Unrelated

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of communications for Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. We work to ensure the sustainability of Atlantic coast fishery resources, supporting healthy ecosystems and economic opportunities for coastal communities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unrelated?

We needed to redesign our outdated and antiquated website, which was 12 years old.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Unrelated has worked closely with key staff members to identify a vision for the new website, including its look, feel, and accessibility to meet the needs of a diverse audience from fishery managers and scientists to lawmakers to invested stakeholders. They’ve been responsible for the creation of a new website, including the integration of an extensive and fully searchable publication database. The team has also provided content migration, training, and ongoing support.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 2–5 teammates from Unrelated.

How did you come to work with Unrelated?

They applied through an RFP, and their application was selected. We chose them because they offered good value for the cost, their company values aligned with ours, and we were impressed by the other websites they created and the diversity of skill sets within their company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent more than $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2023, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Unrelated has delivered a visually gorgeous website with a new, intuitive layout and organization and the ability to search publications and events through a refined search engine. The new website language has been used to modernize our messaging and branding. We track use via Google Analytics. Additionally, web forms to allow people to sign up for email distribution lists, submit public comments, and query staff have increased exponentially.At first, many of our older users, who had become used to the prior website, were resistant to all the changes that occurred. However, as they became more used to the new website, they began to acknowledge the amount of thought and planning that went into the website and relied on it as a powerful tool to learn about our organization and easily access the wealth of information it contains.

How did Unrelated perform from a project management standpoint?

Unrelated has had open and clear communication regarding their objectives, milestones, and timing. The team is easily accessible and responsive to requests for information or required changes. Overall, we’re incredibly happy with the team that we’ve worked with. They truly understand what we want and work to meet, if not exceed, our needs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve been impressed by their ability to truly understand what our organization does and reflect that in the new website through rewriting much of the text and the visual aspects. Moreover, they’re a very easy and likable group of people to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve been outstanding.