World Food Programme

Q&A with Ian Cairns from Development Seed

How long did the project take - from design concept to live?
We actually only did the information architecture and visual design for the site; Phase 2 did the implementation. The timeframe was really tight. If I remember right, we did the IA and all the comps in 3 weeks from start to finish, and I think the site was launched inside of 3 months.

What really makes it most interesting from both a design, and a Drupal-implementation perspective?
From a design perspective, we were really excited about getting to take an established brand like WFP and freshen its website's look at the same time that we were able to add a lot of benefit for users through the IA work we did. In the end the site looks great and works well too, which sometimes gets overlooked in design projects. From a functional standpoint (related to design), the photos feature and videos feature got simple special treatment -- black background -- that really adds a lot to help the WFP's multimedia content stand out better and makes these features work well.

What are you most proud of on the WFP website?
For one, it was great getting to help one of the world's largest NGOs improve their communications impact through better design. The little details made a big difference on the site -- iconography, use of color, etc. -- but some of the coolest parts to us were the decisions that incorporated design with communications strategy. For instance, on their Our Work page we were able to take some of the great statistics that they collect and bring them front and center to help readers better visualize what WFP actually does. The best design projects for us are when we get to really achieve communications objectives for the organizations we serve at the same time as we help them look great visually.

Stay tuned for an update on on this posting from Phase2