Mo Seifeldein - City Council

Mo Seifeldein - City Council

Mo Seifeldein is a Sudanese-American attorney looking to give back to his community by means of representation at the Alexandria, Virginia City Council.

Role

Lead Designer - User Experience, Branding

Team

1 Designer, 2 Developers, 1 Manager

Challenge

Developing a user-friendly, responsive, and engaging website for Mo Seifeldein's city council campaign presents the challenge of effectively informing visitors about Mo's background, ambitions, and platform. Additionally, the website needs to streamline donation processes and encourage volunteer sign-ups to maximize voter support and campaign success.

Outcome

$15,000 in online donations.

84% user interaction rate.

20 volunteers in the first month from site visitors.

BIGGEST WIN!!! Successful campaign leading to Mo’s historic election as the first Muslim-American elected to serve in the Alexandria City Council.

Discovery

Meeting Alexandrians

In our efforts to understand our community's needs, we couldn't rely on traditional research methods due to budget constraints. Instead, we took a grassroots approach. We talked directly to residents, Mo Seifeldein supporters, and potential voters through interviews and community events. We also reached out online to gather feedback. This hands-on approach helped us truly connect with our community and learn what mattered most to them.

Key Insights

Desire for Accessibility: 4 out of 5 interviewees expressed a strong desire for easy access to information about Mo Seifeldein's background, campaign platform, and upcoming events.
Concerns about Community Issues: 5 out of 5 interviewees raised various concerns about local community issues such as transportation, affordable housing, and environmental sustainability.
Engagement and Involvement: 4 out of 5 interviewees expressed a willingness to support Mo Seifeldein's campaign through volunteering, donating, or spreading the word to their networks.

Alexandrian Personas

At this stage, we've gathered abundant and invaluable insights into the perspectives of Alexandria's residents. Understanding their hopes, concerns, and aspirations, led us to create personas to better serve as a guide for further developing our campaign strategy authentically.

Competitive Analysis

As part of our discovery process, we conducted a thorough analysis of existing websites and campaigns within the political landscape. This involved reviewing websites of other city council candidates, as well as political campaigns at local, regional, and national levels. Through this analysis, we aimed to identify trends, best practices, and areas for differentiation to inform the design and strategy of Mo Seifeldein's campaign website.

Key Findings:

Design Trends: We observed a trend towards clean and modern website designs, with an emphasis on visual appeal and user-friendly navigation.
Content Strategy: Successful campaigns prioritized clear and concise messaging, prominently featuring candidate backgrounds, key campaign issues, and calls to action.
Engagement Tools: Many websites incorporated interactive features such as donation forms, event calendars, and volunteer sign-up forms to encourage user engagement.
Accessibility and Inclusivity: Several campaigns demonstrated a commitment to accessibility by providing multilingual content, ADA compliance, and options for users with disabilities.
Social Media Integration: Integration with social media platforms was common, allowing campaigns to extend their reach and engage with audiences across various channels.

Implications for Mo Seifeldein's Campaign:

Our analysis highlights the importance of a visually appealing and user-friendly website design that effectively communicates Mo's background, campaign platform, and calls to action.
We will prioritize accessibility features to ensure inclusivity and compliance with ADA guidelines.
Integration with social media platforms will be explored to enhance campaign reach and engagement.

By conducting a comprehensive competitive analysis, we gained valuable insights into industry trends and best practices, which will inform the design and strategy of Mo Seifeldein's campaign website, setting us apart in the political landscape.

Ideation

During this phase, our primary focus was on designing the website to effectively inform visitors about Mo Seifeldein's background, ambitions, and plans for Alexandria. We strategically placed emphasis on sections highlighting Mo's biography, his vision for the city, and his proposed plans for addressing key issues. Through user-centric layout and strategic content placement, we aimed to engage visitors and build momentum towards campaign contributions.

By prominently featuring donation calls-to-action in strategic locations such as the header, body, and footer of the website, we encouraged visitors to contribute to Mo's campaign efforts and support his vision for a better Alexandria. Through iterative design and strategic placement of content elements, we sought to maximize user engagement and drive contributions towards Mo Seifeldein's city council campaign.

Mobile UI

For mobile users, we ensured seamless access to the contribute button by keeping it fixed at the top of the page, providing easy access to support Mo Seifeldein's campaign efforts regardless of screen size.

Navigation

To streamline navigation and consolidate information, we implemented tabbed sections under the Civic Affairs page. This allowed visitors to access diverse content categories within a single page, enhancing user experience by reducing the need for multi-page navigation while maintaining clarity and organization.

Result

Our creation of Mo Seifeldein's campaign website yielded exceptional results. Strategically placing donation calls-to-action significantly increased contributions, surpassing expectations. Implementing tabbed sections optimized navigation, enhancing user engagement. Furthermore, our commitment to accessibility ensured inclusivity for all users, emphasizing our dedication to reaching and serving diverse audiences throughout Mo Seifeldein's campaign.

    What We Learned
  
  Direct Interaction: Talking directly to people we met gave us real, honest insights into what they needed. It turned out to be a great way to understand their experiences and preferences, helping us make design choices that truly resonated with them.

Budget-friendly Innovation: Being mindful of our budget pushed us to think creatively and find clever, cost-effective solutions. We were able to deliver a powerful campaign without breaking the bank, showing that impactful design doesn’t always require a big budget.

Community Engagement: By connecting with the community directly, we made sure our design was on point and meaningful to them. This approach helped build a sense of connection and made the campaign more relevant to the people we aimed to reach.