Consolidating a dozen websites into a single, coherent whole
A shared vision to create a website that acts as a fundamental business tool that will support public participation, organisational change and revenue generation as well as partner commercial value.
The Brief
Agency Sauce were challenged to raise the profile of the sport, and increasing participation and membership numbers.
Under the new British Canoeing brand there was a great need to consolidate more than a dozen existing websites into one single, coherent and easy-to-navigate site across a range of devices.
With the objective to make it easy for people to find out where and how to get out onto the water with British Canoeing, the site required integration with British Canoeing’s courses and event management system, as well as conveying progression routes in the sport, from grassroots 'paddlers' through to elite level.
The Solution
Over the years, the organisation had more than a dozen websites, covering different areas of the sport, but with no clear articulation of the British Canoeing offerings. Many of the sites had been used as 'online filing cabinets' and had completely outgrown their architecture.
As well as being confusing for visitors, the websites were based on different platforms and proved difficult to manage. Content was not web-ready or in a consistent tone of voice, with key messages being lost in the sheer quantity of content.
Agency Sauce's methodology saw target audiences carefully segmented into a set of 'personas', including those new to canoeing and British Canoeing members, whilst pulling together an analytical review of the existing websites to help inform decisions surrounding content hierarchy and the prioritisation of navigation options.
The development of a sitemap and ‘basic shape’ to the website prototype, which was presented to stakeholders for feedback in the early stages of the project, saw the team work closely with British Canoeing to continually add layers of detail.
The Result
A website was created that balances the need for extremely detailed levels of information to a wide range of potential visitors, against the need to provide an engaging user experience for each individual.
A navigation hierarchy that provides users with clearly signposted content to help them access the information they want quickly and easily, rather than presenting all of the options at once.