Can a website have a soul?
Relaunching OptionB.Org with one human, evidence-based, clear, hopeful, compassionate voice.
Client
After the death of her husband, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's former COO and the author of Lean In, wrote Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, a primer for those who are bereaved, to help them recover, push on, and ultimately bounce back. Like Lean In, Option B came with a web initiative launched by the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation—OptionB.Org. Rich in educational resources, it aimed at supporting people and their community, mainly through the lens of grief.
Overview
When I started working with OptionB.Org, Sheryl and the team knew who they were and what they believed in but weren't yet saying it clearly. Together we aligned on a key shift for their value proposition to center on helping individuals build resilience broadly. Based on this strategic alignment, we invested in
clearly defining OptionB.Org's target audience
creating a new brand framework based on these users
reconstructing the overall web ecosystem with personalization/customization top of mind
ROLE
Product Designer responsible for discovery, insight, strategy, and design. OptionB.Org hard launched in 2022.
TEAM
Sheryl Sandberg, Founder
Rachel Thomas, CEO
Jordan Miller-Surratt, Product Manager
Emma Spitzer, Illustrator
TOOLS
Asana, Figma, Getty Images, Google Analytics/Docs, Slack, SurveyMonkey, Whimsical, Zoom
Why the strategic shift to general resilience?
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By broadening the entry point to hardship, our program will be relevant to more people, at more times.
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It also increases our relevance at crucial cultural moments so that we can be a voice in destigmatizing human struggle when users need it most.
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The teaching of general resilience aligns with the original intent and strength of the book—of the 51 critical concepts outlined, 46 are about this.
THE TARGET AUDIENCE
THE TARGET AUDIENCE
It all starts with knowing our audience, the beneficiary of everything we do.
We used a comprehensive community survey with 1000+ participants to bridge the gap between OptionB.Org's and their target audience's wants and needs. The resulting data revealed that 90% of the site's active user base consists of individuals personally experiencing some form of human struggle. While also shining a light on their defining characteristics:
Interested in resources to navigate hardship for themselves and, often, others
Searching for support through community (over 1 million strong)
Wants to feel validated, understood, and return to normalcy, even if it isn't Option A
REIMAGINING THE BRAND
REIMAGINING THE BRAND
We began to conceptualize how to best engage with our target audience and punctuate the inherent value that OptionB.Org can provide. With those intentions in mind, we decided to get back to basics, focus on reimagining the site's soul by fleshing out the humanity of its users.
After taking the time to understand the New Normal Seeker as accurately as possible, we got to know our brand, which laid the ground for the most impactful/memorable experience and ultimately relaunch.
BUILDING TOGETHER
BUILDING TOGETHER
We kicked off a highly collaborative ideation process to ensure our team was aligned on the future of OptionB.Org—working hand in hand to define its goals and potential.
Working toward a shared vision
The team constructed a Statement of Work encompassing the target audience, site's mission, objectives, pain points, UX must-haves, and deliverables. From our aggregate survey and analytics data, we focused on personalizing/customizing OptionB.Org's user experience to our target audience through new content hubs and a total resource audit (resulting in more relevant tags). Content outlines were then created and collectively iterated upon through live feedback sessions, developing into expanded copy docs.
Content determining design
We rendered these copy docs as digital sketches which, of course, became wireframes, enabling the team to stay agile. These straightforward, rudimentary designs provided room for extensive experimentation, giving way to a field of fresh, outstanding solutions.
Defining the system
We then began crafting and documenting a simple, scalable design system, leveraging color, iconography, and type.
THE FINAL DESIGNS
THE FINAL DESIGNS
The result is an undeniably human body of work that celebrates OptionB.Org's target users, stories, and most pressing needs. We rebuilt to transmit its soul, letting our thoughtful, empathetic individuality & service-oriented philosophy come through.
The launch
The launch
After a year of unprecedented collaboration, we created a best-in-class digital product that universally describes what we believe, how we think, operate, and, of course, what we offer.
OptionB.Org hard launched in 2022.