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Landing Revamp
Redesigned Dev Launchers’ homepage to align with industry standards, clarify user pathways, and reduce bounce rate by 35% — all while showcasing our global impact and community-driven mission.
Client
Dev Launchers
Season
su24–ws24
Timeline
6 months
Tools and Software
Google Sheets
Miro
Google Docs
Google Forms
Figma
Google Suite
project overview
project context
Dev Launchers is a global, volunteer-led nonprofit helping aspiring technologists build real-world skills. As part of the 2024 strategic initiative, we undertook a full redesign of the homepage and core landing pages to address bounce rates, messaging clarity, and onboarding pathways for various stakeholders.
Constraints included a lean timeline, volunteer bandwidth, lack of prior user research artifacts, and outdated IA.
team + role
This project was a cross-functional effort that brought together a small but mighty volunteer team. We had two UX researchers, one research lead, three developers, one tech lead, and myself serving in a hybrid role as product manager, lead designer, and front-end developer. I led roadmap creation, facilitated design and dev alignment, and drove the full redesign effort from information architecture to final implementation. Collaborating closely with the tech lead and research team, I also translated insights into actionable design decisions and contributed directly to the codebase during the implementation phase.
challenges
Before the redesign, the homepage suffered from a high bounce rate, signaling that users weren’t finding what they needed or didn’t understand the organization’s value quickly enough. The messaging was unclear and overly generic, failing to communicate who Dev Launchers is, what we offer, or how users could get involved. The design system lacked accessibility consistency and visual coherence, and user journeys were either missing or fragmented — particularly for mentors, partners, and prospective members. Despite having a strong track record and global community, we provided little to no social proof, making it difficult for visitors to trust or engage with the platform.
goals
Our primary objective was to create clear, actionable pathways tailored to each of our core user types. We aimed to enhance credibility through a more professional visual hierarchy and improved information architecture. By incorporating impact metrics and testimonials, we sought to build trust and emphasize the organization's accomplishments. The redesign also needed to reflect our organizational maturity and align with upcoming growth. Ultimately, the goal was to increase engagement, particularly around newsletter signups, membership interest, and donation conversions.
outcomes
Within just one month of launch, the new homepage led to a 35% reduction in bounce rate, validating our design and content strategy. We saw a noticeable increase in newsletter signups and improved engagement with our “Join Us” CTA pathways. New visitors were able to self-identify more easily based on updated user segmentation, resulting in smoother onboarding and more relevant inquiries. Additionally, the redesigned site became a tool for organizational leadership — serving as a credible anchor for partnership conversations and external outreach.
status + reflection
project status
The redesigned homepage and core pages successfully launched in December 2024. Since then, the team has been monitoring performance and engagement while preparing for the next iteration. The project is currently paused pending rebranding alignment, data collection analysis, and design system component migrations.
Next Steps in the upcoming iteration will focus on:
Visual Enhancements: Updating assets to reflect our ongoing brand refresh
Data-Driven Refinements: Leveraging insights from Hotjar and Google Analytics to improve layout, content hierarchy, and user flow
Research Integration: Incorporating findings from user interviews and usability tests conducted on the previous version to validate and refine proposed improvements
reflection
This project reinforced my belief that good UX is equal parts clarity, empathy, and systems thinking. Redesigning a nonprofit’s first impression meant navigating limited time, variable availability, and an evolving brand voice. But by anchoring design in clarity and accessibility—and using data to guide our pivots—we created something that not only looks better, but works better for real users.
