As you’ll have heard, we’re building new Candid tools to assist these working within the social sector to do good much more effectively and successfully in a fast-changing world. To grasp how Candid merchandise can greatest serve our customers, we have to know what issues these customers try to unravel.
With the mixed assets of Basis Heart and GuideStar, we at Candid have a novel alternative to construct the best resolution for offering data for and about nonprofits and funders. We imagine that the one solution to succeed is to be in steady dialog with our customers as we create our next-generation Candid platform.
What issues are we making an attempt to unravel?
Earlier than we write product necessities, design interfaces, or construct software program, we go to our customers to know how they do their work, what their objectives are, and what obstacles are standing of their method. We start by researching how fundraisers, funders, and others eager to help nonprofits method their work, how they work together with know-how, and what they like and don’t like.
We begin by assembly with scores of customers of our present merchandise–GuideStar and Foundation Directory–to know how they work, observe them utilizing our software program, and ask what challenges they face of their work.
As Candid product managers think about doable options, they meet one-on-one with nonprofit professionals. They study from fundraisers in regards to the complicated strategy of discovering a basis to fund their challenge, and from program officers and grant managers about vetting a grant applicant. It’s vital to have a transparent understanding of all phases of their work to create an efficient resolution.
As well as, our person expertise workforce conducts in depth analysis—surveys, interviews, usability checks, and information evaluation on particular areas the place we all know there’s a want. For instance, we heard that funders need extra details about fiscally sponsored organizations and their sponsors. So, we carried out interviews to know crucial use circumstances for fiscal sponsorship information and in regards to the strategy of fiscal sponsorship. This may inform how we successfully incorporate fiscal sponsorship information into our instruments.
Does the answer work?
With the data we’ve gathered from customers, we will start to design and construct new Candid instruments. As we iterate by means of this course of, we carry our options to customers for suggestions. For simple issues, we produce one design and ask customers to substantiate that it ought to work. For extra complicated issues, we create two or extra designs and ask customers to pick the answer that works greatest or recommend a greater various. Typically, we discover that our resolution doesn’t work, or doesn’t work in addition to we’d hoped, and we have now to return to the customers with design revisions.
For instance, in designing a content-heavy web page, we used an interactive factor to cover or present some content material till the person wanted it, in order to not overwhelm them. Nonetheless, customers didn’t discover the interactive factor within the prototype in any respect. We scrapped the design and began over.
In a proactive case of using person suggestions, our designers realized that customers frequently copy and paste EINs from our profiles so as to add to paperwork, so we added a one-click copy operate. A small characteristic, certain, however it saves time—time constraints being the problem we hear most about from nonprofit professionals.
And as our design and engineering groups construct, we check. We’re releasing the Candid platform in small increments on a publicly accessible beta website, the place anybody can share suggestions. This permits us to make revisions shortly and keep away from heading too far down a flawed path.
And with every vital launch, we conduct extra formal testing. Relying on the characteristic being launched, we use a wide range of strategies to study whether or not the answer is profitable. We publish surveys with questions in regards to the person’s position within the sector and whether or not the performance works for them, or ask a person to unravel an issue and observe whether or not the brand new resolution works. There’s nothing extra humbling than watching somebody use a web site or software program you’ve created: It’s instantly clear what works and what doesn’t.
How are Candid instruments really getting used?
As soon as we launch a brand new characteristic on the beta website, we analyze person exercise information to study whether or not it’s getting used as anticipated. The extra folks use it, the extra information we’ll have to guage which options are getting used probably the most and that are under-utilized. From there, we will examine why and make changes.
We’ve already realized that, though we’ve reorganized Type 990 data in a user-friendly method on group profiles, many individuals nonetheless obtain 990s. So, we’re exploring whether or not we have to enhance our presentation, or whether or not customers will all the time again up their analysis with a replica of the 990.
Assist us provide help to resolve the issues you encounter in analysis, fundraising, grantwriting, compliance, and extra. Try beta.candid.org and share your suggestions. And should you’re occupied with getting extra concerned, you’ll be able to become an official beta tester to get early entry to options as we roll them out.
Picture credit score: mangpor_2004 by way of Getty Photographs
As you’ll have heard, we’re building new Candid tools to assist these working within the social sector to do good much more effectively and successfully in a fast-changing world. To grasp how Candid merchandise can greatest serve our customers, we have to know what issues these customers try to unravel.
With the mixed assets of Basis Heart and GuideStar, we at Candid have a novel alternative to construct the best resolution for offering data for and about nonprofits and funders. We imagine that the one solution to succeed is to be in steady dialog with our customers as we create our next-generation Candid platform.
What issues are we making an attempt to unravel?
Earlier than we write product necessities, design interfaces, or construct software program, we go to our customers to know how they do their work, what their objectives are, and what obstacles are standing of their method. We start by researching how fundraisers, funders, and others eager to help nonprofits method their work, how they work together with know-how, and what they like and don’t like.
We begin by assembly with scores of customers of our present merchandise–GuideStar and Foundation Directory–to know how they work, observe them utilizing our software program, and ask what challenges they face of their work.
As Candid product managers think about doable options, they meet one-on-one with nonprofit professionals. They study from fundraisers in regards to the complicated strategy of discovering a basis to fund their challenge, and from program officers and grant managers about vetting a grant applicant. It’s vital to have a transparent understanding of all phases of their work to create an efficient resolution.
As well as, our person expertise workforce conducts in depth analysis—surveys, interviews, usability checks, and information evaluation on particular areas the place we all know there’s a want. For instance, we heard that funders need extra details about fiscally sponsored organizations and their sponsors. So, we carried out interviews to know crucial use circumstances for fiscal sponsorship information and in regards to the strategy of fiscal sponsorship. This may inform how we successfully incorporate fiscal sponsorship information into our instruments.
Does the answer work?
With the data we’ve gathered from customers, we will start to design and construct new Candid instruments. As we iterate by means of this course of, we carry our options to customers for suggestions. For simple issues, we produce one design and ask customers to substantiate that it ought to work. For extra complicated issues, we create two or extra designs and ask customers to pick the answer that works greatest or recommend a greater various. Typically, we discover that our resolution doesn’t work, or doesn’t work in addition to we’d hoped, and we have now to return to the customers with design revisions.
For instance, in designing a content-heavy web page, we used an interactive factor to cover or present some content material till the person wanted it, in order to not overwhelm them. Nonetheless, customers didn’t discover the interactive factor within the prototype in any respect. We scrapped the design and began over.
In a proactive case of using person suggestions, our designers realized that customers frequently copy and paste EINs from our profiles so as to add to paperwork, so we added a one-click copy operate. A small characteristic, certain, however it saves time—time constraints being the problem we hear most about from nonprofit professionals.
And as our design and engineering groups construct, we check. We’re releasing the Candid platform in small increments on a publicly accessible beta website, the place anybody can share suggestions. This permits us to make revisions shortly and keep away from heading too far down a flawed path.
And with every vital launch, we conduct extra formal testing. Relying on the characteristic being launched, we use a wide range of strategies to study whether or not the answer is profitable. We publish surveys with questions in regards to the person’s position within the sector and whether or not the performance works for them, or ask a person to unravel an issue and observe whether or not the brand new resolution works. There’s nothing extra humbling than watching somebody use a web site or software program you’ve created: It’s instantly clear what works and what doesn’t.
How are Candid instruments really getting used?
As soon as we launch a brand new characteristic on the beta website, we analyze person exercise information to study whether or not it’s getting used as anticipated. The extra folks use it, the extra information we’ll have to guage which options are getting used probably the most and that are under-utilized. From there, we will examine why and make changes.
We’ve already realized that, though we’ve reorganized Type 990 data in a user-friendly method on group profiles, many individuals nonetheless obtain 990s. So, we’re exploring whether or not we have to enhance our presentation, or whether or not customers will all the time again up their analysis with a replica of the 990.
Assist us provide help to resolve the issues you encounter in analysis, fundraising, grantwriting, compliance, and extra. Try beta.candid.org and share your suggestions. And should you’re occupied with getting extra concerned, you’ll be able to become an official beta tester to get early entry to options as we roll them out.
Picture credit score: mangpor_2004 by way of Getty Photographs