Overview

Aforja is an innovative platform connecting purpose-driven entrepreneurs with investors. Started up by two stakeholders from
UK who are totally passionate about it,
this project is just getting off the ground.

My Role

UX/UI Designer

Duration

2 months

Tools

Figma, FigJam,Excel

Our Design Process

We used Double Diamond design method for identifying the problem and developing a solution.

Discover

Stakeholder Interview

We had interview with the stakeholders to get a clear understanding of their goals. Aforja’s mission is to help build great companies for purpose with profit. They would like to build a platform that makes it easier to match investors with purposeful entrepreneurs.

Competitor Analysis

We performed in-depth desk research, analysing competitor user journeys and conducting a SWOT analysis. This strategic approach provides key insights for informed decision-making and planning.

User interviews

We conducted 12 qualitative interviews with Entrepreneurs (first time founders and Experienced Entrepreneurs) and Subject Matter Expert. We synthesised the data from our interviews using the affinity mapping technique. This enabled us to uncover themes and trends to develop into insights

Key Findings

  • 1. Entrepreneurs find long-term mentorship and access to resources from angels just as important as financial support

  • 2. Entrepreneurs want to connect with investors who have similar values and a good reputation of scaling up businesses

  • 3. Entrepreneurs prefer to network with people referred to them from trusted sources

  • 4. First time founders from under-represented backgrounds face more barriers when seeking angel investment

  • 5. Entrepreneurs can be fearful of investors taking control of their business

  • 6. Entrepreneurs find it reassuring to have a trusted third party who can vet investors before facilitating introductions

Define

User Persona

Using our insights we created two personas to represent the users we spoke to. I put one of them here.

“I think that I’m not following the correct steps. There is no one in my immediate network that can fund my idea.”

— Helen Bryant

Experience Map

We developed empathy map for ‘Helena’ based on our insights from user research. and then we used task analysis and User stories to build her Experience Map.

2. Empathy Maps

  • Problem Statement

    Entrepreneurs need an easy way to connect meaningfully with investors who share their business vision, and value authentic relationships, because currently it is hard to meet investors organically without an existing network.

  • Product Vision

    We unite entrepreneurs and investors to create purpose driven impact.

  • Hypothesis

    We believe that by building a desktop product that facilitates bespoke introductions to angel investors, for purposeful entrepreneurs looking for investment, we will be able to unlock funding opportunities to “even the playing field”.

Develop

1. User Flow

We created a storyboard to map out our persona’s user journey. this visual guide helped us understand and present the user experience clearly and simply within our proposed system.

2. Low-Fi wireframes

We created Low-fi Wireframes on paper and with Figjam to visualise the elements that the users will use to interact on the website to achieve their goals.

3. Branding exploration

In this step we chose appropriate fonts, colors, and symbols to come up with High-Fi wireframes that represents the brand identity.

Deliver

1. User Test

We gathered feedback from potential users (mostly people that we interviewed) to evaluate the effectiveness and usability of final product and we received valuable feedback.

2. Prototype

Here is the final prototype.

Meet the team

Oryandlee
Mormont

Sahar
Almasi

Memori
Ahmun

Aleah
Arabi