ZIMAA
Membership, business directory & event platform
I designed and built ZIMAA’s community website from the ground up, starting with only the organisation’s logo. The platform brought together tiered memberships, member benefits, a directory of Zimbabwean-owned businesses in Australia, gala event information, Stripe subscriptions and automated mailing-list integration. I handled the UI/UX design, plugin research, configuration, integrations and testing before the annual gala.
- Role
- UI/UX Designer & WordPress Developer
- Year
- Launched · 2024
- Scope
- Membership · Directory · Events Stripe · Zapier · MailPoet
Platform ecosystem
One community. Multiple connected services.
Membership & benefits
Business directory
Gala information
Stripe subscriptions
Zapier → MailPoet
External ticket platform
Built and configured in WordPress
01 / Overview
Building ZIMAA’s community platform from scratch.
ZIMAA, a Zimbabwean community organisation in Australia, had no website when I joined—only a logo. The organisation needed to bring people together through paid and free memberships, discounts, business listings and gala information. I took responsibility for the user experience and the WordPress implementation, from selecting suitable plugins through payments and mailing-list automation. This was a platform-building project, not simply a visual redesign.
Project start
From no website to a connected platform
Logo only · No website
→
Designed + configured platform
Membership · Directory · Events · Communication
02 / Starting point
From a logo to multiple connected user journeys.
There was no existing digital product or website to improve. I needed to define how prospective members would join, how subscribers would receive access to benefits, how Zimbabwean-owned businesses could list themselves and how visitors would find gala information. Establishing the Figma design with a client unfamiliar with digital-product workflows also took considerable discussion and iteration. The initial challenge was turning a broad idea into a clear, buildable system.
Membership
Five plan levels · Two subscription periods
Free
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Platinum
6-month subscription
Annual subscription
Benefits depend on tier · Dashboard, shop and event discounts
03 / Membership model
Five membership tiers and benefit-based access.
The membership model included Free, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers. Paying members could subscribe for six months or a year and manage their accounts through a member dashboard. The value proposition was access to discount codes at Zimbabwean-owned shops around Australia, discounted meetups and events, and gala access according to plan entitlements. Each tier had to relate to a real access level; this case study does not assume every benefit applied to every tier.
Business directory
From business submission to discovery
Business submits
Account verification
Listing discoverable
Zimbabwean-owned businesses across Australia
A classifieds-style directory inside the community platform
04 / Business listings
A directory for Zimbabwean-owned businesses.
Alongside memberships, I configured a classifieds-style listings area where Zimbabwean-owned businesses could add their information and verify their accounts. The platform therefore supported two different needs: a person joining the community, and a business making its services discoverable. Listings were part of the wider platform architecture and required separate account and submission testing.
Gala access
Two paths to one annual event
Event details on ZIMAA
Eligible member access
Non-member ticket purchase
Ticket purchasing takes place on an external platform
05 / Gala ticketing
Keep gala details on ZIMAA; ticket purchases external.
The ZIMAA website displayed gala information and directed ticket buyers to a separate ticketing platform using a link. Gala access was also related to the membership level: eligible members could receive access through their benefits, while non-members could buy tickets. I designed the website’s route to the event and its external purchase destination; I did not build the third-party ticketing platform or claim that ticket checkout happened directly inside WordPress.
System architecture
Configured tools working as one platform
WordPress website
Membership + listings
Stripe subscriptions
Zapier → MailPoet
Membership records, payments and mailing-list integration
06 / Platform architecture
Make multiple tools work as one system.
The WordPress website connected membership and directory functionality with subscription payments and communication. I researched and selected the necessary plugins, read the documentation and configured how the parts would work together. Stripe handled subscription payments; Zapier connected membership activity to MailPoet so members could be added to the mailing list. These integrations required coordination between the public-facing experience and the admin-side workflows.
Technical challenges
Alignment, plugin selection and integration
Figma alignment
Plugin research
Integration testing
Stripe setup
Zapier + MailPoet
Researched, configured and tested the workflows
07 / Technical challenges
Integration and stakeholder alignment drove the complexity.
The project was challenging before development even began: the client was new to Figma and took time to align on the interface and functionality. During implementation, choosing suitable plugins and making membership, listings, Stripe and email automation work together required sustained research, testing and troubleshooting. The complexity came from the dependencies between systems rather than from any single page or plugin.
End-to-end role
From interface design to platform testing
UI/UX design
Plugin selection
Membership setup
Stripe payments
Email automation
Directory testing
All six areas personally handled
08 / End-to-end delivery
One person across design, setup and testing.
I personally handled the UI/UX design, plugin evaluation and selection, WordPress configuration, payment setup, MailPoet and Zapier automation, and testing of memberships and business listings. My responsibilities bridged interface decisions and the operational processes that members and administrators needed to use. The delivery deadline was the organisation’s annual gala, so the essential membership and ticketing-related experience had to be ready in time.
Launch
Built for the annual gala deadline
Design & setup
Integration & testing
Ready for gala
Early adoption 50+ members in 3 months
09 / Launch & outcomes
50+ members registered within three months.
The platform was delivered in time for the gala, with the planned membership, subscription and ticketing-related functionality in place. In the first three months after launch, more than 50 members registered. That is the confirmed early-adoption result; it is not a ticket-sales count, paid-conversion rate or revenue figure. ZIMAA subsequently changed the website’s visual design in-house, so this case study focuses on the implementation and platform structure I delivered.
Results & reflection
A connected platform, not just pages
Membership · Listings · Integrations delivered
Launch Before the gala
Membership 50+ in 3 months
10 / Reflection
Designing a website also meant designing its operations.
ZIMAA reinforced how much of a membership website happens beyond the visible pages. Plans, account access, benefits, directory submissions, payment periods, email lists and event links all need to form a coherent experience. I learned to translate a loosely defined brief into a system architecture, make tool choices against actual needs and carry responsibility from design through testing. The result is an example of end-to-end website and platform delivery, not just a collection of screens.
