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rought to you by Graphically Speaking, our trusted web partner.
Every website redesign begins with an important choice: jump straight into design or take the time to build a strategic plan through research. For our non-profit client that decision to take the time to do thorough user research made all the difference.
Faced with an outdated website that no longer supported their mission, the organization partnered with us to reimagine their digital presence. By starting with a structured Discovery Phase, we aligned stakeholders, uncovered key insights, and developed a roadmap that set the website project up for long-term success.
The Challenge
The non-profit’s existing site suffered from multiple challenges:
- Difficult to update: Staff struggled to make even small content changes.
- Accessibility compliance: The site did not meet accessibility standards, limiting usability for key audiences.
- Outdated design: The look and feel no longer reflected the organization’s services and programs.
- Poor user experience: Visitors found it hard to navigate, locate resources, and take action.
The organization needed more than a visual refresh. They required a website that was accessible, mobile-friendly, user-focused, and reflective of their mission.
The Discovery Process
To achieve this, we conducted a comprehensive Discovery Phase with the following research and planning tasks.
Analytics & SEO Review
We began by examining site data, identifying high- and low-performing pages, user pathways, and traffic sources. This revealed pain points and highlighted opportunities. Alongside this, an SEO assessment and keyword research provided insights into how audiences searched for services and resources.
Site Visitor Survey
We posted a survey on the current website – the survey gathered input from site visitors. Asking questions about their reason(s) for visiting the website; did they find the information they were looking for; and asking for their opinion on the overall satisfaction with the website.
Stakeholder Interviews
Through interviews with leadership, department and volunteer teams, we uncovered both organizational goals and day-to-day frustrations. To complement these internal perspectives, we tested the site with real users and developed evidence-based personas that represented the nonprofit’s core audiences.
Competitive Benchmarking
We analyzed peer websites, studying how others presented their missions, engaged visitors, and addressed accessibility.
Content Audit & Gap Analysis
We audited more than 200 content pages, tagging each to keep, revise, merge, or remove. This process revealed redundancies, outdated materials, and content gaps, especially around calls-to-action.
User Testing (Remote)
To see how users interact with the current website we completed user testing with 8 typical users. This small sample gave us an idea of what the current usability issues were with the website, to address these issues in the new website. The testing sessions were about 60-minutes with each participant. The testing sessions were recorded and the testers provided real time feedback as they interacted with the website as well as testing on the completion of several typical user tasks.
Technical Requirements & Accessibility Planning
On the technical side, we evaluated the content management system plug-in functionality, integrations, hosting, and security environment. Findings confirmed the need for a CMS change and informed requirements such as multilingual support and streamlined approval workflows. An accessibility audit for WCAG 2.0 AA standards provided a list of guidelines for compliance.
Personas & User Journeys
We created personas for their 4 main audiences. Using these profiles and demographics we developed user journeys for each persona. The User Journeys are a step-by-step map that illustrates the user flow through the website, starting with initial contact and continuing through the process of engagement.
Navigation Design & Testing
Using insights from research, we created a new site navigation structure focused on clarity and ease of use. Card-sorting exercises tested the site navigation draft with staff and users, leading to refinements that aligned organizational priorities with user needs.
The Outcome
The Discovery Phase culminated in a comprehensive Discovery Summary Report, which included:
- Key findings and insights
- Audience personas and user journeys
- Content audit
- Recommendations for the new website
- New site navigation
- Technical requirements plan for all website functionality
- Measurable organization and user goals to measure the results of the website redesign.
The report provided a strategic roadmap to guide the design and development of the new website with benchmarks that could be used to measure the results following the launch of the new website.
Conclusion
By doing the discovery planning work before the website redesign, the non-profit positioned its website for measurable success. The process surfaced insights that would have otherwise gone unnoticed, aligned internal teams around a shared vision, and provided a clear blueprint for the web team.
For organizations considering a redesign, this case study outlines the work involved in a thorough Discovery Planning Phase. It transforms a website update or redesign from a design and programming exercise into a strategic initiative—one that ensures the new website is intuitive, accessible, and effective.
