Consciously (formerly Tribe) was developed out of a desire to bring greater transparency to the shopping experience. Its founder had a background in politics and knew how much power corporations held in politics, societal change, and our world overall. The founder thought, 'If a corporation's power lay in its money, what if we stopped giving our money to those corporations whose values didn't align with ours?' From that concept, Tribe was born, launching with a simple browser extension in 2019 with a single cause: animal testing.

The user interface and experience were created to be simple; a green rating meant that the company was "good" for that cause, while a red rating meant they were bad. I was brought onboard to expand the concept, adding multiple causes and giving users the option to choose which ones they were interested in receiving ratings on. The end goal was to create a robust information system on the company being viewed.

Consciously had already conducted extensive research before their launch and just before my onboarding. Their research included competitive analysis, user surveys, interviews, and marketplace research. My first step was digesting the data they had and deriving key points. Some key takeaways were that over 60% of all online shopping was done on Amazon. Additionally, their current users believed in supporting companies that shared their values and would consider switching products. They also found that finding corporate information on practices and policies was disparate and arduous.

Armed with the research findings, along with information on demographics, political views, and social behaviors, I decided to define the four main personas for Consciously. This gave us insight into how Consciously was being used and where it needed to grow. For instance, our main persona, Kara, was more affluent and politically active, while the younger persona, Liz, shopped online more and was more interested in social and environmental issues.

Working with another UX Designer, we mapped the user journey, noting areas of question and improvement. I decided we needed to clarify the UI so that the information we were providing could be quickly absorbed and acted upon. Thinking about the bigger picture, I needed to ensure this system would accommodate new causes as they were added. I carefully considered and collaborated with our developers to devise a logic framework that would work across current and new causes being considered. This framework successfully dissected our complex data, enabling it to be broken down and seamlessly integrated into a user-friendly UI.

A low-fidelity prototype was built with consideration of how it worked with the database (which was being developed at the same time). The prototype showed that we could not only display quick ratings, but we also had an opportunity to give users who wanted it access to deeper research. We also integrated a new product recommendation feature that took the user's preferences and the product they were viewing, offering alternatives that were both similar and better rated on the causes they cared about.

I was also tasked with a complete rebrand of Tribe to Consciously. Working with the research and conducting my own interviews with company stakeholders, I created the brand book for Consciously, which included our new UI design system. My goal was to improve design consistency and usability while maintaining an approachable yet trustworthy aesthetic. This new design system was then integrated across all areas, including marketing, websites, and landing pages, as well as the UI itself.

Collaborating with our partners' datasets to ensure accurate representation often required me to make adjustments and improvements within our existing database. For example, while working with OpenSecrets, we discovered that their data would be transmitted through the parent organization (e.g., Procter & Gamble owning Tide). However, our database, and Amazon likewise, listed Tide as the company. Through modifications to both the database and the user interface (UI), we not only established a clear pathway for the data but also visually demonstrated to the user the connection between the company and the brand it owned. This enhancement allowed users to trace these links efficiently through URLs.

We introduced new causes as we acquired the data, either working with our own research team or ultimately partnering with expert non-profits like ASPCA, Change Climate, and OpenSecrets. Marrying all of this disparate data into a system that was easy to digest and quick to identify for a user was the ultimate goal.

Over the span of three years, our primary UI objectives remained consistent. We aimed to establish a universal rating system applicable to every cause, design a user interface that conveyed essential information while allowing users to delve deeper, and implement a product recommendation system facilitating navigation based on users' alignment with specific values or causes.

As a key contributor to Consciously, a startup, I wore multiple hats. One responsibility involved collaborating exclusively with the backend development team, overseeing the creation and upkeep of our database. Simultaneously, I led a dedicated team of researchers and QA professionals responsible for maintaining supplemental data not provided by our partners. This additional data underwent regular updates and was seamlessly integrated into our database by me.

In collaboration with our developers, I played a pivotal role in establishing parameters for importing data from external sources, ensuring the ongoing robustness of our database, which cataloged over 10,000 companies and 1.5 million products. Beyond database management, I spearheaded partner relationships, actively seeking and vetting non-profit partners whose data aligned with our mission.

In a creative capacity, I served as the lead decision-maker for every aesthetic aspect at Consciously, influencing the visual identity of the brand. This multifaceted role allowed me to contribute to various aspects of the company's growth and development and gain knowledge and experience beyond just UX design.