Redesigning a Non-Profit's Website

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with Jane on a number of projects and events over the last couple of years, and I’ve watched her bring a remarkable level of clarity to every task she takes on. The DVS website redesign was no exception; Jane’s project management was nothing short of stellar. She took a project that had been languishing for over a year and helped bring it to completion by gathering requirements, clarifying scope, managing deadlines, and supporting our developer and small team of designers and content creators. Jane’s keen sense of our community’s needs, combined with her ability to turn those needs into a clear project plan, allowed the project to move forward and ultimately be completed with a small budget and a small core team.”

- Cedric Lary, Early Career Director at the Data Visualization Society

Client Overview

The professional association for data visualization

The Data Visualization Society (DVS) is a 501c3 non-profit professional association with three key objectives: to nurture, advance, and celebrate the field of data visualizations (data viz). Since its founding in 2019, their community has grown to 30,000 members from over 160 countries.

A website for the data viz community to learn, connect, and find opportunities

Since DVS was founded in 2019, its website has served as a home base for the data viz community where anyone could learn about data viz, discover jobs, and connect with community members. By 2024, it grew to over 400 pages, making it difficult for the internal team to manage and for users to find the information they needed. The navigation was not intuitive, pages were buried, and the value of membership was not clearly communicated.

It became clear that quick touch-ups wouldn’t be enough to improve the overall UX. It was time to redesign it completely.

Solution Overview

As the project manager, I contributed the following to ensure a successful website redesign:

Analyzed user research surveys to identify gaps and opportunities to deliver greater value
Scoped out the project from start to end to identify the talent and resources required
Built and coordinated a team of experts across design, development, and content
Created an internal project hub to centralize project assets, resources, and documentation
Led weekly team meetings to align the team, track progress, and address blockers
Created initial wireframes in Figma to translate early ideas and requirements into visual concepts
Conducted user testing sessions to identify usability issues and validate design decisions
Led quality assurance reviews to ensure consistency and maintain high standards
Owned content development, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and user needs

Redesign outcomes

Doubled the number users on the site within one week of launch
On launch, page views tripled and peaked at 10x within two weeks
Many community members have shared that they navigated the new site with ease

Going from a menu with 8 to 6 items required deliberate effort—every item served a user need. We were careful to not bloat the menu and make it as user-friendly as possible.

With a basic understanding of UX and design principles, I mocked up the first design on Figma. This got the ball rolling for the rest of the team to transform it into the current design (after many, many iterations).

The scale of this project was massive and a first for me. I applied knowledge I learned from my Project Management Professional course and created a breakdown of the project to estimate timelines and support required.

Migrating the site from Squarespace to WordPress helped us cut costs by 50%, a huge plus for a non-profit organization. Not only did we save on finances, we also gained a powerful CMS that could realize any idea we had. I supported the migration process by adapting content to WordPress and maintaining consistency across the site.

About Jane

My name is Jane, and I am passionate about helping your organization build genuine relationships with your audience. I specialize in creating effective communication plans that align with your goals, whether you have a small or large team.

By focusing on measurable outcomes, I design campaigns that can be evaluated for their impact and success. My approach ensures that every communication effort is strategic, targeted, and results-driven.

Let's work together to strengthen your brand's presence and connect meaningfully with your audience.

Work with me