XPRIZE CASE STUDY
Designing a modular system to democratize technology and innovation.
Xprize is a non-profit that partners with companies, such as Google, to design and implement million dollar prize competitions, crowdsourcing the solution to some of the world’s most pressing problems.
Experience Designer – Xprize, 2017
What we did
We created a modular design system and illustrated the product lifecycle – how the website could change throughout the phases of a Prize Competition. We researched frameworks that overlap with XPrize’s business to define a strategic product vision. In the end, the product functions as a participatory site that invites people to take action and join in whatever way they can, including joining a research team or giving in kind (e.g. donating parts).
The problem
People were not really visiting the site and weren’t returning. The site content was not engaging. Technological, corporate jargon alienated the average user and made things feel cold. Even though XPrize and competing teams produce timely content, much of their site was evergreen.
Casual fan persona
Design imperatives for the website redesign
Create an accessible experience
Design for the larger crowd and look for ways to minimize academic privilege to allow more people to shape the future of technology. Get people interested by telling the stories behind team innovation and impact.
Show people the impact of Xprize rather than telling them
Be relevant and show legitimacy through the success and scale of impact. Make it something people want to connect with through human stories. Highlight the teams and their process behind the scenes.
Form a personal connection and find ways to strengthen in person experiences
Involve people and get them excited to participate. Develop a long term relationship that extends to in-person interactions.
Homepage
Restructuring the company around causes that align with people’s interests
One of my larger UX contributions was suggesting to group competitions and information by interests like Space or the Ocean. Originally there was no real hierarchy, and no easy way for users to scan and find projects interesting to them.
We changed the taxonomy and navigation to be centered around 'Causes,' grouping the competitions into topics, which allowed people to explicitly customize the experience by following categories but also helped people contextualize competitions into larger scale objectives.
Navigation - recategorizing competitions into interests
Competition Detail Page
Take Action Drawer - Consistent button inviting people to participate in whatever way they can.
Creative Team
Creative Director – Dennis Steir
UX Director – Brandon Applefield
Art Director – Lani Choi
Sr. Experience Designer – Stephen Barros
Copywriter – Aja Gable
Experience Designer – Alex Stapleton
Visual Designer – Alex Fitzroy