The Early Childhood Development Association of PEI (ECDA) is a provincial, non-profit organization committed to promoting and supporting quality early childhood development programs and services for Prince Edward Island’s children and families.
scope
Website UI/UX design & development
challenge
The functionality of ECDA's previous website had started to become obsolete, and their website developer provider was no longer in business. This presented an opportunity for a brand new website.
Three key issues were identified during our strategic website plan process. The first was an obscured navigation. They had their most important information hidden in a sub-navigation menu that was both unclear and ineffective in its design. This resulted in their target audience not understanding how to access the majority of the site's content.
The second sore point was the excessive information on numerous prominent pages, which caused their users to feel overwhelmed and frustrated—ultimately abandoning a potential website conversion being completed.
Lastly, the site is comprised of both a member area as well as a public-facing side. While the member area was sufficient, it lacked a concise summary or easy access to all relevant information for its members. Important actions were buried too deep within the member area or were not accessible entirely.
The new website UI/UX was one with improved navigation and functionality, and an enhanced design. I was responsible for the entire design execution and process of the new website.
I began by simplifying and reworking the entire site structure, content and hierarchy. I then focused on restructuring the navigation menu and paths to better correspond to their target audiences' needs. Subsequently, the navigation was redesigned to be clear and more intuitive for users to recognize as a typical menu.
The member area dashboard was maximized to allow for a summary of all essential and significant information. A key addition was a quick-view progress bar that tracks the number of Professional Development credits each member has earned, as well as the credits required to maintain their certification.
The programming for the new website is currently underway and anticipated to be launched in March 2025.
