Our Daily Bread Ministries
Director of UX Design
2015 – 2022
At Our Daily Bread Ministries, I led a portfolio of transformative UX initiatives that strengthened the organization’s digital ecosystem, increased engagement, and expanded global reach. Over this period, I grew the UX function from the ground up. I started as a team of one and expanded it into a diverse and effective team. I built critical bridges with IT and development, facilitated the education of the organization on UX principles and integrated human-centered design into its processes and culture.
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As UX lead and strategist, I delivered on many major initiatives, such as launching a unified digital design system and embedding accessibility across digital and print. I also led the redesign of a multi-language global app used by nearly one million users, optimized the subscription experience to grow the user base and increase donations, and modernized the online donation flow to boost conversions. I played a key role in helping the organization transition from a waterfall to a SAFe agile methodology, setting the stage for sustainable, iterative design practices that supported our UX initiatives. These efforts increased donations and boosted subscription rates, while the redesign of the global app improved accessibility and elevated design maturity, transforming digital touchpoints into mission-aligned experiences that deepened user trust and fostered engagement.
Digital Design System
Project Type
UX Architecture, Design System Development
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Role
Product Owner, Strategist, Art Director, Designer, Project Manager
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BACKGROUND
In 2015, Our Daily Bread Ministries underwent a global rebrand. This update included refreshing its visual identity across print and expanding digital channels such as web, social, email, and video. While the brand evolved, the organization lacked a cohesive digital foundation to ensure consistency across these channels. As a result, teams worked in silos, reinventing solutions for each product without shared design standards or reusable components.
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I led the effort to create the ministry’s first digital design system. This foundation aimed to bring together design, development, and content teams, unify the user experience, and improve efficiency across the global organization.
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Problem
Following the rebrand, the organization’s digital properties remained fragmented and disconnected from the new identity. Inconsistent visual standards, siloed UI patterns, and the absence of documentation caused delays, redundant work, and diminished the user experience. Global teams operated without shared guidelines, and accessibility considerations were applied inconsistently. Without a scalable design system, the organization struggled to maintain quality and efficiency as its digital footprint grew.
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Approach
I initiated and led the design system effort as product owner, strategist, art director, and project manager. I was directly involved in designing and prototyping early components to establish a working model, later transitioning to oversight and QA.
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We conducted a comprehensive UX/UI audit, which included desk research, heuristic evaluations, and click map analysis. This audit documented inconsistencies across typography, color, UX copy, and interaction patterns. Collaborating with marketing, content, and IT product owners, as well as an external accessibility consultant, we defined a digital brand personality aligned with organizational values.
We adopted Brad Frost’s Atomic Design framework, built the system in Sketch, and managed it using InVision DSM. We also engaged with global teams in Canada, the UK, Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia, and India to ensure the system addressed international needs.
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Solution
We delivered a unified design system covering digital color palettes, typography, custom iconography, interaction guidelines, components, patterns, and UX copy standards. To avoid disruption, we rolled out updates iteratively alongside live projects. We incorporated user testing, click map insights, and stakeholder feedback to refine the system, embedding WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards throughout.​
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CHALLENGES
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Gathering and prioritizing needs across diverse global regions
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Securing leadership buy-in and resources
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Aligning technical execution with development teams
Results
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Improved visual and functional consistency across global platforms
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Reduced design and development time
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Decreased QA issues and bugs
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Accelerated onboarding for regional teams and external partners
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Simplified brand maintenance across digital and print
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Elevated design system adoption to an executive-level organizational priority
Impact
Leadership embraced the initiative, which began as a grassroots effort to address digital inconsistencies and evolved into a flagship program recognized at the executive level for its strategic importance.
While I primarily oversaw the US rollout, the system became a foundational resource for global teams, supporting long-term growth and improving collaboration across regions.
ACCESSIBILITY
Project Type
Accessibility Strategy, UX Research
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Role
Product Owner, Strategist, Art Director, Accessibility Lead
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BACKGROUND
Accessibility became a transformative priority at Our Daily Bread Ministries. This expanded the organization’s mission of making biblical resources 'understandable and accessible to all' to address the digital and physical needs of a diverse global audience.
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Initial efforts focused on the U.S., but these efforts eventually influenced global teams and led to an overhaul of flagship print resources and standards.
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Problem
Despite the organization's global expansion, its digital and print experiences were falling short in accessibility. The primary web and email channels lacked visual, cognitive, and auditory accommodations, creating barriers for users with disabilities and exposing the organization to legal and reputational risks. Internally, the organization had not yet prioritized accessibility in the design and development culture, making it hard to prioritize and resource.​
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Approach
As product owner, strategist, art director, and accessibility lead, I set the vision and direction for embedding accessibility across all channels, ensuring a comprehensive approach to inclusivity. I led a focused UX team, which included a researcher and a designer, and worked closely with local and global collaborators.
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We educated ourselves through various certifications and conferences and conducted a detailed audit using accessibility tools and techniques.
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While our hands-on work focused on U.S. digital properties, we collaborated with international teams to extend improvements across global channels and overhaul nearly all print accessibility standards.
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Solution
We integrated accessibility improvements into digital and print design, refining the color palette for contrast, adjusting typography to improve legibility (including for dyslexia), and enhancing interactive elements for better keyboard and screen reader navigation.
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To overcome development resourcing challenges, I reframed accessibility improvements as 'bugs,' which ensured they were prioritized and received a steady allocation of time in the development cycle. I also created business requirements that embedded accessibility into the parallel development of the digital design system, ensuring consistency and scalability. We expanded advocacy across departments, engaging all global design teams and introducing new copy standards and content support practices.
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Challenges
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Securing leadership buy-in and validation
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Aligning global needs and priorities
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Introducing and normalizing accessibility vocabulary across teams
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Overhauling legacy copy and content practices
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Results
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Improved visual and functional accessibility across U.S. digital properties
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Expanded accessibility improvements into global flagship print resources
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Reduced legal and compliance risks (aligned with WCAG 2.1 and U.S. ADA requirements)
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Embedded accessibility into all new project requirements and discussions
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Established partnerships with third-party experts (Allyant) for a full external audit and remediation roadmap
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Baked accessibility directly into the design system, ensuring reliable execution at scale
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Impact
The team shifted accessibility from an afterthought to a core value. It became a routine part of project requirements and team conversations, reshaping the design culture and setting a new global standard for inclusion.
MOBILE APP REDESIGN
Project Type
UX Strategy, UX Research, UX Architecture, App Redesign​
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Role
UX Strategy Lead, Researcher, Architect, UX Director, Product Owner
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BACKGROUND
The Our Daily Bread app serves nearly one million global users by delivering daily devotional content and offering features like reading plans, journaling, comments, and donations. Although a 2016 redesign introduced new capabilities, the app struggled to scale effectively with its expanding audience.​
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Problem
The app confused users and overloaded them, making it difficult for them to navigate a growing content library and for global offices to localize content. Outdated UI patterns, platform-specific constraints, and underutilized features diluted the devotional experience, while backend limitations slowed innovation. A refreshed experience was essential to meet user expectations and achieve organizational goals.​
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Approach
As UX strategy lead and director, I guided all design aspects at a strategic level while supporting the team in execution. I heavily participated in prototype testing and feedback analysis, ensuring we stayed grounded in user needs.
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I analyzed hundreds of user feedback comments from app stores and customer service records, conducted competitive benchmarking, and mapped the full user journey to identify friction points and opportunities. I worked with global teams to gather regional feature requirements and collaborated with customer support and content teams to define user-facing needs.
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I developed the new app architecture and wrote business requirements, which were crucial for aligning backend services with the new UX needs, and led wireframing and prototyping to ensure a cohesive design process. I oversaw an external design partner to accelerate delivery and helped introduce QA processes for the first time within the organization.
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Solution
We simplified navigation, clarified content organization, and introduced new regional customization capabilities. We redesigned the devotional experience to be more visual, focused, and shareable, using insights from social engagement analytics to guide these enhancements. Informal prototype testing was used to validate and refine solutions. Due to React and platform-specific differences, we had to fork designs in some areas to maintain performance and usability. We also laid the groundwork for future innovations like home screen widgets and content shortcuts.​​​
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CHALLENGES
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Streamlining complex navigation without alienating users
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Aligning backend services with new UX needs
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Addressing React and cross-platform limitations
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Establishing formal QA practices in an unstructured environment
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Coordinating internal and external teams across tight timelines
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Results
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Improved content discoverability and ease of use
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Increased regional customization capabilities
Analytics showed increases in time spent in the app and repeated usage, although the baselines from prior versions were not clearly defined, preventing exact usage metrics from being calculated.
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Positive qualitative feedback from stakeholders and users, with rapid iteration on negative feedback post-launch
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Set a foundation for agile, continuous improvement across the app
IMPACT
The redesigned app elevated both the user experience and the ministry’s ability to deliver relevant, localized content worldwide. It strengthened the app as a daily spiritual touchpoint, improved team collaboration, and positioned the organization for sustainable digital innovation.
SUBSCRIPTION EXPERIENCE Redesign
Project Type
UX Design, Journey Optimization, User Adoption, Revenue Strategy​
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Role
UX Lead, Wireframing, Content Strategy, Cross-Functional Collaborator
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BACKGROUND
Our Daily Bread Ministries’ most beloved product is its printed devotional booklet, offered free in 58 languages across 150 countries. In the U.S., the default subscription delivered a 90-day quarterly edition—but few users knew about the richer, 30-day monthly edition available to those who supported the ministry financially. We faced the challenge of increasing awareness of the monthly edition, presenting a clear upgrade path, and communicating this without creating pressure to donate.​
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Problem
The subscription flow obscured key options, preventing users from recognizing the benefits of the monthly edition. As a result, engagement, retention, and potential donations were far lower than they could have been. Research revealed that users were not only missing the upgrade path but also wanted to donate, but the experience was unintentionally blocking them from doing so. The organization’s data showed that monthly subscribers were more engaged and responsive, but the online journey failed to highlight this opportunity or guide users toward it.​​
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Approach
As UX lead, I worked closely with advancement, marketing, development, and customer service teams to analyze the subscription experience. We conducted heuristic evaluations and competitive research, reviewed other organizations’ flows, and mapped the user journey to identify friction points.
I contributed to wireframing and early design work, helping shape both the visual layout and the microcopy to ensure clarity and transparency. A key design challenge was integrating the previously siloed donation process into the subscription flow while ensuring the comparative view of subscription options remained user-friendly.
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Solution
We designed a clear, side-by-side comparison layout that explicitly highlighted the differences between the quarterly and monthly editions, ensuring the monthly option’s benefits were prominently visible and easily accessible. The layout emphasized that financial support was optional and welcomed at any level, reducing pressure. We also introduced a one-time “gift copy” option, allowing subscribers to share the devotional with a friend—expanding the ministry’s reach and reducing unnecessary multi-copy orders.​
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TESTING AND REFINEMENT
Initial testing was conducted internally, followed by A/B testing in live environments and continuous analytics tracking post-launch. Users consistently reported improved clarity, appreciation for the no-pressure messaging, and enthusiasm about the ability to share a gift copy. The team reported and shared insights globally to inform best practices across teams.​
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Results
After one year live, the redesigned subscription experience delivered remarkable improvements:
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31% increase in monthly edition subscriptions
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826% increase in donations from quarterly subscribers (a wild but correct statistic)
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261% increase in overall donation amounts through the subscription flow (another wild but correct statistic)
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25% of subscribers opted to receive an extra gift copy, boosting outreach and lowering fulfillment costs
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IMPACT
By clarifying options and removing friction, we not only improved the subscription experience but also unlocked significant new engagement and financial support, thereby strengthening user trust and satisfaction. The project's success influenced future organizational approaches and served as a model for balancing user needs with mission goals.
DONATION EXPERIENCE Redesign
Project Type
UX Design, Journey Optimization, Revenue Strategy​
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Role
UX Lead, Wireframing, Design Direction, Content Strategy​
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BACKGROUND
As a nonprofit supported primarily through individual donors, Our Daily Bread Ministries needed to modernize its online giving experience to meet the needs of its growing digital audience. The website had a standard 'Donate' button, but the overall experience was unclear, lacked trust signals, and failed to create a meaningful connection. This led to lost opportunities, donor drop-off, and underperformance in terms of financially sustaining its mission.​
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Problem
High bounce and abandonment rates plagued the donation flow, which provided little reassurance about transaction security and missed the chance to educate donors on the ministry’s impact. With the rise of digital-only users, improving this experience became critical to long-term sustainability. Additionally, the backend systems imposed restrictions on form flexibility, further complicating efforts to enhance the user experience. Additionally, the predominantly older donor base required careful attention to usability and progressive disclosure.​
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Approach
As UX lead, I worked closely with marketing, copy, leadership, customer service, IT, development, and finance teams to overhaul the donation journey. I conducted competitor analysis and heuristic evaluation, then helped wireframe and design the new flow while also guiding copy and content strategy.
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We benchmarked nonprofit best practices and analyzed top-performing donation sites to set clear goals: reduce friction, increase trust, and transform the donation moment into a mission-aligned experience. A key challenge was ensuring the new UX design was compatible with existing backend technical constraints, which limited design flexibility. Additionally, we had to address stakeholder concerns from leadership and finance, who were initially hesitant about testing a revenue-critical flow.
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Solution
We designed and prototyped several experiences, ultimately landing on a simplified flow that replaced a dense payment form with cause-based messaging to explain the ministry’s mission and impact. We included FAQs, security credentials, and alternate donation methods directly on the landing page, reducing cognitive load and reinforcing trust. The confirmation and follow-up emails were also redesigned to sustain engagement beyond the transaction.​​
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TESTING & REFINEMENT
We launched a live A/B test with analytics tracking post-launch to compare the new flow against the legacy experience. While initial backend limitations required some design adjustments, the results validated our research-backed hypotheses. Although there were early concerns from leadership and finance, the success of this test eventually became a model for the ministry’s broader global fundraising approach.​
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Results
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45% increase in visitor conversion rate
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$8 increase in average donation amount per user
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Nearly 70% increase in overall donation rate after one year
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Over 78% increase in annual donation totals
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Impact
By focusing on user-centered design, clear communication, and emotional connection, we transformed the donation experience from a transactional moment into a mission-aligned touchpoint. The redesigned flow not only deepened donor trust and generosity but became the foundation for future donation experiences across the organization, influencing both domestic and global fundraising efforts.