Key Challenges
The existing mobile website was functional for visitors but lacked features to support member-specific interactions. Feedback revealed pain points around accessing ministry news, sermon audio, and Sunday service details, as well as inefficiencies in attendance tracking and campaign giving. Additionally, content updates required significant manual effort, and fragmented third-party solutions created operational silos.
Process and Approach
1. Research & Discovery
Conducted user feedback analysis, reviewing accumulated requests and website usage statistics.
Identified four priority features for the app: 1) Sunday Service Information; 2) Sermon Audio Library; 3) Ministry-Specific News; 4) Attendance Tracking and Campaign Giving
2. Strategic Design Decisions
Sustainability: The app was integrated with the existing CMS to streamline content management. Enhancements were made to ensure weekly updates could be maintained seamlessly by the current content staff without additional workload.
Hybrid Approach: To accelerate deployment, we built a hybrid app combining native functionality for audio playback and navigation with web-based components for content. This approach leveraged existing web app infrastructure, ensuring easier updates and lower maintenance costs.
3. Personalized Member Experience
Expanded the existing member account system to enable personalized dashboards, tailored news feeds, and quick access to ministries and sermons based on user preferences. Designed for members as the primary audience, ensuring the app complemented the website’s visitor-friendly focus.
4. Design Highlights
Custom Iconography: Developed a unique visual language, including a pulpit-inspired icon for sermons and a heart-focused icon for giving, emphasizing the community spirit behind donations.
Dynamic Content Integration: Imagery and data were dynamically pulled from the CMS, maintaining visual consistency and reducing manual content updates.
5. Collaboration & Iteration
Worked cross-functionally with content creators, developers, and ministry leaders to unify disparate systems into a cohesive solution. Conducted usability testing to refine navigation, interactions, and overall experience.
Outcome
The Grace Church app was delivered in just four months, meeting both rapid deployment goals and user expectations. Post-launch feedback praised the app’s intuitive interface, seamless integration with existing systems, and its ability to centralize member-focused features. Adoption metrics indicated strong engagement, particularly with the personalized dashboard and streamlined attendance tracking.
By aligning the app’s design with the needs of its audience and leveraging existing resources, the Grace Church app not only enhanced the digital experience for members but also established a scalable foundation for future updates and growth.