How to establish a community feeling post-donation

Abstract: The post-donation process has long lacked attention, and the majority of users experience little to no personal updates after donating. Studies regarding the subject often tend to focus on attracting donors and keeping them interested in the charity, but rarely does it seem like the researchers study possible solutions for the post-donation process. This thesis aims to do that and investigate how an alternative to the process can be presented. Additionally, the aim is to explore if it is possible for a community feeling to arise when using the prototype and if the sharing aspect affects the perception of being part of a community. The thesis was split up into several different phases based on a human-centered design method called the Double Diamond. In the beginning, a literature study and qualitative interviews were executed to understand the problem area further. These interviews brought forward intriguing aspects, such as that users enjoy seeing others sharing donation information but avoid doing so themselves. The project continued with brainstorming to bring forward ideas. These ideas were then visualized in prototypes, iterated, and tested with the help of users and usability experts. Finally, after four iterations, a concluding design proposal was presented, which envisioned an alternative to a donation process. From the usability tests, users expressed an appreciation for the prototype and that the concept delivered a new aspect to donating. The users also stated that some elements in the prototype conveyed a sense of community. These elements were primarily the ability to participate in donation groups and the comment sections within posts and groups. Regarding the sharing aspect, the users mentioned that if the alternatives to interact and share thoughts with other users were removed, the community feeling would decline. Therefore, it was concluded that sharing affects the perceived sense of a community and that a community feeling can be present in a donation service. A disclaimer is that these conclusions are made within the study and apply to the users participating, and it is not certain that they can be applied to others.