Request for proposals: User Experience Design Partner

The American Journalism Project seeks a UX design partner to support a comprehensive update of our website’s user experience. This work will be carried out in tandem with an internal messaging refresh and broader content strategy update. We are looking for a collaborator who brings strategic design thinking, clarity, and responsiveness to support our mission and evolving needs.

About us

The American Journalism Project is a venture philanthropy dedicated to local news. We believe in civic journalism as a public good and are reimagining its future by building a model to finance and sustain the local news our democracy requires. We make grants to local nonprofit news organizations to build their revenue and business operations, partner with communities to launch new organizations, and mentor leaders as they grow and sustain their newsrooms. Our website is a central platform for communicating our work and impact to funders, grantees, partners, and the broader public.

Project goals

  • Improve site architecture and navigation to surface priority content through a clear, intuitive structure
  • Ensure content is presented in a way that’s accessible and engaging for target audiences
  • Align web content with updated messaging and tone developed through a parallel internal process
  • Deliver a clean, responsive, and accessible experience across all devices

Scope of work

The selected partner will:

  • Conduct a UX audit of AJP’s current website and provide actionable recommendations
  • Collaborate with the AJP team to design new information architecture and page layouts
  • Produce wireframes for core website templates (homepage, blog, program pages, etc.)
  • Iterate on designs based on feedback from staff and a subset of other stakeholders
  • Prepare final design assets for handoff to our development partner or internal team

Project timeline

  • RFP released: Wednesday, June 18, 2025
  • Proposals due: Wednesday, July 2, 2025
  • Finalist interviews: Week of July 7, 2025
  • Firm selected: Friday, July 11, 2025
  • Project kickoff: Monday, July 14, 2025
  • UX audit & discovery: July 14 – July 25, 2025
  • Wireframe drafting, feedback from stakeholders, and updates: July 28 – August 25, 2025
  • Finalize wireframes + iterate: August 25 – September 18, 2025
  • Full presentation + approval: September 24, 2025
  • Implementation support & QA: September 25 – September 30, 2025
  • Final delivery: Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Proposal requirements

Interested firms should submit a proposal that includes:

  1. Company overview and approach to UX design
  2. Relevant experience (particularly with nonprofits, philanthropy, or media)
  3. Bios of team members who would be assigned to this project
  4. Overview of project process and anticipated touchpoints
  5. Proposed timeline and availability to meet project deadlines
  6. Estimated budget
  7. Portfolio of relevant work or case studies

Evaluation criteria

Proposals will be evaluated on the following:

  • Demonstrated experience with similar projects and audiences
  • Clarity and thoughtfulness of process
  • Design sensibility and UX strategy
  • Ability to meet the stated timeline and collaborate effectively
  • Cost-effectiveness and value
  • Quality of past work and references

Submission instructions

Please send proposals to Roshni Neslage at media@theajp.org, by Wednesday, July 2, 2025, with the subject line: “AJP UX Design Proposal.”

Download the full project description here. If you have questions about the RFP prior to submitting, please contact Roshni Neslage.

We look forward to collaborating with a thoughtful, mission-aligned partner on this important work.