A FDGweb Case Study: The Quilt

Client Overview

The Quilt: https://www.thequilt.net/

Located in Seattle, Washington, The Quilt is a prominent organization dedicated to fostering collaboration and innovation within the research and education networking community. With a rich history of facilitating knowledge sharing and technological advancements, The Quilt serves as a vital resource for its members, providing valuable insights and opportunities to connect.

Challenges

The Quilt faced several challenges with their existing website:

1. Outdated Design: The website’s design was outdated, lacking the modern aesthetic and functionality.
2. Disjointed User Experience: Their main site and events site were separate, leading to a fragmented user experience and inefficient management.
3. Need for Interactive Elements: The Quilt wanted to enhance user engagement with more interactive elements and updated content presentation.

Solution

To address these challenges, we implemented a comprehensive modernization strategy:

1. Website Redesign: We updated the fonts to a contemporary style and incorporated The Quilt’s brand colors throughout the site. We used modern colors like white and light grey to create a clean, sophisticated look. The buttons and menu were redesigned for a more modern, intuitive user experience.
2. Seamless Integration: We seamlessly integrated their main site with their events site with WordPress – DIVI, ensuring no downtime during the transition. This integration of 120+ pages allowed all their information to be accessible through a single, unified dashboard, streamlining operations and enhancing user experience.
3. Interactive Magazine Display: To make the site more engaging, we added an interactive magazine display to showcase this year’s Quilt magazine, providing an immersive reading experience. Past years’ covers were also included, allowing users to click and download PDF versions, thereby increasing user engagement.
4. Maintaining Access Control: We carried over the existing access control settings from their other site, ensuring that only authorized members could access exclusive areas and materials, while subscribers and non-subscribers could view public content.

Results

Modernizing The Quilt’s website brought a wealth of improvements. The updated design and seamless integration created a more cohesive and user-friendly experience for visitors. Interactive features like the magazine display and easy access to past publications kept users engaged and exploring the site longer. For The Quilt itself, the website became much easier to manage. A unified dashboard streamlined content updates, making maintenance a breeze. Additionally, existing access control settings were implemented, ensuring that premium content remained exclusive to authorized members, upholding the value of their membership. In short, the modernization efforts transformed The Quilt’s website into a modern, efficient, and engaging platform that better serves its members and strengthens its overall mission.

View The Quilt here.

FDGweb: Located in Arlington, Washington. Serving the greater Seattle area and farther.