Overview
As part of the Duke University School of Medicine and Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development supports people with developmental disabilities and their families, helping individuals reach their full potential as contributors to a thriving society and community.
In addition to providing world-class medical care to those with autism, the Center facilitates research programs to better understand brain functions. The Center also trains the next generation of practitioners and those involved in the medical care of autism patients as well as works with the community and government to develop policy and public services.
Needing a way to share its research and services with stakeholders, the Center’s leaders came to Verified Studios to request a new website that covered all aspects of its operations.
The Challenge
The Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development did not have a previous website, so it needed to build a new one from the ground up. Leaders had an idea about the website’s appearance and features, but weren’t sure how to execute the project. Add in a long list of stakeholders who needed to be considered when creating the project and a potential need for the ability to make online donations.
Most important to the Center for Autism was to find a way to provide information about all its initiatives and to facilitate a greater dialogue within the community.
How do you accomplish this with a website?
Initial Problems
The Verified Solution
Verified started by asking the clients which features were most important, which features and functions they did not want and which websites they would like to exemplify. Then, we started wireframing and developing the concept and architecture of the site, working side-by-side with the Duke Center for Autism team every step of the way.
Next, Verified built the new website for the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development. The process included research on intended audiences and target keywords; content mapping; and finally, building the actual site.
The site is a basic brochure site that pinpoints three objectives: allows patients to make appointments; research participants to sign up for the database; and prospective learners to sign up for classes and educational opportunities.
Our Process
Build a custom WordPress site on the SoM template with a clean and differentiated design.
Designated Project Management that includes tools for PM and weekly progress update meetings.
Create features to find services, make donations, learn about education and training, and discover research initiatives.
UX design wireframing, keyword research and search engine optimized web content for maximum traffic.
The Benefits
With their new website, Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development now shares its initiatives and services with those who need the information most.
The specialized menus allow site visitors to quickly and easily navigate to the pages they need, which saves time and prevents users from calling or writing the Center to seek answers to their questions.
Features developed especially for their needs include portals to participate in research, to make donations, to find upcoming events, and even to make appointments.
Though the website contains a lot of crucial information, the site is designed with the user in mind and is therefore easily understandable and straightforward.
The Results
