Background
The Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy’s website was previously part of the larger University of Lethbridge website. While this provided a foundation for sharing information, making updates was often difficult, and the overall user experience and design did not fully meet the Institute’s needs.
With around 100 pages, including section landing pages, resource listings, events, newsletters, staff, and research affiliate bios, the Institute identified the need for a standalone website. The goal was to better serve its diverse audiences and more effectively showcase the breadth of its work.
Project Goals
Professional, Modern Identity
Create a visually engaging website that reflects the Prentice Institute’s branding and visual identity.
Improve Content Organization & User Experience
Restructure site content and navigation to provide a seamless experience across all devices for both primary ( policymakers, planners, NGOs) and secondary (researchers, U of L affiliates) audiences.
Highlight Core Offerings
Clearly communicate the Institute’s mission, strengths, services, and data analytics expertise.
Simplified, Efficient Content Management:
Implement a user-friendly CMS to streamline updates and reduce administrative burden.
Enhance Resource Discoverability
Make resources easy to find with robust search functionality and metadata-tagged listings.
Simplify Content Management
Redevelop the site using Craft CMS for flexible, secure, and efficient content editing.
SEO & Social Sharing
Improve online visibility with modern SEO strategies and social sharing features.
Ongoing Support
Ensure long-term performance with managed hosting, regular updates, and maintenance.
Approach
Discovery & Audience Analysis
- Identified primary and secondary audiences to guide content, structure, and functionality.
- Reviewed existing content and conducted research on similar organizations’ websites.
Content Planning & Structure
- Audited current pages to determine what to retain, revise, or remove.
- Developed a clear, engaging homepage to communicate offerings and direct users to key content.
- Improved resource presentation with advanced search and metadata tagging.
- Restructured navigation and page layouts for clarity and engagement across devices.
Resource Presentation & Discoverability
- Enhanced resource listings with metadata (title, summary, author, content type).
- Implemented advanced search functionality to help users quickly find relevant content.
News, Events & Featured Content
- Made news and events easier to find with clear navigation and homepage features.
- Added calls to action for newsletter sign-up and access to archives.
- Designed the site to highlight newly published briefs and featured resources.
Staff & Affiliate Listings
- Introduced individual profile pages for staff members.
- Simplified research affiliate listings by linking to their University of Lethbridge profiles, reducing redundancy.
Content Management & Editing
- Integrated Craft CMS with custom content types and fields for streamlined editing.
- Focused on ease of use to minimize editorial effort and maximize flexibility.
Outcome
The Prentice Institute’s new standalone website delivers a modern, user-friendly experience with improved organization and resource discoverability.
Using Craft CMS as a flexible content management system, the Prentice Institute now fully controls its online presence to better engage its diverse audiences, and effectively showcase its mission and research impact.
“With his expertise, our initial ideas were transformed into a site that is concise and useful to our audience. The look and feel of the new site is a vast improvement over its predecessor. We would be happy to work with Dany again.”
