Last week, we launched a new site for a long time client, the Canadian Mental Health Association. Their site HeretoHelp.bc.ca is a resource for individuals and families dealing with addictions and mental health issues, and is actually one of BC’s most active online community sites. The site was first conceived in the mid-90’s when the BC provincial government asked the major mental health and addictions organizations in the province to collaborate on a shared online portal. Communicopia has helped the BC Partners group with its mission since day 1.
This year we were asked to refresh the site in terms of back-end technology, improved usability, a more modern look (including wider pages), and in making the site more inviting for their various target audiences to use. New technology is only useful in the advantages provided to its users, and this redesign takes a number of steps forward. Their new drupal CMS makes it easier for the client to publish and manage content, by consolidating site content dynamically and centrally through software. Previously, publishers needed to download and edit files individually, and used an archaic number system to name and keep track of files, and link them all together manually. The automation that software can provide in storing and retrieving data, can be an organizational sigh of relief in this regard.
The technological upgrades make life easier for the internal site managers, the site is more interactive with features such as the ability to comment on stories and experiences, an integrated site search, newsletter subscription, and easier ways to contact people for help. All of these features help BC Partners achieve their mission: providing and connecting users with the right information, or the right people to ask for information.
The structure of the information, and user interface design assist the user visually in knowing where to go. The general aim of the re-design was to reduce information clutter by breaking up and re-structuring, and by adding clean visual hierarchies to related information. A goal was to refresh the design without discarding the recognizability the previous site has garnered. Provided are screenshots of the old versus the new, for your own individual comparison:
