Website design and development

Problem: Our client, a not-for-profit organisation, was redeveloping their website.

While their original website was adequate, it was looking tired and old fashioned. In addition it didn’t deliver the functionality required by its users.

Visitor numbers had fallen off and there was very little interaction with the site.

Practical design

The process: Development budgets were limited. So we needed to tread a path between the idea requirements of users and what was possible to achieve.

Our first step was to explore user requirements through focus groups and interviews. We also reviewed other, similar websites from around the world to identify best practice and innovative ideas. This enabled us to propose new structures and functionality.

We then discussed the proposals with the client’s development team to ensure that our recommendations were possible to implement within budget. Where necessary, alterations to scope and structure were agreed.

From this work we were able to create a new information architecture for the site including detailed wireframes for new functionality, plus the graphical assets (imagery, buttons, navigation bars etc) that the site would need.

A complete design solution

The solution: Detailed wireframes, page templates and individual graphical assets were produced so that the developer team had everything they needed to build the site.

We also developed accessibility and search engine optimisation guidelines. These were discussed with the development team so they understood the implications and could ensure that the final site was compliant with accessibility requirements as well as being search engine friendly.