NSDT.
About NSDT
North Smethwick Development Trust is a charity that work to positively impact the community of North Smethwick by promoting social inclusion and wellbeing. They help unleash the potential of members of the community.
Challenges
NSDT wanted a bold, bright website that was easy for users to navigate round and really told the story of what the charity is about. They wanted a site to be proud of.
- The previous website had an unclear navigational structure so the website was extremely difficult to use.
- The information was disjointed and hard to find.
- The site itself was extremely outdated, it did not reflect the vibrancy of NSDT or represent the amazing work they have done with the community.
- The branding was disjointed with it primarily looking like The Brasshouse was the charity.
- The website had many pages.
- The site had two areas – community and business through the venue hire.
Solution
To create and develop a vibrant and engaging site that easily showcases who NSDT are and the services they offer, as well emphasise the core values and initiatives of the charity.
- Professional
- Modern
- Vibrant
- Empathetic and sympathetic
- Informative
- Easy to navigate
- Strong call to actions
- Ability to grow with the site
- Easy for the team to manage
From the beginning
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From initial contact with Jenn (CEO) we immediately understood the vision of the charity. The passion Jenn and the team had for the work they do for the community was palpable. It was very clear that their work is about making a real difference to people’s lives and we wanted to illustrate this vibrancy, passion and empathy for others through the site, yet at the same time appeal to different segments such as funders and sponsors. We felt it was integral to get across the core messages and ambitions of the charity.
It's more than just a website
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To start with we needed to understand the charity as a whole, it’s core values and beliefs, who it serves, what it is about and who they are targeting. This wasn't just about building a website. It was about understanding the charity as a whole and working with a holistic approach, to ensure that the website underpins the charity’s marketing objectives going forward.
Simplifying the navigation
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Once we understood the charity, the tone, who they were communicating to on the site and the goals they wanted to achieve from the site, we set to work on building the design and structure. Our main focus was to ensure the navigation was easy to use with the journey for the user being consistent and simple across the site. The navigation was broken into 4 main segments, making the main menu less cluttered, which has resulted in users being able to understand the information and navigate easily through the site.
Communicating the message
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The charity have so many amazing initiatives such as Your Local Food Pantry which helps hundreds of families have access to food. The Brasshouse Community Centre has appeared on BBC’s Saturday Morning Kitchen and BBC One News for the support they give to the community. Its also had a visit from Julie Walters, for recognition of NSDT's work with young artists in the community. For us it was important that all this was showcased throughout the website and each page had its own story that fit in with the overall ambitions of the charity.
Fresh and eye catching design
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The design element of this project was crucial in providing the right solution. It had to complement NSDT's branding and The Brasshouse but it also needed to bring out the personality of the charity. The strong use of colours to complement main headings helped represent the brand and the images were made more impactful by combining different elements. We used white space effectively to make it easy for users to digest information and provide the right design hierarchy with images and typography.
Appealing to different users
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We wanted to ensure the website was relevant for the community and those using services at NSDT, whilst also making it engaging for businesses, funders and sponsors to cater for all audiences. Primarily the site is aimed at those within the community. It is very community focused and uses snippets of real people’s views, this takes shape in a variety of ways – testimonials, videos, and volunteer stories. We felt it was important that the website highlighted that to some people this charity has proved to be their lifeline.
Results
A fresh, modern, easy to use website that works for the charity and one that our client absolutely loves and is now proud to send people to.
- 25% increase in enquiries for venue hire.
- Average bounce rate 40%.
- Average page increase per session 3 v 1.