Services
Discovery
UX Design
Creative Design
Technical Implementation
Challenge
ACEC-Ontario is an organization that represents over 130 consulting engineering firms in Ontario. They are leaders in policy advocacy and risk management, providing their member firms with support and knowledge-sharing networks.
Their former website lacked the structure, capability, and organization to communicate the value of membership. It didn’t convincingly show off the work being done to support their member firms, and existing documentation and resources for member firms were difficult to find. Additionally, it was challenging for visitors to know how to get involved with the organization.
Solution
A thorough discovery process uncovered their key challenges and helped us understand the members’ needs. With this knowledge, we sought to:
1
Integrate with Wicket, the world’s first member data platform
- Single Sign-On (SSO)
- Profile management
- Organization profile management
- Role/permission syncing
- Direct API integration for data syncing
2
Improve the member value proposition
- Members-only content
- Enhance the functionality of the member directory
- Personalized account centre
3
Improve findability and discoverability of content
- Improved content organization and robust taxonomy structure for smart tagging
- Flexible templates poised for growth
- WordPress admin back-end is easy to use.
4
Strengthening the brand through a refreshed look and feel
- Balancing innovation and professionalism
- Evolved colour palette and typography
- Flexible, dynamic layouts
Method
Enhanced Member Directory
The member directory is a critical component of the ACEC-Ontario website, offering member firms an opportunity to showcase their services and regional scope to those looking for consulting engineering services. ACEC-Ontario membership demonstrates a firm’s legitimacy and credibility to potential clients, making the directory an effective business development tool for member firms, as well as a key member value offered by ACEC.
Improved member directory:
- Simple and elegant interface, allowing users to find firms by service type, market sector, and region
- An interactive map visually demonstrating the service regions
- Latest, most up-to-date member data directly from the member database, via API integration (no admin intervention required!)
- Members able to self-manage and update data for their member directory listing via the member account centre (no admin intervention required!)
- All firm locations included in the listing, along with contact and head office information
Smart Member Permissions
The website is a key communication tool for ACEC-Ontario to its members and the public. With multiple levels of access, ACEC-Ontario can effectively promote their work and value to the public, while maintaining careful control over content, updates and resources exclusive to members.
All user roles are synced directly with the member database leveraging single-sign-on through Wicket; ensuring frictionless logins and simplified user management.
These roles also grant applicable users access to directly manage and update their own or their organization’s records on the website and sync the changes with the member database.
Content strategy aligned with strategic objectives
Through discovery and collaboration with the ACEC-Ontario team, Industrial identified key content areas to be leveraged in supporting the organization’s mission.
1
Intuitive Information Architecture
- Navigation labels using accessible language and natural organization
- Effective search and refinement through tagging and categorization
- In-context presentation of related content
2
Showcasing powerful advocacy efforts and results
- Topic-based browsing based on advocacy issues
- Connecting relevant related content and resources with advocacy topics
- Member exclusive, in-depth view into advocacy strategies and updates for members
- Promotion of breadth and scope of work to public users
3
Getting Involved
- Improved browsing of available volunteer opportunities
- Clear calls to action and simplified application process
- Streamlined admin notifications
4
Engaging Events
- Visually striking event styles
- Effective promotion of events in context throughout the website
- Automatic application of member pricing to event registration based on member status
Personalized Member Account Centre
The new website has introduced a personalized account centre to serve as a hub for members to view and update their profiles and access member services.
The member account centre integrates directly with the Wicket Member Data Platform API to display relevant user data and provides self-serve access for:
- Updates to profile details and contact information
- Updates to custom field data configured in Wicket
- Updates to login password and communication preferences
- Updates to the organization's profile, contact information and custom fields for designated users
Each user will see a list of their own upcoming events via direct integration with Pheedloop, ACEC’s event platform.
Strengthening and revitalizing the brand
The look and feel of ACEC-Ontario encompass the values of professionalism and innovation, employing a bold and crisp colour palette strengthened by clean and modern typography. The layout balances positive and negative space for a dynamic and clean aesthetic, creating a visual flow that guides the user through the page.
Overlapping colour blocks create a feeling of depth and dimension. The colour palette consists of white, shades of greys and reds. The white and light greys make the site feel spacious and light. The red tones bring touches of visual emphasis, making the site more dynamic and also helps to highlight key elements within the content.
Results
As a result of the redesign, the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Ontario has been empowered with a flexible, smart website that effectively promotes their work and showcases their value to members and the public alike. With this digital foundation, ACEC-Ontario is positioned for growth, with the tools they need to support their strategic objectives.
The integration with the membership database and powerful single sign-on provides ACEC-Ontario members with direct access to their own data and exclusive member services while making certain ACEC-Ontario admins have the most up-to-date information and engagement data about their members.
The updated look and feel better represents the organization's values and strengthens their brand with the use of a crisp, bold colour palette, strong typography and compelling imagery.