Partnering for a digital transformation
Given the new Executive regime, we pursued the large initiative of redesigning and re-platforming our entire website. We partnered with an outside vendor to design and develop this new visual language. In this project, we aimed to structure a new foundation that would allow CFR to build products more efficiently moving forward.
Timeline
1 year
Team
Vendor (2 designers)
CFR (Managing Director, Creative Director, Director of Design, 2 PMs)
Methods
Moodboard + Prioritization Workshops, Creative Direction, Visual Design
Goals
Getting as close as possible to one band, one sound
It’s inevitable with an organization of our size, all with varying opinions, to have too many cooks in the kitchen
Develop an intuitive, scalable, and adaptive CMS
Moving forward, we needed a foundation that could be more adaptable for Editorial to write, for Digital to build, and for Studies to create
Craft an award-winning design language
When someone comes to or engages with anything CFR-related, the desire is for our distinct aesthetic to be memorable
Problem
Business: Drupal’s complex CMS limits each department’s output
User: Lack of functional and visual consistency across the website
Defining the problem: How might we enable both our organization and users to optimize their experience with the new CMS?
Solutions
Gather insights from other departments throughout the process
Leverage WP VIP
Collaborate with a vendor who can effectively synthesize + produce
Key Challenges
Transmitting institutional knowledge
There’s insufficient information about the airport structure and staffing; however, what is around the airport matters just as much as the airports themselves
Creative direction instead of design production
Analysts want to be provided with features to slice the data in a variety of ways and potentially see trends
Filling component gaps
The map view is more for a casual reader looking for visual storytelling, and the table view is for an analyst who is building on a thesis
Stakeholder Buy-In
As a Studies expert, I want to increase visibility of my content and continue creating curated experiences.
As an Executive leader, I want to elevate the CFR brand and collaborate with the best experts + thought leaders.
As an Editorial writer, I want to focus on the quality of our content and not worry myself about how to use the CMS.
“I can’t wait to not have to Frankenstein an article or page within Drupal.”
“We cannot continue telling the stakeholders that building certain components is technically not feasible or too complex because of the backend.”
As an Outreach coordinator, I want to know I’m using the proper visual language and easily produce events.
As a Digital team member, I want the flexibility to produce products and experiences for our stakeholders + users.
As a CFR user, I want to discover content and gain more context about a topic my community engages with.
Alignment Workshops
Both internally + collectively, we diligently discussed everything from URL slugs, taxonomies, single vs two column, or the great color detox to avoid the clumped together aspects of our legacy site.
“What phrase or object best represents how you want this site to look and feel?”
Early Ideation
The map view is more for a casual reader looking for visual storytelling, and the table view is for an analyst who is building on a thesis
Final Designs
After migrating content and building out pages, we’re picking up where our vendor left off. Refining components that don’t work with real content, simplifying blocks due to performance issues, extending the design language to missed opportunities, and writing documentation with rationale for us moving forward.
