The project began with a clear challenge: volunteer onboarding. Key information was scattered across slide decks, disconnected documents, and videos. Without a central home for this content, there was no clear path for volunteers to understand the organization’s mission and work—leading to confusion, repetitive questions, and a disjointed experience for passionate new team members.
Exploring Options Within Real Constraints
To address this, we began prototyping options to balance two priorities: a strong volunteer experience and sustainable maintenance over time.
We made one thing clear from the start: no new tools. Simplicity mattered more than novelty. Volunteers didn’t need more logins—they needed a centralized space that worked with systems already in place.
That led us to explore two main paths:
Squarespace: Already used for the public-facing website, and familiar to the founder.
Microsoft 365: The platform already supporting internal email, document sharing, and daily operations.
A Strategic Shift: Building on What Already Works
As we explored possible solutions, it became clear this wasn’t just about onboarding—it was about communication, collaboration, and culture.
The organization had outgrown its informal systems. Most information flowed through the founder, creating bottlenecks. The team needed a shared space—not just to orient volunteers, but to work together more effectively.
That realization led us to SharePoint, which was already integrated into their Microsoft 365 ecosystem. It offered secure access, seamless collaboration, and a way to distribute knowledge more equitably, without adding new tools or logins.
The founder was open to trying it. And once the CTO endorsed the direction, the vision expanded:
We weren’t just delivering content anymore; we were building a digital home.
Why SharePoint Made Sense
SharePoint wasn’t just a platform—it was a practical fit for the way the team already worked. It offered:
Built-in Access & Security: All volunteers already had Microsoft emails to sign NDAs, making login seamless.
A Single Source of Truth: Instead of scattered files and outdated links, everything could live in one place.
Collaboration at the Core: Integrated with Microsoft Teams, SharePoint supported both async updates and real-time teamwork.
Room to Grow: From role-based permissions to automation, the platform had the flexibility to scale as the organization grew.
While it was new to many on the team, choosing something familiar under the hood meant we could spend time designing for usability, not troubleshooting access.
Key Takeaways from This Phase
Remote-first teams need more than onboarding—they need infrastructure for connection.
When team members span time zones, countries, and tech comfort levels, design must prioritize flexibility and clarity.
Assumptions are only useful if we’re prepared to rethink them.
Discovery isn’t a step—it’s a mindset that shapes every phase of the work.
From that early back-and-forth, a stronger, more focused solution took shape. Select “Strategic Solution” to see what we built, how it works, and why it fits.