We initiated research by conducting a comparative analysis between four additional organizations that issue grants to scientific institutions (Grants.gov, NIH.gov, AASCU.org, GrantForward.com).

The biggest takeaway was that all of these organizations had a login, where users would build and access their profile before applying for a grant, something that NSF.gov currently does not have.

We narrowed down the biggest opportunities to improve the original NSF website through a heuristic evaluation:

• Recognition vs Recall - Top of homepage needs to present functions that are the highest priority for users

• Flexibility and Ease of Use - Poor navigation for core actions

• Aesthetic and Minimal Design - Incorrect image placement causes confusion and inconsistent text creates poor information hierarchy

After conducting a heuristic evaluation and determining the need for reorganization of information architecture, we conducted a hybrid card sort with 13 individuals to understand how people categorize grant information.

We conducted 5 interviews with industry professionals in order to adequately gauge user behaviors, one of which was an active NSF Postdoctoral Fellow.

Our objective:

To understand decision-making behaviors when interviewees are seeking funding, applying for grants, and to gauge their trust when applying for grants on a mobile website.

Affinity mapping helped me understand behaviors and trends in user interviews in order to identify key takeaways:

• Users feel reluctant to search for grants through NSF on mobile, due to the overwhelming information displayed

• Users would prefer to search on mobile and submit on desktop

• Users need to feel safe when uploading important application documents

• Users need to stay organized as they keep track of several components before submitting an application

After synthesizing the data collected from user interviews through affinity mapping and how-might-we statements, we consolidated key demographics, needs, and behaviors to create a persona named Constantine Abel.

Keeping Constantine’s needs and frustrations in mind was essential to developing a successful design solution for the NSF.

We transformed final ideation sketches into low-fidelity wireframes using Figma.

Key elements:

• Login feature at the top right corner

• Action buttons on the home page for most common tasks

• Iconography to reduce cognitive overload

• Faceted navigation

• User profile

After finalizing all low-fidelity wireframes, we prototyped while keeping in mind a user task flow that takes you from the home page to the user profile in the process of finding and saving a grant.

We conducted 5 usability tests and provided users with a scenario based on Constantine’s needs in order to address potential issues with our design solution or newly organized information architecture.

Task: Save a grant in Geosciences based on the Arctic to your profile and navigate to your profile to start the application for that saved grant.

Objective: User will be able to search, save, and start the process of applying for a grant within the experience of one website within 4 minutes and with less than 2 errors.

Results from usability tests indicated:

• Missing actions/buttons on a few wireframes

• Opportunities for more intuitive button placement

• Login at start of prototype was attempted

Usability testing helped strengthen our final design iterations by:

• Adding “back” navigation buttons across the entire prototype

• Making login at the home page actionable

• Emphasizing text and other CTA’s for more intuitive use