FUW

Our main goal was to design, from scratch, a cohesive digital platform connecting donors, researchers, and entrepreneurs around the University of Warsaw Foundation’s mission of supporting science and innovative research. The Foundation has operated since 1988, and the project’s aim was to build a service that not only efficiently handles fundraising and grant funding, but also builds a relational dimension to the campaign — inspiring alumni to support science, not only financially. We based our work on in-depth user needs research, in order to simplify the project-support process as much as possible, increase donor engagement, and ensure a clear structure for presenting the Foundation’s achievements.

The homepage opens with a strong hero section carrying the headline “UWolnij potencjał” (“Unleash the potential”), playing on the university’s abbreviation (UW), alongside a clear CTA leading to the application form. A key UX device is the “Two goals. One campaign.” section, clearly separating the relational goal (engaging alumni) from the financial goal (fundraising for grants, scholarships, and infrastructure), as well as the “Four stories. One foundation.” module — a carousel presenting completed projects together with the Foundation’s role and the resulting impact. The support process has been reduced to three simple steps (tax settlement, KRS number, optional specific purpose), significantly lowering the barrier to entry for a new donor. We also took care of digital accessibility, with the site offering a contrast mode and a language switcher.

The “News” subpage was designed as a clear, filterable news hub (categories: Grants, History, Partnerships, Coverage, Co-financing, Events), and the remaining subpages consistently pair large, engaging photography from the university’s spaces with a clear content architecture, making it easy to learn about the Foundation’s activities, initiatives, and ways to support the university.

For the visual identity, we relied on deep navy and off-white as the base palette, with red used to accent key calls to action, and warm gold highlighting the most important words in headlines (e.g. “UW” in “UWolnij”). The Outfit typeface, paired with a clearly defined heading hierarchy, gives the whole a modern yet dignified character, fitting for an academic institution. The design process covered the full scope: stakeholder and competitor analysis, information architecture and user flows, visual system and UI design, prototyping and usability testing, through to developer handover.

Scope of work:

Development

Wordpress

UX/UI