User Experience Case Studies For Community Engagement

💬 Last November I had a call with the CEO of an emerging health platform. She sounded very concerned -- "Our growth's hit a wall. We've put so much into this site, but we're running out of money and time. A big makeover isn’t an option, we need smart, quick fixes." Looking at the numbers, I noticed: ✅ Strong interest during initial signups. ❌ Many users gave up after trying it just a few times. ❌ Users reported that the site was too complicated. ❌ Some of the key features weren’t getting used at all. Operating within the startup’s tight constraints of time and budget, we decided on the immediate plan of actions-- 👉 Prioritized impactful features: We spotlighted "the best parts". Pushed secondary features to the backdrop. 👉  Rethought onboarding: Incorporated principles from Fogg's behavioral model: • Highlighted immediate benefits and rewards of using the platform (motivation) • Simplified tasks, breaking down the onboarding into easy steps (ability) • Nudged users with timely prompts to explore key features right off the bat (triggers)    👉 Pushed for community-driven growth: With budget constraints in mind, we prioritized building an organic community hub. Real stories, shared challenges, and peer-to-peer support turned users into brand evangelists, driving word-of-mouth growth. 👉  Started treating feedback as "currency": In a tight budget scenario, user feedback was gold. An iterative approach was adopted where user suggestions were rapidly integrated, amplifying trust and making users feel an important part of the platform's journey. In a few months time, the transformation was evident. The startup, once fighting for user retention, now had a dedicated user base, championing its vision and propelling its growth! 🛠  In the startup world, it's not just about quick fixes, but finding the right ones. ↳ A good UXer can show where to look. #ux #startupux #designforbehaviorchange   

Measuring community engagement might be the perfect gatekeeper of your community. Engagement Case Study #2: In 2015, I worked for a brands-only community for corporate social media professionals. It was very hard to get into the community (you had to apply and go through a series of interviews), and you had to commit to participate. I mean REALLY commit. The sales team spent more time *disqualifying* people from the community than *qualifying* them. When a company joined, they had been heavily vetted, and the members felt like they had really gotten into something special. Our metrics were thorough: 👉 Members signed a community commitment form. 👉 Members were required to join a percentage of the weekly member discussion calls and the quarterly, in-person member meetings. 👉 When on the calls, the number of times each member contributed was logged. 👉 If it was noticed that a member had not contributed, they would be asked to speak/contribute. 👉 We tracked the number of questions being asked and answered (and by whom) in the member message board. It seems harsh, controlling, and a bit off-putting to read. But we had a thriving community! Not just thriving… the year over year renewal rate was nearly 100% for 5 years in a row. How? Unbeknownst to us at the time, the community leveraged the 5 C’s of Connection: ✅ Care: The staff truly cared that the community members valued their time together and did everything in their power to ensure everyone was fully present. ✅ Collaborate: The quarterly members were unconference-style, focused on solving members’ most pressing challenges. ✅ Co-create: The topics of each weekly member meeting were timely, relevant, and sourced from/presented by members. ✅ Converse: The entire community was built on conversation. The weekly conference calls were 20 minutes of presentation and 40 minutes of conversation. Quarterly member meetings were all peer-to-peer conversation. ✅ Connect: The results of creating an environment with clear boundaries was palpable. Members respected the rules, all meetings started on time ALWAYS, and everyone was fully present through all gatherings. This made the ability to really connect with peers easy and deep. If engagement is really one of your core objectives, how far are you willing to go to protect and enforce it? Level set on your actual objectives. Design your metrics. Measure success from that. -------------------- Hi, I'm Liz. I help marketers connect. 🔔 To follow my content 💻 thecommunityfactory.com ✉ liz@thecommunityfactory.com Communities I run: 🏯 www.weareichi.com 📣 www.teamcmo.com Nicole Osibodu, XOXO Kamryn Bryce 

Local governments are grappling with how to embrace AI in their work and in their communities. The agencies that recognize AI as one of many tools (with its own limits) and effectively engage with constituents will be better able to use AI in ways that support strong systems in their communities. The City of Long Beach is undertaking a process to implement these concepts. 1️⃣ They started by identifying their responsibility and being transparent about their limitations: "We don’t have all the answers yet. But we’re not shying away from the tough questions. Our commitment is to approach this work with transparency, build trust, and continuously refine our engagement strategies as we learn." 2️⃣ Then, they went to hear what their community members had to say. The City of Long Beach developed and distributed a survey about Gen AI use, distributed both online and in community spaces such as libraries and neighborhood centers. From the City: "A clear takeaway from the survey was the presence of an information and trust gap between the City and residents when it comes to AI...Without this clarity, it is difficult for residents to feel confident that AI is being used responsibly, ethically, and in alignment with community values." 3️⃣ Next, the City built a strategy that addressed what they learned from the community. An initiative now outlines concrete steps to address the information and trust gap, and the City launched a series of five, free community workshops (that offer food and refreshments, will be hosted in ADA-accessible spaces, with interpretation services available) about navigating the new digital age. Aside from seeing some of the values articulated in The Tech That Comes Next clearly put into action here, this process excites me because it highlights that tech/digital interaction with communities presents an opportunity to build or break trust. More on Long Beach's work: https://lnkd.in/eWVcFtuX CC: Małgorzata (Małgosia) Rejniak #PublicInterestTech #AI #CivicTech #CommunityBuilding

Case Studies - Engaging Faith and Cultural Champions (FCC) to Shift Norms You know that a meeting is going well when 18 out of 20 senior leaders in the field show up for the 2nd day. I expected only a minority of folks to return for the “Social Norms and Adolescents Evidence Review” in Nairobi earlier this week. The moderator, Dr . Stellah Wairimu Bosire, had done an excellent job in selecting participants who were passionate about the topics and #IIDC which co-hosts the Eastern Africa Agency, Social & Gender Norms Learning Collaborative had done well with organizing the meeting. The review included 35 interventions on FCC and 39 on Entertainment Media. These interventions aimed to shift norms around adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and their reference groups. The objective of the meeting was to get reactions from Kenyan experts on whether the findings made sense in the Kenyan context, what was missing, and what more needed to be done to make the findings useful for programs. While the descriptive data on the interventions (e.g. how many used this or that approach) was useful, we did not assume that it would be sufficient to spark a vibrant conversation. In order to ensure that the audience got a flavor for the studies included in the review. I presented the attached slides on the two case studies that we had identified in the review, one among a displaced population in Mogadishu and the other among a rural population in Benin. The case studies provided much-needed context of the two interventions and set the stage for deeper discussion on how FCC could influence social norms. The first case study focused on shifting harmful social norms related to gender-based violence (GBV) through community dialogues and training. The program successfully altered attitudes around family honor and male authority, leading to increased reporting of GBV and community confidence in support services. The second case study tackled social barriers to family planning (FP) uptake by leveraging influential community members. Through social network diffusion and reflective dialogues, the program significantly increased FP use among women by promoting open discussions on gender norms and reproductive health. Although male engagement remained a challenge, the initiative’s success in fostering community-wide conversations underscores the value of involving social influencers in behavior change efforts. I must admit there was a moment of panic at the start of the presentation when I realized I had never worked directly on an FCC intervention—entertainment media was more my comfort zone. Luckily, Rebecka Lundgren was on hand to address several insightful questions raised by the participants. It was the type of a meeting that helps drive the field forward. #FaithLeaders #CulturalChampions #GenderNorms #SocialNorms #AGYW #FamilyPlanning #CommunityEngagement #GBV #EastAfrica #AdolescentHealth #SocialChange #NormShifting #Development