward donating, volunteering, or contacting the team.
- Limited usability: The design was not optimized for mobile, a major limitation considering many users in Uganda access the internet via phones.
My challenge was to create a visual language and user journey that felt both professional and approachable, deeply rooted in African identity and spiritual purpose.
As part of the visual revitalization, I recognized that Plavio Uganda’s existing photo assets didn’t fully capture the spiritual and cultural vibrance of their mission. To enhance the emotional tone of the site and bridge visual gaps where photography was limited, I generated a suite of bespoke illustrations using Leonardo AI.
User Research & Personas
Working within the constraints of a remote volunteer collaboration with limited access to on-the-ground users, I employed a hybrid research approach combining AI-assisted persona creation with in-depth conversations with Plavio Uganda’s founder. Together we identified three key audience groups: potential international donors and partners, local community members in Northern Uganda, and faith-driven supporters who want to walk alongside Plavio’s mission.
Using these insights, I created three lean personas that captured their goals and constraints—such as needing transparency about where donations go, mobile-first access in low-bandwidth contexts, and simple ways to contact the team. These personas guided decisions around navigation, content hierarchy, and the tone of calls to action.
High-Fidelity Wireframes
Once the structure and personas were defined, I translated the new architecture into high‑fidelity wireframes in Figma, focusing on clarity and mobile‑first layouts. The homepage and program pages use a consistent grid and clear calls to action so users can scan quickly and move naturally toward donating, partnering, or getting in touch.
The Design That Delivered
What made this redesign stand out was its alignment with the spirit of the NGO while delivering a modern, scalable, and emotionally resonant experience.
The new structure allows first-time visitors to understand who Plavio is and how to support them within a few seconds.
Key reasons for its success:
- Volunteer-Driven Authenticity: As a designer volunteering time and skill, I brought passion and respect to the work—ensuring the redesign was grounded in empathy, not just efficiency.
- Cultural Sensitivity: The content and visuals reflect the real lives of Ugandan women, youth, and leaders—not generic NGO tropes.
- Strategic Clarity: Every design choice, from typography to navigation, aimed to make Plavio’s powerful work more visible and actionable.
- Scalability: The modular design allows the NGO to update content or expand its program pages easily as new initiatives emerge.