One of the more rewarding areas of my role as Q’s Digital Manager is in working to understand members’ online experiences. Those insights are then used to co-create digital tools, channels and spaces to support our community and its improvement work.
For the past year, I’ve been part of a team working with members on upgrading our website. We put website users at the heart of our design, and we’ve focused on creating a space that provides a more personal, intuitive experience.
What will be different?
The new website will retain familiar elements that we all know and appreciate. But it will be easier for members to navigate information, access resources, and connect with others, regardless of your technical expertise.
We wanted to build a digital platform that supports cross-sector connections for learning, allows members to find support and ideas, and see how others are bringing improvement into practice.
Making it easier to find resources and collaborate
Members have really stepped up to the challenge with this project and their insight has informed every stage of this work. Our co-design group offered thoughtful, structured feedback about the kinds of things that they want to be able to do when working within the website.
Overall, these are the improvements they told us they would like to see:
- more intuitive navigation on popular themes and topics
- easier ways to finding evidence, case studies, guidance and other resources
- better support for online collaboration
- a way for people to see themselves in the community.
These are a couple of examples of changes members told us they wanted:
“As a member I want to be able to easily search for, view and download resources so that I can continue to learn and improve in my work.”
“As a user I need to be able to easily find and join a group so that I can connect and collaborate with others.”
Design based on inclusivity and accessibility
We are not web technology experts. So we wanted to work with people who have the strengths and expertise that we need, but who also share our values.
We were fortunate to find an agency that values inclusivity and accessibility as much as we do. Our agency, WilliamJoseph, has worked closely with us to create a new website that reflects Q’s inclusive and innovative culture, and that will continue to respond to our needs as the community grows.
Accessing the new website: updating your details
As we approach the launch, I encourage all members to check that their profiles are up to date so these can be brought into the new system.
When the new website launches, we will be in touch to ask you to set up a fresh password for your new website account. This will provide you with access to our new and improved members’ area and member-exclusive content.
Keep an eye out for updates over the coming weeks.