Presidential Commission for Financial Aid
Illustrating the transformative power of financial aid through a parallax scrolling website.
The Presidential Commission on Financial Aid (PCFA) website was designed in partnership with the Digital Applied Learning & Innovation (DALI) Lab. Its goal is to educate Dartmouth alumni about financial aid and encourage donations to the Dartmouth College Fund.
Role
Lead Designer
Team
Tools
Duration
10-week sprint, January - March 2023
Dartmouth relies significantly on alumni donations to fund financial aid
However, many alumni are unaware of its pivotal role in shaping students' daily lives. The college has seen an increase in the number of students on financial aid since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Providing students with adequate aid is critical to making college access equitable and creating a more socioeconomically diverse community.
Website developed between the DALI Lab and PCFA
The Presidential Commission on Financial Aid (PCFA) partnered with the DALI Lab to create an interactive storytelling website to educate users about the importance of financial aid and encourage users to donate to the Dartmouth College Fund. This website centers around the story of one student to illustrate how contributions from donors would transform his Dartmouth experience.
Constructive feedback from client
At the beginning of the term, we met with our client to review the initial iterations and receive feedback. Their main concerns were:
Redesign goals
Inspiring
Present a more balanced narrative that showcases both the challenges and the positive impact of financial aid.
Broader impact
Provide examples to illustrate the effects of financial aid on students' lives and the overall Dartmouth ecosystem.
Understanding foundational challenges with the storyline
To understand the core challenges our clients had with the previous version of the product, we mapped the storyline to identify key areas for improvement. This process allowed us to visualize the narrative flow and pinpoint areas for redesign.
Synthesized research into user personas
Previous designers on this project conducted user interviews with alumni to better understand their perspectives. We synthesized these insights into two user personas.
Placing Tim's story within the context of Dartmouth
We created a new introduction section that better contextualizes Tim's story. This addition helps us achieve our second goal: better integrate Dartmouth's sense of community into this story. Despite users' different backgrounds, this introduction will help them find a sense of belonging through shared experiences. As the user scrolls, the photos and text slowly fade onto the screen.
To help users further empathize with Tim, we added screens describing his family.
This addition gives users a window into Tim's life, helping them better understand his financial situation. In this fictional narrative, both of his parents work full time jobs and take up extra shifts to pay for his college. Despite their best efforts, it isn't enough to cover the cost of Tim's education.
Emphasizing the positive
To connect with alumni from a wide variety of backgrounds, we created a section of the story called "The Dartmouth Experience" to showcase the array of opportunities accessible to students. We spent hours combing through Dartmouth's photo archives to find a diverse assortment of images.
Updated journey map after these changes
Final Solution
To view the final solution live, click the link here! An abridged version is shown below.
Introducing Dartmouth
Highlighting the diversity of stories and experiences at Dartmouth college.
Meet Tim
Users meet Tim, the protagonist of the story, and learn about his background and interests.
Family context
The story of Tim's family provides valuable context to his financial situation.
