ACOF
A real project with California State University: a website for a supportive housing nonprofit that speaks to two audiences, tenants and donors. I kept the tenants at the center of the story through human-focused imagery, made dense content easy to read with color and layout, and turned a plain contact list into a one-click resource tool. Included a style guide and component library, all designed in Figma.
The Goal
A Community of Friends (ACOF) is a Los Angeles nonprofit that provides permanent supportive housing for people with disabilities who have experienced homelessness. In collaboration with California State University, I designed a website prototype, along with its style guide and component library.
My hypothesis: if the tenants became the protagonists of the story, both readers would be served. I used photos of the people and homes ACOF provided, plus an image for each program, to humanize pages with a lot of text.
For tenants, I rebuilt Tenant Resources, which had been a simple list of addresses and phone numbers. It became an interactive chart where one click copies an address or starts a call. Useful information should cost as little effort as possible.
How would I have known it worked?
The stakeholders responded well, and the design went through only a few rounds of revisions. What they pointed to most was how I used layout and color to make the pages visually interesting. That told me the system was clear enough for them to understand and approve quickly.
What I learned along the way
I was worried there was too much text and that the site would feel oversaturated. Imagery, color and layout turned out to be the answer. They gave the pages rhythm, so the content felt clean and guided people instead of overwhelming them. This is a lesson I plan to carry into every text-heavy project from here on.