Overview
AidCircle is a crowdfunding platform helping people raise funds for medical emergencies, education, social causes, and more. In June 2025, they approached me to redesign their platform and create a self-service campaign creation system to replace their entirely manual process.
The Problem
The platform fails to build immediate trust and clarity for new users, both for donors and campaign creators. While emotionally positioned, it lacks the credibility, guidance, and functional transparency required for users to feel confident taking action.
Solution
I redesigned the platform to make impact immediately clear and trust inherently visible-introducing guided donation experiences, transparent verification systems, and self-service campaign creation that eliminates manual bottlenecks and scales the platform sustainably.
What was the impact?
01
190 qualified leads
10% conversion rate
02
1,900+ visitors
from zero digital presence
03
95% mobile traffic
validated mobile-first approach
Outcome
Design Process
Discovery
Understanding the Problem
I started with an in-depth discovery session with the AidCircle team and conducted a comprehensive audit of their existing platform.
Website Audit - Key Findings:
Home Page
Generic headline "Empowering communities, changing lives" lacks differentiation and specific value proposition
Passive "What We Do" CTA doesn't drive action—no clear path to donate or browse campaigns
Featured campaigns buried below fold with only 3 visible
Scrolling donation ticker cluttered, shows only "Anonymous donated ₹200" repeatedly—appears spammy
Ambiguous statistics: "230 Campaigns until now" unclear if active, completed, or total
Single testimonial with placeholder avatar provides weak social proof
7 navigation items with redundancy ("About Us" vs "Our Mission")
"Start a Campaign" CTA not visually differentiated
Decorative image collage at bottom serves no purpose or call-to-action
No clear user journey for first-time visitors
Missing unique selling point - Why should donors choose AidCircle over other platforms?
Buried call-to-action - Important information about what specific items are needed (Gud, Channe, etc.) is in the middle of long text
No prominent "How it works" - First-time visitors may not understand the process
Missing donor resources - No clear FAQ, donation FAQ, or help section visible
Campaign detail page
Generic headline "Empowering communities, changing lives" lacks differentiation and specific value proposition
Passive "What We Do" CTA doesn't drive action—no clear path to donate or browse campaigns
Featured campaigns buried below fold with only 3 visible
Scrolling donation ticker cluttered, shows only "Anonymous donated ₹200" repeatedly—appears spammy
Ambiguous statistics: "230 Campaigns until now" unclear if active, completed, or total
Single testimonial with placeholder avatar provides weak social proof
7 navigation items with redundancy ("About Us" vs "Our Mission")
"Start a Campaign" CTA not visually differentiated
Decorative image collage at bottom serves no purpose or call-to-action
No clear user journey for first-time visitors
Missing unique selling point - Why should donors choose AidCircle over other platforms?
Buried call-to-action - Important information about what specific items are needed (Gud, Channe, etc.) is in the middle of long text
No prominent "How it works" - First-time visitors may not understand the process
Missing donor resources - No clear FAQ, donation FAQ, or help section visible
Donation model
Generic headline "Empowering communities, changing lives" lacks differentiation and specific value proposition
Passive "What We Do" CTA doesn't drive action—no clear path to donate or browse campaigns
Featured campaigns buried below fold with only 3 visible
Scrolling donation ticker cluttered, shows only "Anonymous donated ₹200" repeatedly—appears spammy
Ambiguous statistics: "230 Campaigns until now" unclear if active, completed, or total
Single testimonial with placeholder avatar provides weak social proof
7 navigation items with redundancy ("About Us" vs "Our Mission")
"Start a Campaign" CTA not visually differentiated
Decorative image collage at bottom serves no purpose or call-to-action
No clear user journey for first-time visitors
Missing unique selling point - Why should donors choose AidCircle over other platforms?
Buried call-to-action - Important information about what specific items are needed (Gud, Channe, etc.) is in the middle of long text
No prominent "How it works" - First-time visitors may not understand the process
Missing donor resources - No clear FAQ, donation FAQ, or help section visible
Competitive Analysis
I analyzed 5 major crowdfunding platforms to understand industry patterns and find strategic opportunities:
Companies Analyzed:
Milaap (India's speed-first platform)
GoFundMe (Global leader)
Ketto (India, verification-first)
ImpactGuru (India, verification-first)
Truhope Foundation (Trust-maximalist)
Key Discovery: The Speed vs. Trust Trade-off
The crowdfunding industry splits into two approaches:
Speed-First Platforms:
Campaigns go live instantly.
Verification happens only at withdrawal.
Optimizes for urgent needs and accessibility.
Example: Milaap, GoFundMe.
Trust-First Platforms:
Upfront verification before going live.
24-hour to multi-week approval windows.
Optimizes for donor confidence and fraud prevention.
Example: Ketto, ImpactGuru, Truhope.
Strategic Positioning Decision:
I positioned AidCircle as a trust-first platform but optimized the flow to minimize friction. Here's what made our approach different:
OTP verification at Step 1 - Prevents anonymous scams from the start (only Milaap does this).
Dynamic forms - Adapts based on campaign type to reduce complexity.
Documents + story at the end - Strategic sequencing so creators have full context before writing.
24-hour manual approval - Ensures every campaign is verified before going live.
Defining the Solution
Based on the audit and competitive research, I identified three core design problems to solve:
Trust at First Glance - Donors need to see verification, transparency, and social proof immediately.
Self-Service Empowerment - Campaign creators need an intuitive flow that doesn't require AidCircle staff.
Guided Generosity - Donors need clear direction on how much to give and what impact it creates.
These became the foundation for the redesign strategy.
Information Architecture
The app follows a flat five-tab navigation - Home, Projects, Payments, Notifications, and Settings. This keeps everything vendors need just one tap away, making the experience simple for low-tech users while leaving room to scale as MMR grow
User Flow
I mapped key vendor journeys around the essentials: logging in with OTP, viewing and accepting/declining tasks, updating progress, checking payments, and managing settings. Each flow was designed to be short, clear, and easy to complete on the go.
Campaign Creation Flow
Donation Flow
Visual Design
Style Guide
Design Exploration
Wireframing & Ideation
Homepage Iterations:
Tested different hero layouts (dark vs. light, text-heavy vs. image-focused)
Experimented with campaign card layouts (grid sizes, information density)
Explored different ways to present trust indicators
Campaign Detail Page Iterations:
Initially designed with tabs (Story / Documents / Updates)
Realized this hid critical trust signals behind clicks.
Key decision: Moved to single-scroll progressive disclosure so donors see everything without navigation
Design Decisions
The One-Badge Rule
For campaign cards, I implemented a contextual badge system:
Show only ONE badge per card based on priority.
Priority: Urgency → Tax Benefit → Category.
Why: Multiple badges create visual clutter and decision fatigue
Trust Indicators Everywhere
Every screen includes trust-building elements:
Homepage: Social proof stats, Value proposition, & testimonials.
Campaign cards: Progress bars, money raised & the goal and donor counts
Campaign detail: Documents, verification badges, contribution transparency, Fundraiser info, code of practice, updates on the Beneficiary, previous contributors list & images/ gallery.
Donation flow: Secure payment messaging, 80G receipt promise, charge transparency,
Development & Launch
Why Framer:
Design-to-code speed, maintains fidelity, no-code CMS for client, easy iteration.
Technical Implementation:
WebP images with lazy loading.
Responsive layouts tested on 12+ devices.
Smooth scroll interactions.
FAQ accordions.
Google Analytics event tracking on all CTAs.
Final Design
Bringing the Structure to Life
I translated the wireframes into high-fidelity designs, establishing a visual system that balances premium aesthetics with approachable warmth - ensuring both elite clients and first-time entrepreneurs feel the site is designed for them.
Conclusion
Results & Impact
Quantitative Results
Lead Generation:
190 qualified leads (10% conversion rate)
Average lead quality reported as "high" by sales team.
Reduced dependency on referral-only model.
Traffic Performance:
1,900+ website visitors (from zero digital presence).
95% mobile traffic (1,800 mobile vs. 100 desktop) - validated mobile-first approach.
Average session duration: 2.3 minutes (high engagement for B2B).
Bounce rate: 42% - healthy for new website with no existing traffic.
Qualitative Impact
CEO and board members highlighted:
Stakeholder Feedback:
Professional positioning elevated brand perception.
Clear communication made sales conversations more efficient.
Website became primary lead generation tool vs. referrals.
Key Learnings & Reflections
What Worked Well
Mobile-First Approach: Anticipating 95% mobile traffic and designing accordingly prevented major redesign work.
Educational Content Strategy: The 8 restaurant type pages served dual purpose—SEO landing pages AND trust-building content. This captured users at research stage, not just decision stage.
Single, Clear CTA: "Book Free Call" removed friction compared to traditional "Contact Us" forms. Lower commitment barrier = higher conversion.
Strategic CTAs Placement: Placing CTAs at key decision moments throughout the journey (not just at the end) captured users at different readiness levels.
Visual Credibility Building: Using real photos, names, and testimonials instead of stock imagery built authentic trust.
What I'd Do Differently
Usability testing before launch: With more time, I would test the campaign creation flow with real users-particularly people in crisis situations—to identify friction points I might have missed.
A/B testing the donation experience: Does the default 10% tip increase or decrease total donations? Does showing monthly donations prominently affect one-time donations? These questions need data to optimize conversion.
More design polish: Another iteration would allow for tighter spacing, refined interactions, and better mobile transitions.
Thank You!
