"We've been working with the team at Upanup since 2016 and everything they deliver is impeccable. We always appreciate their work!"
Vanessa West
Chief of Staff, British Columbia Assembly of First Nations
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The Challenge
The BCAFN website serves many audiences, with different community priorities, levels of language and digital literacy, and Internet access and speeds. Our focus was creating a dynamic design that best serves these varied needs and preferences. We leveraged insights from website users, along with our team's UX design expertise and experience working with BCAFN, to create a beautiful, effective solution.
The Solution
We kicked off this project by gathering insights from BCAFN audiences, including Chiefs of First Nations communities, external agencies, and the media. Survey results actively shaped the new website design. For example, respondents identified upcoming events and community details as the most important information for them, and the design prioritizes this content with a prominent events calendar and interactive map to highlight individual communities.
Our content experts collaborated with BCAFN staff to craft clear, well-organized pages and an easy-to-navigate site map. One-on-one user testing with initial designs confirmed a layout that works well for all literacy levels and browsing styles. The homepage, for instance, is a streamlined showcase of events, news, and priority areas. Banners feature eye-catching visuals and concise messaging that is easy to scan.
The Results
The new BCAFN website reflects First Nations cultures, feels modern, engaging and dynamic, and makes it easy for everyone to access information. The website's Drupal platform provides useful functionality, like automatic event archiving, to keep the website up-to-the-minute and reduce workloads for busy staff. The result is an effective communication tool that reflects real user needs and the proud, progressive, and innovative nature of BCAFN. We're excited that the website just won an Arcturus award in the Vega Awards, an international competition recognizing creative digital communication. Check out the new website here.
