Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation

EXPERTISE

UXD, IA, SEO

PLATFORMS

Squarespace

DELIVERABLES

Website Design and Development

Back

A non-profit in need

The Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation (VJHF) is a non-profit organization located in the heart of the Okanagan and right on our doorstep.

A registered charity, VJHF is dedicated to promoting excellence in health care throughout the North Okanagan, undertaking initiatives in local hospitals, long-term care facilities, and community health outreach.

Like many non-profits, VJHF depends on the generosity of donors for most of its funding.

A growing problem

Advancements in web technology and security have changed the giving process, and individual donors can quickly contribute to their preferred Canadian charities from their favourite spot on the couch.

The overall increase in online giving is fantastic if you have a website that can keep up with technical requirements. Outdated websites that are slow, cluttered, or hard to navigate quickly drive visitors away from the site before clicking “donate.”

VJHF is one of the many outstanding organizations that an outdated website has negatively impacted. The website showed its age visually, and the site navigation made information hard to find. Most importantly, the old VJHF website was not mobile-friendly.

Donation form on the VJHF Squarespace website

The redesign

The first step in the website redesign was to choose the right content management system for the job. Squarespace was the perfect system, meeting all project requirements without unnecessary technical bloat.

With the technical requirements gathered, we began auditing the content and UX of the existing website and developed a draft information architecture based on the client’s needs and UXD best practices.

The hover effect on squarespace website design for VJHF

Setting the tone

From the very beginning of this project, it was clear that setting the right ‘tone’ for the new website was vital. VJHF had an existing (and beautiful) brand guideline for us to incorporate throughout the site and a strong vision for the images used across the site –

Eyes and smiles.

The redesigned website uses all-new photography, taken purposefully for online use. We assisted VJHF with a mood board and art direction for the photo shoot, and the results were incredible.

The result

The new Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation website launched in 2022, and early returns have been impressive.

Website analytic reports show that page views have increased by over 35% since the site launched, with a 30% increase in new sessions (compared to 2021 data). Pageviews and new sessions continue to trend upward.

Perhaps most importantly, the VJHF website redesign has made it easier for users to donate to this great non-profit organization with a new, mobile-friendly user experience design.

“… working with all of you has definitely been a blast. To be honest I was incredibly nervous about this process as I have next to zero tech savvy ability … However your entire team has made this process fun and engaging the entire time and I can honestly say that I have really enjoyed working with all of you. For real!!!!”