The Challenge
NASP (The National Association of School Psychologists)—a membership organization that serves more than 25,000 school psychologists, graduate students, and related professionals throughout the United States and 25 other countries—recognized their website was no longer serving the needs of its members.
The website had become outdated and didn’t effectively serve the association’s mobile members. Many NASP members work in multiple schools within a school district and are often on the road. For that reason, NASP members require content that can be easily accessed and shared on multiple devices, in a variety of digital formats.
NASP enlisted DelCor to develop a digital strategy, select a content management system (CMS), and identify the website vendor that would deliver a modern, mobile, fully functional website for NASP’s members.
The Process
To develop NASP’s digital strategy, DelCor began by conducting a discovery that would influence NASP’s eventual selection of a CMS and website vendor. The discovery process focused on several data collecting methods to solicit information and identify staff and member needs.
1. INTERNAL INTERVIEWS:
DelCor initiated the engagement by interviewing staff members including the executive director, chief operating officer, director of communications, webmaster, and key stakeholders within several departments of the organization. In each interview, DelCor discussed NASP’s internal workflow for content management and the challenges different departments faced when adding new content to the website. Additionally, DelCor conducted a workshop for NASP staff to identify what processes were working well and what needed improvement.
2. MEMBER RESEARCH:
NASP members were surveyed for feedback on their experience with NASP’s current website.
3. REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS:
DelCor examined and extrapolated member and non-member feedback, and, along with internal research, helped NASP identify the following requirements for NASP’s audience-focused digital strategy:
- The website must be responsive on different mobile devices
- Content must be easily found and accessed
- Members must have the ability to send content in multiple formats
- Content must be segmented for each of NASP’s identified audiences
- Management of content must be achievable for multiple members of the NASP staff
- Content management workflow must become more efficient
4. CARD SORT:
DelCor conducted a card sort to evaluate the information architecture of NASP’s website. Staff and members were asked to organize topics into categories. Staff participants identified how the website was used to assist members, while members grouped content and identified the terminology used to access content. This data was used to re-structure the website and more readily deliver the content when, where, and how NASP members expect.
5. EXPERT REVIEW:
The final step in DelCor’s discovery process was the expert review conducted by DelCor’s digital strategy team. It included analysis of website data, industry best practices, competitive analysis, and a review of data from the multiple member platforms employed by NASP.
The Result
NASP received a report with all findings from the initial discovery as well as a digital strategy designed to enhance NASP’s content management system with new software, editorial management, and a re-organization of on-site content. Additionally, the content management process was revised to improve overall efficiency and foster collaboration among staff members.Next, DelCor defined the selection criteria for a new CMS and website vendor. RFPs were sent to several vendors, three of which were selected to demonstrate the product and explain how the design process would be implemented. At the completion of the engagement, the client confidently chose a vendor that would implement a new CMS and website that could achieve the requirements of their members and staff.
Questions about this project? Contact DelCor here.
