Iterating is one of the most sustainable approaches to web development; It ensures that an organisation’s site stays relevant and responsive to audience needs as they change.
In Tandem’s case the site was able to grow and evolve as their funding increased. Tandem fosters meaningful connections by inspiring, supporting and equipping leaders in the humanitarian and development sector to create a brighter future for all. As they prepared to open applications for their second cohort of leaders, there was encouragement from within the team to improve the website navigation and journeys in order to speak to a wider audience.
The main goal was to position their social impact programme attracting a global audience. Building on their MVP website, we collaboratively addressed three key project challenges:
- It wouldn’t be as sustainable as the MVP.
- We had a precise budget.
- The Tandem team had fixed resources & time.
Maintaining sustainable practice, while facilitating growth
Through collaboration and research with Accenture Development Partnership (ADP), they decided sustainability was a pivotal pillar of Tandem’s global executive leadership programme. They envisioned the website communicating sustainability throughout.
When we developed the original MVP site, we built strong, sustainable code foundations that were prepared to scale. When phase 2 began, we needed a Discovery session; the inputs were the programme’s values and the Tandem community’s feedback. Due to the immense collaboration with the Tandem team, we truly understood the intended experiences needed for expanded audiences and calls to action.
For those who don’t know, sustainability isn’t only low carbon code, it’s designing optimal journeys for your people so they can go on a structured, self paced journey with an effective outcome.
With website growth comes more content, navigation and imagery. However, when additions were made to their site, the carbon footprint was minimally affected. This resulted in a more dynamic and higher functioning website, with an A rating on Website Carbon Calculator.
Maximising the design & development on an efficient budget
Limited budgets do not equate to limited design. For Tandem, having clear acceptance criteria resulted in effective decision-making on what was required to appeal to a global audience.
The refreshed/expanded visual design focused on representing the dynamic nature of the work Tandem does and compellingly communicating to leaders why applying is an enriching experience. The key outcome was to maximise the dynamism of Tandem’s existing assets to grab and guide attention around the site.
Delivering within a strict development budget came down to two factors: the collaboration of our creative and technical teams (identifying opportunities to utilise existing functionality), and the swift and detailed feedback we received from Tandem themselves; allowing us to move at pace through design, build and UAT and remain fully aligned throughout. This helped to convert new cohorts via design and navigational elements that provided clear purpose and a path forward to applying.
Expanding the graphical elements of their brand with transitions and iconography:
Pushing brand retention with interactive content:
Demonstrating a world view of system change was fundamental for Tandem to be able to recruit new members of the cohort. We understood this was business critical, so we updated the navigation to include ‘Leaders and Impact’. This showcased authentic stories and diversity of the leaders so potential applicants could start to see themselves in the programme and get a sense of the value and skills they’d develop.
Putting the leaders front and centre:
Empowered Internal Team for Content Entry
As an organisation set on inspiring and empowering audiences through their work, we recognised the need for internal teams to feel equally as empowered when it came to managing their communication through the website itself. A difficult back-end results in out-dated content and high reliance on your developer to implement simple tasks.
We provided a virtual WordPress CMS training session to teach the team how to use their website. Prior to launch, they were confident in uploading and editing the site with informative content.
Successful Launch of Phase 2
Through our partnership we overcame limitations and harnessed mutual strengths:
- Strong, open collaboration and communication between Tandem and Wholegrain
- A sustainable design lens to maximise the elements we already had
- Clear expectation setting during Discovery to stay on course towards expected outcomes
As we said, iterating is one of the most sustainable approaches to the web development journey. By clearly mapping out what developments Tandem’s audience needed from the original MVP site, we were able to deliver their updated website on time and budget. Now, they have a dynamic website that represents their vision and work, connects leaders, evolves skills, and cross-pollinates knowledge across sectors and countries.
Check out Tandem’s website for yourselves!
“There was great collaboration between Wholegrain and the Tandem team which meant we could keep the project on track and moving in the right direction throughout. Ultimately, we launched on time, with very little UAT feedback to address!”
– Havana, Project Manager
