HOW TO REACH YOUNG DONORS –
LAUNCHING THE FIRST BLOOD DONATION APP FOR SBC
ROLE | UX/UI DESIGN / USER FLOWS / VISUAL SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
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UX Visual Design: Simplified appointment user flow, integrated donor tracking, created individual blood ID cards, designed UI elements for rewards program and system, aligned visuals with SBC brand.
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Collaborated with ThoughtBot to develop the app.
GOAL | Stanford Blood Center needed to engage younger donors to address an aging donor population. We launched SBC's first mobile app to simplify the donation journey and build community through gamified incentives, transforming one-time donations into sustained habits among digitally-native audiences.
IMPACT | 30% engagement increase, 40% higher registrations. Transformed blood donation into a meaningful, rewarding experience for younger donors.
Designing SBC's first mobile app taught me to balance craft with constraints—mobile screens demand clarity and purpose in every pixel. As the sole in-house designer collaborating with Thoughtbot, I learned to advocate for design decisions across teams, translate brand guidelines into specs, and design systems that scale. I focused on creating the badge and iconography system (simplified icons representing donation milestones) and participated in UX research with Stanford students— closer to our target age group of "young donors". Watching real users interact with prototypes taught me to design for behavior, not just aesthetics. Most importantly, I learned that healthcare design requires empathy: every choice needed to make donors feel welcomed, not clinical.
APP REVIEW
Our primary goal with the SBC mobile app was simple: get it downloaded, get it used, and make blood donation more accessible (especially for younger donors). We knew that if the app didn't feel approachable and easy from day one, donors wouldn't adopt it—and we'd lose our chance to modernize the donation experience.
But accessibility was only part of the equation. We also needed to motivate donors to return—blood donation isn't a one-time transaction, it's a sustained commitment. That's where designing the badge incentive system became critical: transforming abstract donation counts into visual achievements that donors would want to collect and share.
THE PERSONALIZED “ME” PROFILE PAGE
The 'ME' tab is your donor command center. Your digital ID card (scannable at centers, no plastic needed—hello #GreenDonor) lives at the top. Below: upcoming appointments, past donation history you can rate, current promotions, a map to your next donation, and 'My Stats' showing test results and earned badges. Everything a donor needs to stay informed, motivated, and ready to give.
BADGE INCENTIVE SYSTEM
One of my first and main projects for the SBC mobile app was designing the badge incentive system that would motivate donors to return and celebrate their impact. Stanford Blood Center already had an existing donation incentive program based on milestone numbers, but it had never been visualized in a cohesive, engaging way. My role was to create the icon system that would bring these milestones to life.
I designed badges for each donation tier—from first-time donors to 50+ donation heroes—along with specialty promotional badges for seasonal campaigns and community challenges. The goal was to make each badge feel earned and meaningful, not just decorative. I explored different visual styles before landing on a clean, friendly approach that balanced medical credibility with approachable design. Each icon needed to be instantly recognizable at small sizes (mobile screens!) while still feeling special and worth collecting.
The badge system became a core part of the app's retention strategy. Donors could see their progress, anticipate their next milestone, and feel a sense of pride in their donor identity. It transformed abstract 'number of donations' into tangible achievements—turning a transactional experience into something donors looked forward to and shared with others.
DONATE + STORE PAGES
