CLF Website Redesign
The Challenge
What Success Looked Like
⚠ The Old State
- 4 disconnected websites with overlapping audiences
- 500+ total pages of accumulated, often outdated content
- Mix of 6+ fonts and inconsistent visual branding
- Flash Player dependencies, broken links, outdated design
- No mobile optimization or accessibility standards
- 241 shortlinks to manage across multiple domains
✦ The Vision
- One unified site at clfuu.org — one source of truth
- WCAG 2.1 AA accessible and fully mobile-responsive
- Consistent, modern brand system across all sections
- Easy for non-technical staff to edit and maintain
- Clear user journeys guided by "Connect, Deepen, Act"
- Dramatically reduced content footprint — quality over quantity
The Visual Transformation
⚠ The Old State
- 4 disconnected websites with overlapping audiences
- 500+ total pages of accumulated, often outdated content
- Mix of 6+ fonts and inconsistent visual branding
- Flash Player dependencies, broken links, outdated design
- No mobile optimization or accessibility standards
- 241 shortlinks to manage across multiple domains
✦ The Vision
- One unified site at clfuu.org — one source of truth
- WCAG 2.1 AA accessible and fully mobile-responsive
- Consistent, modern brand system across all sections
- Easy for non-technical staff to edit and maintain
- Clear user journeys guided by "Connect, Deepen, Act"
- Dramatically reduced content footprint — quality over quantity
How We Got There
Unified, Accessible Website
Combine CLF, WN, Q4M, and Daily Compass into one WCAG 2.1 AA compliant, mobile-friendly site launched by February 2026.
Increase Engagement & Discoverability
Improve navigation, content design, and search. Target: engagement time from 48 sec → 1.5 min; search events from 48 → 200/month.
Drive Member Growth & Engagement
Make it easy to donate, join, renew, connect as a pen pal, and navigate to Church Center — all intuitive paths from one site.
Increase Abolition Content Views
Feature justice content prominently. Target: 50% increase in abolition-themed page views (from ~440 to 660+ per month).
Attract Volunteers & Donors
Surface clear calls-to-action for giving, volunteering, and sharing the plate. Streamline the donation experience.
Sustainable Maintenance System
Build a site the team can maintain long-term: automatic updates, user roles, content review schedules, and training documentation.
Visual Design Decisions
What Users Said
2025
Discovery & Audit
Content audit of 500+ pages across four sites. Stakeholder interviews, user surveys, and analytics review to understand what to keep, cut, and combine.
2025
Information Architecture
Hybrid IA approach: designed new sitemap from scratch with Relabeling/Merging/Cutting framework. Card sorting and tree testing with community members.
2025
Visual Design System
Established CLF brand system: refined color palette, Oswald + Lato typography, accessibility-first component library. Presented to team and iterated.
2025
Build Phase
Built in Beaver Builder on WordPress. Coordinated content migration, shortlink consolidation (241→87), and staff training on the new CMS workflow.
2026
User Testing
Moderated testing with 6 community members. Key findings: breadcrumb navigation, Contact Us discoverability, and Church Center explanation needed improvement.
2026
Launch
Site launched at clfuu.org. All four legacy sites sunset. Internal documentation and training completed. Monitoring engagement metrics ongoing.
Results & Impact
AA