Project 1: Brief

 

TO: Mike Doyle
FROM: Paul Young
SUBJECT: PIFI Website Redesign
DATE: August 18, 2016

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to offer some recommendations for an updated website design for your organization. The following is a summary of the objectives for this project.

1. BACKGROUND: In 1992, nineteen citizen and advocacy organizations formed Public Interest Fund of Illinois (PIFI) as a mechanism to support Illinois non-profit organizations engaged in social change, citizen education and empowerment. PIFI works to enable people—particularly the poor—to achieve fuller participation in society by eliminating social, economic, cultural and/or political barriers. PIFI represents a diverse group of charities with a common mission, to make our world a better place. PIFI's workplace donation program makes it easy to become a donor and to affect change in the world.

2. TARGET AUDIENCE: There are two distinct target audiences for the web site. First, PIFI needs to communicate our mission and values to potential employees and employers who may wish to join their payroll deduction program. This audience is diverse as PIFI targets both large corporations and small family-owned businesses in all sectors. Second, PIFI needs to attract worthy members organizations who align with their mission and values. For both target audiences, PIFI needs to build a strong trusting relationship similar to the kind of relationship a bank might have with its customers.

3. LOOK AND FEEL OF THE WEB SITE: The overall goal of the web site should be to attract potential donors and members who might be interested in joining PIFI. The web site should look conservative, established, trusting, sensitive, warm and inviting. The site should be accessible, attractive, uncluttered and easy to navigate. The color scheme should be calm and welcoming. The typography should be clean and professional. The existing logo needs to be updated, but an elegant type treatment would suffice for now.

4. APPLICATION: The new web design should be optimized for the most common browsing resolution today. The site will be accessible to anyone, young or old, so it must be functional and accessible in any browser. Although all of the information of the old site must appear in the new design, a better reorganizing of the information architecture is desired. The design should be flexible in order for any future changes to be accommodated.

If there are any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you again for this opportunity and we look forward to presenting our design proposals to you in about four weeks.