The beginning of my third year as a freelancer (April 2020) started with a thick fog looming over me. Lockdown, pandemic, homeschooling became a synonym of my work break. I felt a lot of uncertainty around and looking for prospective clients and projects to commence involved more planning than it would require before. I had an urge to continue working in these unusual circumstances but my time allocated to design and development shrunk.

Given the background and doubts around taking on new work commitments, I was very excited when Eriol Fox shared with me a link to a web design and development opportunity for HURIDOCS. Lauren and Friedhelm from the mentioned NGO accepted my proposal, and we embarked on our journey in July 2020.

The project involved a stakeholder workshop and mapping, user research, experience and interface design, WordPress development and documentation. Throughout this time, I learned new ways of navigating through a multi-layered piece of work. It was an exceptional experience providing my services to HURIDOCS. Their patience, openmindedness and dedication were encouraging me to do my best and make sure the product I deliver meets their (and mine) expectations.

HURIDOCS put a massive emphasis on user-centric design. The user research phase was a significant part of the entire project, and the consecutive stages depended on it. Once we defined and mapped the stakeholders, we introduced a user researcher to the team to help us determine the user needs and set a direction for the next phases. When looking for a researcher, I turned to Eriol for recommendations. I value their expertise highly because Eriol is an excellent designer and speaker and has experience working for open-source companies. They connected me with Praiz UX, who has an impressive UX portfolio. She conducted user interviews and gave us recommendations, focusing on user needs. Her report was guiding me through wireframing, designing and development.

The experience design was very comprehensive. However, looking back, I’m pleased we took the time to refine layout, details and content during that stage. Concentrating on the user experience phases has undeniably a positive impact on interface design and development.

I built the site in WordPress, creating a child theme of the Air Light theme. We chose it as our foundation because it’s lightweight, designed to meet accessibility needs, easy to customise and add additional pieces of functionality. I might have said it on some other occasion earlier, but no matter how many custom WordPress themes I’ve developed, there is always a challenging component that makes the project unique.

The launch of the site earlier this week was an emotional moment for me. We’ve successfully finished the process of a website redesign. I have also realised that I completed a project I have always wanted to. I have always aspired to have more clients from the nonprofit sector because it’s close to my heart. And when I can put my heart into a project, it feels me with joy and makes me proud. Thank you, HURIDOCS, for giving me the opportunity to work with you.

You can read the website launch blog post on the HURIDOCS website.

If you have any comments or would like to work with me, please get in touch!