From college graduate to soaring kite: A UX case study
Researching recent graduates and how a fraternity for women can meet their needs post-college.
For many participants of fraternity groups, looking back on their college years brings back fond memories of friendship and community. But how does a fraternal organization continue to impact the lives of members after they leave campus life behind?
As UX designers and researchers, we wanted to understand how Kappa Alpha Theta’s Foundation could better engage young alumnae from immediate graduates to 10 years out. We also wanted to build a strategy to help the organization effectively empower women as they discovering their passions and navigate their careers.
Research
Surveys & Interviews
First, we wanted to examine the habits of young alumnae specifically around giving priorities, membership journey, and engagement. Second, we wanted to understand the context of what is offered to members of Kappa Alpha Theta. And finally, to compare what other membership organizations are doing and what the Theta Foundation could learn from them.
We started by sending out an initial survey to hear insights around giving and Greek involvement that received 34 responses.
In total, we interviewed 40 people:
- 10 current Greek women
- 18 Greek alumnae
- 2 Greek men alumni
- 10 non-Greek young professional women
We started by going to local college campuses and conducting focus groups around Greek involvement, post graduation hopes and fears, as well as charity and giving.
Affinity Mapping
Findings
After conducting interviews, we took all the insights that we found, put them on sticky notes, and grouped them by theme. This process allowed us to find common patterns around three main areas: giving, engagement, and membership.
“I cannot give money, but I would be willing to give my time.”
“It’s hard to donate all the time especially when we do not have much disposable income.”
“I give based on feeling and emotion, I think gratitude is the biggest driver.”
“You move across the country and you feel completely on your own.”
“…a new city, a new job, new friends, new responsibilities. You are spread so thin those first few years and with that it creates anxiety.”
“I didn’t realize how important networking was and then I got out into the real world and I had no idea how to do it.”
“Life is pretty busy and it seems like there isn’t enough benefit”
“The alumnae dues are you pay X amount of dollars and you have no information on what you are getting in return”
“Approach should be to build real relationships and then ask for money later but that’s not always the case”
Understanding Kappa Alpha Theta
As we set out to understand the people involved with this organization, we also wanted to make sure we were thinking holistically of Kappa Alpha Theta. This resulted in a service ecosystem to help us see the possible touch points.
Seeing the entire ecosystem of touch points mapped out visually allowed us to understand the setup of the fraternity and move forward in proposing a solution for overall engagement.
We also created a mood board of all things representing this organization. The board portrays Theta’s unique style, and branding. Associated brands their audience might engage with were included as well.
Market Comparison
After understanding the people, organization as a whole, we looked outward to what other groups were doing well. As far as looking at other organizations, we focused on 3 categories: Other greek groups, Foundations, and 24 outside companies. We selected companies that engage young people as well as companies with high customer returns.
Other Greek groups
During our research we spoke to alumnae of the Divine 9 major African American fraternal organizations. We were surprised to find out that post-grad involvement in these groups was often more prestigious than undergrad participation.
“In African-American fraternal organizations it is actually more prestigious to be in a grad chapter than in undergrad.”
We found in our research, that the Divine 9 are really good at providing lifelong value to their members. There’s a lot of historical and cultural context as to why that is, but the Divine 9 represent a model that Theta could learn from.
NPHC, the governing body of the Divine 9, explicitly markets these groups as lifelong commitments that extend beyond the collegiate experience. Our research participants involved with Divine 9 groups were several decades removed from college and still participating.
Foundations
In addition to other Greek organizations, we looked at innovative foundations. As we discovered in our interviews, a lot of students and graduates prefer to give their time but not their money. We examined two foundations that engage with young groups and capitalize on this trend.
For the American Cancer Society, volunteers give their time and effort because they believe it’s time to take action against cancer. This involves fundraising via relay for life which becomes a community event for all ages.
NFTE attracts mentors and business coaches for young entrepreneurs because they are a key role to their students’ success. Also volunteers get satisfaction from giving their time and expertise.
Other companies
Next, we took insights from less associated membership companies. We had three main takeaways from these comparisons that Theta could learn from:
- Rewards System
- Points incentivizing customers to return
- Customer engagement rewarded with discounts
- Tiered member status with increasing perks the more you pay
Both Alaska Airlines and Birchbox, despite being very different companies, have robust points systems that keep customers returning.
2. Events Platforms
- Events calendar
- Specific groups and themes
- Ability to check-in and rsvp, see your events
Georgetown University’s alumni association and Meetup have consistent event offerings and digital platforms that showcase them in an accessible way. These are also platforms primarily used by young people
3. Mentorship
- Regular 1:1 check-ins
- Support system
Programs that offer regular 1:1 check-ins and goal setting, produce results and meet massive needs for guidance among Theta’s young alumnae demographic. Year Up, a professional dev nonprofit for disadvantaged young adults, and Mavenly + Co, a boutique women’s career coaching company, cater to different audiences but offer comprehensive career coaching.
Takeaways & Opportunities
With all of our research in mind, we focused on 6 key takeaways moving forward:
Problem: Young alumnae stop engaging with the fraternity after graduation
Solution: Theta should actively engage to meet the needs of this group. By keeping young alumnae engaged and empowered will compel them to give to the Foundation in the future.
From this synthesis, we developed 6 key recommendations based on our research. These are opportunities for Kappa Alpha Theta to better engage the young alumnae demographic holistically an organization:
1. Understand alumnae needs
We looked at the young alumnae journey from a range of a senior in college to 10 years out of college. From this timeframe we created personas, for three categories: Senior in college, 1–3 years out, and 4–10 years post-graduation.
Jenna just graduated moved to a new city and has lost pretty much all the relational and career security that came with being in school and in Theta. The disconnect between what she did to succeed in school vs. what results in success post-grad is very high.
We focused our solutions around Jenna’s struggles and obstacles. While the other two personas are important, we wanted to target the transition period between college and the “real world” for Theta to provide services.
Next, we mapped out the young alumnae journey from the moment Jenna rushes Kappa Alpha Theta to ten years later. She comes off a high of graduation and then enters a dramatic fall that might not pick up for 5+ years. She also discovers along the way how important networking is for her career and desires a form of mentorship to walk alongside her in this vulnerable time. This is where Kappa Alpha Theta has the opportunity to meet her in this time of need.
2. Collaboration
In our research, we found that fraternity members don’t hear a consistent message from both the Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation and Alumnae relations. They often feel that alumnae are asked for money before having a relationship.
If these normally silo’d teams focused on working together more frequently and collaborating together for mutual shared goals, it would help send a consistent message to young alumnae.
3. Information Visibility
It became clear while speaking to current Greeks and Greek alumnae that information on how to get involved post-graduation was not clear online. So we proposed several solutions to improve clarity and usability of digital platforms.
We did initial testing with the current website on 5 users to understand how young alumnae currently engage with the website.
We wanted to make the Stay Connected page clearer and emphasize that it contains information on post-graduation offerings. The original page is unnecessarily long and the ways to stay involved are all over the place. We proposed a 3-step guide providing Theta’s clear calls to action and visibility on the ways to stay involved.
In testing, the Find an Alumnae group page didn’t feel appealing to young alumnae and information wasn’t easily accessible.
The redesign of this page (right image) includes a map and scroll feature to click through group offerings. The map allows people to visually see the vast alumnae group options across North America.
4. Soaring Kite Society
Another goal we had for this project was to clarify the benefits of giving financially to the Theta Foundation. After graduation engagement with alumnae dropped drastically and donors are overwhelmingly a much older demographic. How can we convey the benefits of giving across life stages?
Soaring Kite Society presented an opportunity for a tangible benefit to young alumnae. The group in its current state lacked structure and was mainly set up as a way for young alumnae to give small donations to the Foundation. We recommended repurposing Soaring Kites Society into a paid monthly mentorship program.
This membership structure would allow young alumnae to understand the clear value to the joining with relevant benefits, specifically mentorship, networking, and adjustment to adulthood. Modeling the group after mentorship program best practices found in research, we proposed a 6 month curriculum beginning after graduation where a new graduate is paired with a more established Theta mentor, similar to a college “Big”.
At the end of the day wanted to engage these women so that they feel a sense of community and want to give back to that community when they are financially able to do so.
5. Tailored Platforms
We heard when testing the existing Theta platforms, “This doesn’t feel like this is for me”. So we conducted a Design Studio to see what we could ideate and potentially transform into a solution for our user’s needs.
Design Studio allowed us to discover a wide set of ideas to explore how we might solve Jennas problems as she moves to a new city. After conducting the Design Studio and our initial research, we were able to develop two solutions that could meet Jenna’s needs.
Our first fix was for the online Theta member portal. This is a place where personal information is kept for administrative purposes. Despite being relatively new, it’s not a platform that draws people to come back.
During our research, we dove into the concept of airline credit card and other industries use points to engage members. The goal with rewards is to encourage certain behavior though positive reinforcement. What if this concept was applied to the Theta member portal? In testing our alternative version with a rewards system, it had much more of an appeal to users in the young alumnae demographic.
Our second solution from Design Studio came in the form of a mobile app we called Theta Connect. Before graduation Jenna would get introduced to the Theta Connect app that plugs her in to the local Theta alumnae groups and events after graduation.
The alumnae relations team’s feedback to us was that it’s hard to get alumnae to show up to events. This app will incentivize showing up with a rewards system similar to the re-designed portal. So when Jenna does move to a new place and is trying to land her first job, she can have a support system of sisters with similar experiences.
To start, we took our sketches from design studio and built a paper version of the app. We asked 5 people to RSVP to a Theta event and one of us acted as the computer, swapping screens as they tapped the yellow hot spots.
Next we iterated our feedback from the paper prototype into a Sketch prototype. We conducted 5 more tests and ultimately incorporated the feedback into a final prototype we uploaded into InVision.
6. Leveraging Greek Structures
This suite of solutions represents what Greek organizations already do well, which is providing structured community. Kappa Alpha Theta made the campus feel small for Jenna, now they can make the world feel small for her as an alumnae.
Theta should continue leveraging familiar systems like membership, and leadership opportunities just for post-grad life. Just like Jenna had a Big that helped her navigate college, she can become a Soaring Kite and have that structure continue in an intense time of transition. All our recommendations are ultimately tools to help make that happen.
Just to recap Jenna’s journey with our solutions in mind, the anxieties around transitioning to post-grad life are still very real.
With our proposed solutions, she is informed early on about local alumnae groups activities and the Theta connect app. She also participates in Soaring Kite Society for the first 6 months out of school. Her network is facilitated and continues to grow in this new place. So then by the time she is 4–10 years out of school, she is more established and willing to be a mentor and give to the foundation.
Next Steps
The chart below shows our six solutions for Kappa Alpha Theta ranging in complexity and effort. Website modifications in terms of making information clear and accessible is much easier to act upon than redesigning the portal and developing Theta Connect.
Some next steps for kicking off these solutions include:
- Implement low effort/high impact recommendations.
- Pilot Theta Connect with young alumnae board.
- Gather several teams in metro areas to pilot Soaring Kite mentorship program.
Conclusion
Investing in post-graduate alumnae like Jenna pays it forward for the future Theta graduates who will eventually enter the real world. Encouraging older Thetas to come back into the fold and mentor recent graduates continues this cycle of generosity. Students often turn to fraternities during college for communal support, and Kappa Alpha Theta has the opportunity to provide this structure in the form of a lifelong model for all alumnae.
