About the Client
FHI 360 is a global nonprofit implementing international research and aid projects that focus on improving health, education and economic outcomes.
Setting the Stage
About the Project
With a global workforce attending conferences around the world, FHI 360 employees began using third-party apps to create their own digital business cards. These employees sought a more seamless way to share contact information with prospective colleagues, partners and clients that wasn’t being offered by paper cards or FHI 360’s current suite of software. The in-house expertise, relatively light lift, and opportunity for full customization led FHI 360 to build their own digital business card, rather than subscribing to a third-party app.
What Was the Goal
How might we make it easier for FHI 360 staff to share their contact information during in-person events?
Team Structure
Product Designer, Brandon Geib
Full-stack Developer
Creative Director
Communications Director
Viewing your digital business card while logged in.
Key Activities
Competitive Analysis
UI Design
Interactive Prototypes
Developer Collaboration
Identifying Problems
How Problems Were Identified
I coordinated with FHI 360’s Communications Director who collected insights from staff regarding the alternative solutions they were exploring for digital business cards and their use cases. I also reviewed the first several months of support tickets following launch for supplemental insights and updates. In addition, I conducted a competitive analysis of the core functionality provided by comparative products.
Who Were the Users
Staff Attending Conferences: Sharing their information with a large number of new contacts in a short period.
Potential Contacts: Adding a large number of new contacts in a short period.
Designing Solutions
How Solutions Were Designed
I created user flows and prototypes of the new web application based on the problems users identified. Each step of the way I collected collaborative feedback on my designs from the team to ensure we identified technical limitations or potential user concerns before moving to development implementation.
Highlight
Moving to Mobile
Problem
FHI 360 staff don’t always have business cards on them, this meant to share contact information they had to talk a potential contact through that information in the moment.
Solution
We built our own digital business card web application that can be instantly updated and is securely tied to FHI 360 staff’s Microsoft SSO.
Digital business card login screen.
Editing your card information.
Highlight
Adding Information
Problem
Potential contacts would often not fill in all contact information for FHI 360 staff who were added to their digital address book manually. This made it more difficult to recognize or follow up with each other in the future.
Solution
I designed the card creation interface to prompt users to provide as much relevant information as possible. This included additional fields like primary time zone, Linkedin profile, and an office dropdown.
Highlight
Empowering Sharing
Problem
Potential contacts would lose FHI 360 Staff’s paper business cards before being able to add them to their contacts or reach out.
Solution
I added multiple ways for a user to share the card, including via QR code, email or copying the business card link to their clipboard. The contact information available on the card could then be saved with a click to a potential contact's smartphone.
Options for sharing your card including via QR code, email, or copying to your clipboard.
Upon Reflection
Project Status
Complete - Product launched to all FHI 360 staff.
Personal Retro
The FHI 360 Digital Business Card was developed with a limited scope and few allotted hours. This situation allowed us to produce an effective lightweight solution but also prevented us from continuing to ideate on new solutions after launch. Working this way helped reinforce my preference for working long-term on products and solutions.
