In 2019 Lloyds Bank Foundation set themselves the mission to make their grant application process as effective, engaging and efficient as possible. And utilise data, digital and storytelling to deliver value and impact to the organisations they support through:
- a new user led website that supports charities with checking eligibility before entering the lengthy application process
- a flexible site that brings their newly developed brand to life and demonstrates impact through real life stories and engaging statistics
- a digital experience that showcases the work they do and the services they offer as this grows overtime
The foundation has many inspirational, real-life stories to share. We wanted these to be front and centre for any organisation considering making a grant application.
Vicky Reeves, Digital Managing Director
We achieved this through:
- the delivery of user research , co-creations workshops, prototype development and testing to ensure our solution met the users and Lloyds objectives
- improved IA that delivers clear user journeys and will accommodate growing services and content
- an interactive eligibility process that uses data to deliver a more personalised experience
- putting case studies and impact at the heart of the site delivering them dynamically depending on user behaviour
- bringing the new brand to life across the site through engaging interactions
Understanding the key audiences and co-creation
Through user testing of the existing website and extensive interviews with users and stakeholders we developed personas and user journey flows and took these through to co-creation workshops with stakeholders focused on enhancing the user journeys and feature prioritisation.
Making eligibility easy and useful
Through the research the charities we interviewed talked about the frustration of lengthy application processes that they turned out not to be eligible for.
We created a step by step eligibility process that takes users on a clear journey whilst helping to ensure that they carefully consider each eligibility criteria. Should they not meet criteria then they are sign posted to resources across the site they may find useful.
It also allows Lloyds to deliver regionally specific messaging and collect key data of charities applying for grants to analyse which criteria are consistently not being met so that they have the opportunity to review and refine their criteria.
Showing impact through user interactions and storytelling
Throughout the site we signpost users to relevant content based on the journey they are taking with a focus on real life case studies from the charities in an engaging format.
We also encourage users to find out more about the impact Lloyds Bank foundation are making through an interactive map.
Information architecture that encourages engagement
Through our analysis of the existing site and the follow up research we identified that there was a lot of useful content being provided online that users were not interacting with because they did not know it was there.
We created a new information architecture that encourages browsing and increases discoverability through carefully considered signposting across the site and a main navigation that encourages browsing behaviour.
Bringing a vibrant new strategy and brand to life online
Right from the start the Foundation made it clear that they were looking for an agency to bring their new brand to life through cutting edge and innovative design, interactions, and animations.
We rose to the challenge, pitching vibrant new designs and user journeys that helped everyone visualise how exciting the new brand could look online.
These initial pitch designs eventually evolved into the prototype, making the transition into the creative and visual design stage all the more easier.
In order to ensure we got the best possible creative solution, the team continued to explore creative routes, bringing to life other elements of the exciting new brand, before working closely with the LBF team to ensure that the look and feel struck the right balance between form and function.
Through a flexible and collaborative approach we applied the final creative concepts across a range of key user journeys and templates, and across multiple devices, to ensure that the new website would enable the foundation’s mission, vision, values, and strategy to be clearly communicated through their work.
We developed the site using Umbraco 8 CMS and it integrates with SalesForce CRM.
