GiveWell Mobile App Design for Charitable Giving
Jesutofunmi Oluwalade
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Posted Oct 16, 2025
Designed a mobile app for GiveWell to enhance charitable giving experience.
💜 GiveWell – Mobile App for Charitable Giving
Client: GiveWell (name changed for portfolio) Role: Lead UI/UX Designer Scope: Mobile App Design – Onboarding, Home Experience, Cause Discovery Tools Used: Figma, Recraft
🧩 The Challenge
The client wanted to build a mobile-first platform that made charitable giving feel personal, urgent, and rewarding. Their goal was to help users discover causes, track their impact, and contribute effortlessly — all from a single app.
Their ask:
“We want people to feel like heroes every time they open the app.”
My task was to design the full mobile experience — from onboarding to the home screen — with a focus on emotional engagement, clarity, and conversion.
🔍 Discovery & Strategy
We started by understanding the psychology of giving. Users needed:
A sense of purpose and urgency
Transparency around where their money goes
A frictionless way to contribute and track impact
From this, I defined three design pillars: Empathy, Simplicity, and Momentum
I also mapped out the user journey from first launch to first donation, identifying key emotional triggers and decision points.
🧠 Design Architecture
The app was structured into three core flows:
1. Onboarding Experience
Warm greeting: “Welcome Jesuantonni, Ready to make a difference today?”
Personalization: Users select causes they care about (e.g., environment, women’s empowerment, food distribution)
Wallet setup: Users can top up their balance or link payment methods
Microcopy and illustrations designed to build trust and excitement
2. Home Dashboard
Balance display with “Top Up” CTA
Featured section: “Urgent Causes” with progress bars and stats
Secondary section: “Popular Causes” with category filters
Navigation bar with icons for Home, Explore, Activity, and Profile
Each element was designed to guide users toward action while reinforcing impact.
3. Cause Cards & Progress Tracking
Visual cards with images, titles, and urgency indicators
Stats: Amount raised, donor count, goal progress
Progress bars with color-coded urgency
Tap-to-donate flow with confirmation and impact summary
📱 Responsive & Accessible Design
Though mobile-first, I designed with accessibility and responsiveness in mind:
Scalable typography for readability
High-contrast color palette for visibility
Touch-friendly buttons and cards
Smooth transitions and feedback animations
Support for dark mode and low-bandwidth optimization
🎨 Visual Language
Color Palette: Purple and white for warmth and trust
Typography: Rounded sans-serif fonts for friendliness
Iconography: Custom icons for causes, actions, and navigation
Illustrations: Soft, human-centered visuals to evoke empathy
Motion: Subtle animations to guide attention and reinforce progress
🤝 Collaboration & Handoff
I delivered:
Organized Figma files with reusable components
Annotated flows for onboarding, donation, and navigation
Export-ready assets and icons
Support during development to ensure fidelity and performance
🚀 Outcome
The final app helped users feel connected, empowered, and inspired. It turned charitable giving into a daily habit, with clear feedback and emotional resonance.
Results:
Increased donation frequency in early testing
Positive feedback on onboarding clarity and cause discovery
Developers praised the modularity and clean handoff
Users reported feeling more engaged and motivated to give
