Difference between profit and nonprofit organisation?

Question

I now have my first job for a nonprofit organization. Are there any differences in the development of UX strategies for NGOs and Nonprofits unlike a traditional business? Are there difference in the behavior of the users and their expectations?

Answer 1

There are certainly differences in non-profit and for-profit organizations, and their management, that may change the ultimate product, but your job shouldn't be terribly different.

The organization will have a goal that needs to be met in relationship to their public. This is not necessarily the same, although likely also not all that different, than what you would expect in a for-profit setting (gathering identities, getting them to pay for something).

The public will have needs of the organization and obviously you need to meet their needs and the organization's in a reasonably direct and enjoyable way.

The big differences are going to be in the motivation of the needs, both the organization's and its public.

For a non-profit the focus will likely be a longer-term or boarder goal.

Whereas a for-profit might look to increase profit for a quarter and it's public wants something material for their money, the non-profit may have a program to gain support/raise money for some project that won't be executed for years, or will take a long time to carry out, and with difficult-to-measure results (an education, a charity, etc.) and it's public may be rewarded merely with a sense of accomplishment or well being.

You might also have to consider that the organization may have two distinct publics what need to be addressed, those who are taking service and those who are donating (money, time, effort).

These may change your pitch but you'll still have similar deliverables, similar testing practices, and similar goals. It's just that your clients' and their customers will almost certainly be driven by or toward different purposes than in a for-profit.

Answer 2

Not at the core of it. UX is about discovering what your users are trying to accomplish and providing tools that help them to do that. The people who visit your particular site/app have unique needs, but that's the case with every organization.

Answer 3

One difference is that you may actually be able to focus on UX when often traditional businesses can not.

A lot of times UX is put on the back burner for companies because profit is more important. Interface decisions will be prioritized by conversion rate before usability is taken into account. Leads, specials, and other various marketing centric elements may be overused to drive sales at the cost of user experience.

In a nonprofit organization (not all mind you, some still need to drive conversions) when developing strategies you may have a better opportunity to implement things that users need and focus on UX, not just the bottom line.

So, depending on the nonprofit you work for, I would focus on creating a connection with the user, creating a pleasant experience, and telling your companies story. Things that are often less of a priority.

Answer 4

Short answer:

My experience has been that non-profits tend to make more 'noise' about UX (after all, they are doing it for the 'poor' and the 'suffering'), but it seems that corporates do more about it because they have more resources at their disposal compared to non-profits in general. That is to say, the ratio of 'noise' to action seems to be higher in NGOs and non-profits.

Long(er) answer:

I think you'll find that the apparent attention to UX will be driven by the number of competitors an organisation has (even charities have to compete for donations and government funding), and the need to differentiate themselves from their competitors on values other than the product/service they provide (which is the 'feel-good' factor).

The other important aspect of how well they execute the UX strategy then comes down to experience and expertise, which given the way non-profits and NGOs have to spend their money, could be difficult to justify considering they will probably be hiring big-shots from the corporate world that want to charge lots of money for this kind of work.

So you'll probably find that it really depends on the area that your non-profit or NGO is working in, how long they have been doing it, and whether UX is going to make much of a difference to their bottom line - which is probably the same as normal business organisations.