Awaken Comics
Overview
This project started during my internship at OneHope and evolved into my role as Digital Project Manager.
Goal
Create a faith-based comic book platform that seekers can explore to experience different types of comic content.
Role
Project Manager and UX Researcher
Tools
Figma, Maze, Mural
Timeline
July 2022 - Dec 2024
Background
How It Started
The Digital Marketing Group at OneHope revealed a growing demand for diverse comic book content and we saw this as an opportunity to engage teenagers through a platform centered around scripture-based comics. I built out a robust UX strategy to outline our program goals and make sure we were hitting them at each stage of the product life-cycle.
I built out a robust UX strategy to outline our program goals and make sure we were hitting them at each stage of the product life-cycle.
Research
Stakeholder Interviews
I created an interview guide to make sure we were asking both of our stakeholders the same questions and informing them on the project goals.We interviewed the VP of Research & Development and a marketing specialist from the Digital Marketing Group. Both had high interest in the project and high impact of the project decisions.
Market Research - Competitive Analysis
Our goal with the competitive analysis was to research what programs already existed and if it was worth it to create our own. We really wanted to answer the following research questions:
How are teenagers reading comic books now? Do they read them online? How do they read them online? Is it worth it to create our own?
Personas
We interviewed some team members from the Philippines and Indonesia to create our two main personas. We knew this project would be launched in Asia Pacific and we had many contact in these two regions during this time.
Generative Survey
Who: Young adults from 18-30 that read comic book content as a recreational activity.
How Many: Our goal was 10-15 responses
Why: This was the first user research our team was doing and we wanted to do something quick and effective
Set-up: Created on Maze and sent out on Reddit and to the young adults at OneHope
Brand Survey
Who: Participants who are closer to the target audience
How Many: Our goal was 50 responses and we received close to 100
Why: This survey was more specific to the brand we were creating around the project. We wanted feedback that would help shape the end product.
Set-up: Created on Maze and sent to our field contacts, which they then distributed to users.
Analysis
Afinity Diagrams
I created an affinity diagram on Figma for the first survey. I first split the responses between the OneHope and Reddit group. I then split the responses by the age group and the questions answered.
For the second survey, we used the analysis tool from Maze due to time constraints. We looked at the percentages and most common responses.
Key Insights
I conducted further research to understand the chapter experience, online missionaries and the logo design. I hosted several design sessions with our stakeholders, designers and field contacts.
Must Haves
Concise Content
Chapters as the delivery style
The reader should anticipate what comes next and want to read it
Seamless art
More simple, less text on pages
One page vertical and limited engagement
Design mobile first
Integrate Bible stories and include more scripture engagement
Nice to Haves
More interactions and animation
Creating profiles
Gamification
Chat opportunity with other users similar to a forum discussion
Link to a local church
Impact
Our online missionaries and field contacts have mentioned in several meetings the impact that both comics have had in their regions.
Many seekers clicked on the CTA looking to speak with someone and through those chats, online missionaries prayed with seekers and many lives were transformed.
After launching the first comic (The Bridge) in Indonesia and seeing its success, we localized the program for The Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand.
We added a second comic (Story of Jesus) that was localized for the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
Through Google Analytics and Clarity, we a saw a high click through rate and high reach numbers.
Key Learnings
While our research was thorough, we realized in hindsight that more usability testing would have improved the product’s overall quality. Additionally, earlier 1:1 interviews would have provided deeper user insights and allowed for more informed design decisions before moving into surveys and development.
