Royal Caribbean &
Make-A-Wish Partnership
Royal Caribbean & Make-A-Wish Partnership
Hackathon
Team
Milica Sremcev,
Cynthia Orelien,
Anuella Alexander
Tools
Figma, FigJam,
Slack, OtterAi
Milica Sremcev,
Cynthia Orelien,
Anuella Alexander
Figma, FigJam, Slack,
OtterAi
Overview
Why Did I Decide to Tackle This?
Royal Caribbean's partnership with Make-A-Wish America has the potential to inspire and drive positive change, but the lack of visibility and integration within the user experience limits its impact. In a fast-paced, five-day hackathon, our team crafted a solution to seamlessly embed donation opportunities, enhance transparency, and emotionally connect visitors to the cause.
Royal Caribbean's partnership with Make-A-Wish America has the potential to inspire and drive positive change, but the lack of visibility and integration within the user experience limits its impact. In a fast-paced, five-day hackathon, our team crafted a solution to seamlessly embed donation opportunities, enhance transparency, and emotionally connect visitors to the cause.
Our prototype introduces a seamless donation flow, live updates on wishes granted, and personalized incentives for donors. By integrating these features, we created a frictionless and inspiring experience encouraging site visitors to take meaningful action.
🎯 Click here to view the prototype
Our prototype introduces a seamless donation flow, live updates on wishes granted, and personalized incentives for donors. By integrating these features, we created a frictionless and inspiring experience encouraging site visitors to take meaningful action.
🎯 Click here to view the prototype
The Challenge
Royal Caribbean’s partnership with Make-A-Wish is difficult for potential donors and travelers to find. Information and donation options are buried, causing users to resort to external searches, ultimately hindering engagement and limiting donations.
The Challenge
Royal Caribbean’s partnership with Make-A-Wish is difficult for potential donors and travelers to find. Information and donation options are buried, causing users to resort to external searches, ultimately hindering engagement and limiting donations.
There is limited visibility and awareness of the "Wish at Sea" program on the Royal Caribbean website, making it difficult for users to access information and donate seamlessly. Currently, users must resort to external searches to find donation links, which is hindering engagement.
How might we visually convey the impact of Make-A-Wish to Royal Caribbean’s socially conscious site visitors in a way that captures their attention, fosters transparency, and inspires donations?
How might we visually convey the impact of Make-A-Wish to Royal Caribbean’s socially conscious site visitors in a way that captures their attention, fosters transparency, and inspires donations?
There is limited visibility and awareness of the "Wish at Sea" program on the Royal Caribbean website, making it difficult for users to access information and donate seamlessly. Currently, users must resort to external searches to find donation links, which is hindering engagement.
Understanding
Our Users
We analyzed studies on the impact of charitable giving, particularly
within the Make-A-Wish Foundation:
A 2022 Wish Impact Survey found that 89% of medical professionals observed increased resilience in children granted wishes, while 97% of parents reported higher joy and hope.
A 2018 Nationwide Children's Hospital study showed that wish recipients had fewer emergency visits and hospital admissions.
Make-A-Wish has granted 500,000 wishes globally, demonstrating the lasting impact of these experiences.
Research Plan
We crafted an innovative web experience that seamlessly integrates donation opportunities within the partnership tab, while enhancing the visibility and impact of the collaboration. Our solution includes a high-fidelity prototype featuring a user-friendly donation flow, live updates on wishes granted, and personalized incentives for contributors. By streamlining the process and showcasing the program’s impact, we created a seamless and inspiring experience that fosters emotional engagement and encourages meaningful action.
We crafted an innovative web experience that seamlessly integrates donation opportunities within the partnership tab, while enhancing the visibility and impact of the collaboration. Our solution includes a high-fidelity prototype featuring a user-friendly donation flow, live updates on wishes granted, and personalized incentives for contributors. By streamlining the process and showcasing the program’s impact, we created a seamless and inspiring experience that fosters emotional engagement and encourages meaningful action.
To tackle the challenge of integrating the Royal Caribbean and Make-A-Wish partnership into the user experience, we followed a structured 5-day design sprint process.
Each day focused on a key phase of design thinking, allowing us to dive deep into user needs, ideation, and execution while staying aligned with our project goals.
To tackle the challenge of integrating the Royal Caribbean and Make-A-Wish partnership into the user experience, we followed a structured 5-day design sprint process.
Each day focused on a key phase of design thinking, allowing us to dive deep into user needs, ideation, and execution while staying aligned with our project goals.
Understanding Our Users
We analyzed studies on the impact of charitable giving, particularly
within the Make-A-Wish Foundation:
A 2022 Wish Impact Survey found that 89% of medical professionals observed increased resilience in children granted wishes, while 97% of parents reported higher joy and hope.
A 2018 Nationwide Children's Hospital study showed that wish recipients had fewer emergency visits and hospital admissions.
Make-A-Wish has granted 500,000 wishes globally, demonstrating the lasting impact of these experiences.
To understand the motivations and challenges of socially conscious travelers, we conducted structured research. Anuella played a key role in sourcing participants through social media, philanthropic networks, and personal outreach.
To understand the motivations and challenges of socially conscious travelers, we conducted structured research. Anuella played a key role in sourcing participants through social media, philanthropic networks, and personal outreach.
With middle-aged (35–55) travelers who support philanthropic causes and prioritize family-friendly or adventure-focused travel.
With middle-aged (35–55) travelers who support philanthropic causes and prioritize family-friendly or adventure-focused travel.
Engaged in community programs, children’s charities, or environmental initiatives.
Engaged in community programs, children’s charities, or environmental initiatives.
Donated within the past two years, online or in person.
Donated within the past two years, online or in person.
"A terrible website, someone seeming unknowledgeable about the subject, and lack of diversity in the cause would prevent me from donating"
"A terrible website, someone seeming unknowledgeable about the subject, and lack of diversity in the cause would prevent me from donating"
"Being able to see the hands-on work. That level of transparency helps people feel their impact is meaningful."
"Being able to see the hands-on work. That level of transparency helps people feel their impact is meaningful."
"Thorough information and actual proof that the donation is going to where they promised."
"Thorough information and actual proof that the donation is going to where they promised."
These insights shaped our strategy, revealing key pain points like donation transparency, navigation challenges, and the need for stronger emotional engagement.
These insights shaped our strategy, revealing key pain points like donation transparency, navigation challenges, and the need for stronger emotional engagement.
UI Inspiration
Based on these insights, we created a user persona to represent socially conscious individuals who value emotional engagement, transparency, and a sense of community. This persona helped guide our design decisions, ensuring the solutions align with the motivations, pain points, and goals of our target audience.
Based on our persona, Linda, we created a storyboard to showcase her journey. It highlights key moments, such as the user-friendly donation process, transparency, and her emotional connection to the cause. Inspired by the experience, Linda shares the initiative with her family, amplifying its impact.
Discovery
Linda visits Royal Caribbean’s website and stumbles upon the Wish-at-Sea initiative through a prominent call-to-action.
Engagement
She explores the partnership page, featuring personal stories and a real-time impact tracker.
Donation
The simplified process allows her to donate in just a few clicks, directly within the site.
Reinforcement
A follow-up email and website updates showcase how her contribution made a difference.
Due to time constraints and brand considerations, we pivoted to a simpler yet impactful approach:
✅ Adding the Partnership tab to the navigation bar for continuous visibility
✅ Updating the hero section with a compelling image of a child’s wish being granted
Collaboration & Execution
Collaboration & Execution
Our team worked efficiently within a short timeframe, leveraging our strengths to execute the vision:
Maurice (Me) – Led wireframing and prototyping, ensuring a polished final design.
Milica & Cynthia – Created visual assets and gathered inspiration from existing Royal Caribbean pages.
Anuella – Developed copy that emotionally resonated with users while maintaining brand voice.
Users want a clear, emotional connection with the cause, a simple donation process, and follow-up communication that highlights their impact.
Navigation Bar: Consistent visibility
Hero Section: High-impact storytelling
Footer: Low-disruption placement
Hamburger Menu: Accessible but subtle
Based on user feedback favoring storytelling and ease of access, we focused on the navigation bar and hero section. Given time constraints, we opted for an impactful yet simple solution:
Navigation Bar: Incorporated the Make-A-Wish logo for visibility.
Hero Section: Highlighted a compelling image of a child whose wish was granted, creating an emotional connection.
Key Learnings
✔ Users respond to clear emotional storytelling and transparency.
✔ Business objectives must align with user needs for maximum impact.
✔ Strong collaboration enables efficiency under tight deadlines.
✔ Users respond to clear emotional storytelling and transparency.
✔ Business objectives must align with user needs for maximum impact.
✔ Strong collaboration enables efficiency under tight deadlines.
✔ Users respond to clear emotional storytelling and transparency.
✔ Business objectives must align with user needs for maximum impact.
✔ Strong collaboration enables efficiency under tight deadlines.
🔹 Refine the hero section for a stronger emotional impact while maintaining Royal Caribbean’s clean aesthetic.
🔹 Explore A/B testing different donation placements to measure effectiveness.
Want to create something awesome? Drop me an email.
Want to create something awesome? Drop me an email.
Want to create something awesome? Drop me an email.
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