Role: Experience Design Manager
What I owned: UX strategy, design system, website redesign, volunteer portal, eco-marketplace design
Focus: Volunteer retention, data-driven optimization, cross-functional design operations
Project type: Live product — NGO platform ecosystem
I started by mapping where things were breaking. The website wasn't converting — bounce rates were high and user flows didn't match how visitors actually navigated. Volunteers were dropping off after sign-up because there was no structured path from onboarding to contribution. And the eco-marketplace was still just a concept with no design direction. I used Google Analytics and Search Console data alongside community feedback sessions to identify the highest-impact problems across all three products.
Three patterns shaped the strategy. First, there was no shared design language — the website, portal, and marketplace concepts all looked and felt disconnected, which hurt trust and recognition. Second, volunteers didn't know what to do after joining; the gap between sign-up and first task was where most people disappeared. Third, the marketplace needed to feel credible from day one, which meant it couldn't launch looking like a separate product bolted onto the side.
These insights led to one foundational decision: build a design system first, then let it power everything. I established Viable's first component library with reusable patterns, spacing, typography, and color standards. From there, I ran co-creation sessions with volunteers, developers, and stakeholders to prioritize what to ship and in what order — website first for credibility, portal second for retention, marketplace third for growth.
I redesigned the Viable website using real user data — restructuring navigation, simplifying content hierarchy, and optimizing conversion paths based on how visitors actually moved through the site. The result was a cleaner, faster experience that aligned with the organization's brand and gave new visitors a clear reason to get involved. This became the public-facing proof point that everything else was built on.
For the volunteer portal, I rebuilt onboarding from the ground up. New members now follow a guided flow from sign-up to first contribution, with a personalized dashboard showing their team, active projects, and progress. I directed user research and community feedback loops to continuously refine the experience, scaling the portal into a cross-functional product that reduced drop-off and increased engagement across 60+ active volunteers.
The eco-marketplace was the most ambitious piece — the first Web3 platform in the Netherlands connecting sustainable products with blockchain-based verification. Because the design system was already in place, the marketplace inherited consistent interaction patterns and visual language without starting from scratch. I collaborated with development and marketing to ensure the product launched with the same level of quality and coherence as the rest of the ecosystem.
These shifts translated into measurable improvements:
Retention rate — active volunteers in 2025
Web3 eco-marketplace designed and launched in the Netherlands
Interconnected products shipped under one unified design system
Website conversions improved through data-informed redesign
