Designing a Conversational Onboarding Experience for an EdTech Non-Profit
Project details
We transformed a complicated enrollment process into an accessible, friendly chatbot for a children’s literacy nonprofit. From UX strategy to reusable design systems, we created an experience that’s intuitive, inclusive, and scalable for future tools.
Role: UX Designer
Team: 6 designers + 1 design lead
Type: Design
Services: UX Strategy, Conversational Design, Accessibility, Design Systems,
The Business Problem
The non-profit’s onboarding flow for parents was outdated, overwhelming, and difficult to navigate—especially for time-pressed caregivers. They needed a more human, accessible way to introduce new users to their mission and services, while reducing support load on staff.
Impact
Spearheaded the strategic design of the onboarding chatbot’s UX flow, drafting 80% of the main paths within 3 days
Initiated and led the creation of the project’s first full design system and component library, enabling consistency and easier developer handoff
Took ownership of low-fi interaction design and played a key role in UI direction and accessibility decisions that shaped the final prototype
Co-led usability testing and client demos, helping the team gather and apply feedback effectively despite technical hurdles
🔍 Strategic Planning
Created 80% of the intensive user flow diagram (two major flows) in 3 days.
Mapped screen logic, interactions, and decision points to lay the foundation for a scalable chatbot architecture.
✍️ Low-Fidelity UX + Design Decisions
Produced sketches and wireframes that defined micro-interactions, chatbot behavior, and structural layout.
Key interaction details: chatbot online status, nav bar, timestamps, feedback prompts, settings, and system notifications.
🔄 Collaborative Prototyping
Created a low-fi prototype mapped to the actual site environment for realism.
Facilitated team reviews and incorporated critique into each iteration.
🎨 Branding, UI & Design System
Built a design system and style guide from scratch: color, typography, iconography, and screen size specs.
Created a component library for chatbot UI including reusable elements like "Smartee Nudge" and "Welcome UI."
Advocated and implemented accessible gradients and UI treatments for better usability across audiences.
Component Library
Style Guide
Color Palette
Accessible color contrast testing
Final high fidelity user flows
📦 Final Handoff + Dev Documentation
Organized and redlined final components for development.
Finalized necessary user flows for efficient developer had-off.
Created a “How To Use” guide for future designers and developers to maintain the design system long-term.
Delivered an accessible onboarding chatbot flow and scalable branded UI system for the non-profit’s use.
Client Stakeholder
“This feels thoughtful, easy to use, and visually aligned with our mission—thank you.”
Hear from the team
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"Fantastic work on both the user story and user flow! I was pleasantly surprised by the level of detail in the diagram—it went beyond what I expected"
Design Manager
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"Thanks so much! You did an incredible job—really appreciate you keeping us on track and all the hard work you've put in. Super impressed with what the team's accomplished so far, and a huge part of that is thanks to you!"
Fellow UX Designer
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"You’re absolutely killing it! Your dedication and consistent updates are incredibly helpful and really boost my confidence in our project. Thanks so much for being so proactive!"
Fellow UX Designer