This project was completed for The Center for Civic Innovation as a part of a course in Technical Writing offered by Georgia State University.
Background: The Center for Civic Innovation is a local non-profit in Atlanta that provides coworking office space for civic minded entrepreneurs as well as providing programs, initiatives and resources for it’s members and organizations making a difference in the city of Atlanta. Part of our task was to redesign the CCI website.
Results: One of our main goals in our redesign was to translate the energy and openness we witnessed in their office space onto their website. However, what we designed had to be implementable by the staff of CCI as well, which meant working within their current Square Space template to ensure an easy transition to the new design.
While they had a great logo and amazing interior design in their office, the website did not reflect that. So changing the color palate of the website and increasing the visibility of their navigation became the first step in our process.
So this:
Became this:
As Content Manager one of my biggest tasks was finding ways to streamline the content on the site to create a more efficient experience for the user. Our client had informed our team that they did not want us to commit to any large scale rewrites or deletions of content, but instead a repackaging or reorganization of the content. To solve this problem I devised a way to highlight specific passages that were able to summarize the text and allowed the user to quickly scan the page for the information they had come for. An example of this technique can be seen on their About page and Contact Us sections:
By highlighting these specific lines of text we created a way for the user to raid the page quickly for information while also leaving the rest of the content intact so that the user could read more in depth if necessary. This technique also allowed us to break up large bodies of text, which were daunting at first glance and turn them in to more manageable blocks of text that were easier to view. This method was applied to every page of their website allowing the user to access information quickly no matter what page they are on.
By creating more efficient content in these pages as well as reorganizing their navigation, the redesigned website is now easier to access which we believe will help draw more daily workers to their space and increase engagement with the communities they serve.
Limitations: One of the most blaring needs within the website are images of the actual work spaces. Currently they provide information and rates for membership and coworking, however they do not display any images of where these potential members and coworkers would be working. This means potential visitors have to drive to their location and see the space in person before committing to paying the fees required to work in the space. A casual daily coworker may not be inclined to go through such a process blindly. Potential members may have doubts about what they are actually receiving in exchange for their fees. Images of their space, offices and conference rooms would only increase their ability gain new members, coworkers and revenue.