Audrey Muller - California Wildfires – Interactive One-Page Story

Role: UX/UI Designer
Tools: Adobe XD, Divi for WordPress, Photoshop, Illustrator
Timeline: 2 weeks | College Project (Interactive Design Course)

Overview

This project was created to raise awareness around the devastating 2020 West Coast wildfires, with a specific focus on California. The goal was to inform users about the human and environmental impact, encourage wildfire prevention, and drive engagement with an environmental nonprofit. It was also an exercise in building a responsive, interactive website from concept to prototype using Divi in WordPress.

Goals

- Tell a compelling, emotionally resonant story about the 2020 wildfires

- Use animation and motion to increase engagement

- Practice building in Divi to simulate real-world designer/developer collaboration

My Role

I handled the full design process:

- Wireframing in Adobe XD

- Visual design (UI, color palette, typography, logo, graphics)

- Video + image sourcing

- Layout + animation planning

- Implementation in WordPress using Divi

Key Features

- Hero Section: Background video featuring wildfire news footage

- Scrolling Navigation: Custom scroll effects to guide users through story beats

- Content Flow: A narrative structure that moves users from emotional impact → stats → causes → prevention → learn more

Final Comps

Wireframes

Key Challenges

- Finding imagery that felt cohesive, respectful, and impactful

- Balancing storytelling with clarity and accessibility

- Working within the limitations of a WordPress visual builder while still achieving strong interactivity and visual polish

What I Learned

- How to tell a story visually and structure a site for emotional engagement

- Hands-on experience with Divi as a web builder and what’s realistic when designing for no-code tools

- Confidence using video and motion design to enhance clarity, not just aesthetics

- How to think about designer-to-developer handoff even when you're building the final site yourself