Changing lives with a digital community platform
Overview
Each year, 40,000 children in the UK lose a parent to illness. Elizabeth’s Smile is a new charity dedicated to supporting children with a terminally ill parent, before and after a parent’s death. They aim to do this by creating comprehensive support systems, backed by research and informed by experts and those with personal experience.
Elsewhen has helped Elizabeth’s Smile evolve their brand, website and digital community platform.
Highlights
- Creating a new brand and digital community platform that brings together a network of family and friends to support grieving children.
- Designing onboarding processes, flexible user journeys and a scalable UI for users of all ages, abilities and family structures.
- The challenge
- How to transform a big idea into a life-changing reality
Elizabeth’s Smile launched in 2022, creating a prototype of a digital platform for users without a clear brand or design identity, or web presence which made it difficult for potential users and supporters to engage with the organisation.
A core service of the charity is the Smile Network– a digital community platform, offering social connection for children, families and friends. The goal was to ensure that a wide support network stays in place for a child after the death of a parent.
The initial version of the platform needed significant improvement. After working on the brand and website to bring these to best-in-class standards, Elsewhen was asked to help progress the digital platform to a higher level.
Our Services
- Branding
- Product strategy
- User research
- Jobs To Be Done analysis
- Design for key user journeys
- Digital product design
- UX and UI design
- User testing
- Our strategic approach
- Fresh perspectives and expertise to better meet user needs
Elizabeth’s Smile and Elsewhen worked together to define and understand their audience, ranging from users of the services, to fundraising supporters, subject experts and wider influencers.
These insights were applied to create the brand identity and the new website. The goal was to develop a brand and web presence conveying compassion and warmth, along with the professionalism and trust of an innovative non-profit organisation.
We built on those insights to create a platform for connecting bereaved children with friends and family. It involved further product research to refine the strategic vision, and design to reimagine the experience based on user feedback.
- Our solution
- Making user journeys simpler and more intuitive
We spoke to experts who helped us understand the needs and sensitivities of bereaved users
Elsewhen hosted user feedback interviews and workshops to redefine the experience. Best practices from leading social networks were implemented, while maintaining the uniqueness of the Smile Network – a private community focused on supporting children.
The aim was to create a familiar yet innovative platform, preserving a grieving child's support network and providing a safe environment. The team prioritised accessibility, ensuring the platform suits users of all ages and abilities.
The approach included flexible onboarding and user journeys, accommodating diverse family structures. The team designed a scalable interface that's suitable for users from very young children to adults, avoiding the alienation of any user groups.
- The outcomes
- A new digital community with strong foundations
The new platform must meet the long-term needs of many different user types
With a new brand identity, website and platform Elizabeth’s Smile are equipped to continue on their mission of ensuring that every child has a childhood.
By providing a safe and supportive community and platform, Elizabeth Smile can now help children stay connected with their parents' friends and family, and provide them with access to resources and opportunities that can empower them to live fulfilling lives even after the difficult loss of a parent.
