Taoti Creative

CYBER.ORG —previously known as NICERC— works in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security to empower K-12 educators to provide “technical cybersecurity knowledge and skills” to their students. Through their free and accessible coursework, they want to prepare and motivate the next generation to be part of the cybersecurity workforce. As they were already in the process of renaming and rebranding themselves, they were also looking to partner with an agency that would develop a website that was easy to navigate for educators and demonstrated what CYBER.ORG has to offer. Taoti worked with CYBER.ORG to create a modern and approachable website.

Problem

The organization’s goal with its new website was to create a great user experience for its users, especially educators. Our findings showed that all users wanted a more comprehensive search. The previous site didn’t provide easy access to the exact information each user was looking for, like a specific teaching curriculum or even the registration page. Another goal was to increase the number of teachers that signed up for courses. We found that educators didn’t know if the site was trustworthy because the curriculum and trainings are offered for free, but CYBER.ORG is certified by the government. 

Solution

Through our research, we found what users wanted from the CYBER.org website, and our UX experts and developers determined the best way to increase website engagement and the number of teachers signing up for courses. We created an easy to use search feature that yields the exact information educators are looking for and found a way to motivate them to sign up. Our creative team worked with CYBER.ORG’s internal design team to polish the website’s look and feel by creating original icons and graphics to help tell the CYBER.ORG story throughout the site and build trust with users.

Creating a Robust Search Function 

We created a robust, custom search functionality that allows educators to search through CYBER.ORG’s curricula. With the more comprehensive search form, a user can now search by unit, course type, and grade to seamlessly browse the curricula where they are then prompted to sign up.

Encouraging Educators to Sign Up

The new multipage signup form allows users to go through the registration process much more efficiently than the previous, long-form submission. It also lets users access the signup form from every curricula page. Thanks to this new process, in the first week after the new website launched, CYBER.ORG received over 100 organic signups, more than they had ever seen before.

Like many organizations, Christian Music Broadcasters (CMB) was planning a four-day conference 700 attendees, but when COVID-19 hit, we all had to self-isolate and work from home. After months of hard work preparing for the in-person event, the CMB team was looking for a way to restructure Momentum 2020 in the virtual sphere. Our team at Taoti partnered with them by providing our virtual event platform, tailoring it to their needs, and bringing the flare and community of an in-person event.

When CMB decided to turn Momentum 2020 into a digital conference, the team was concerned it would not accomplish its mission of connecting people and creating a memorable experience. Like most conferences, the in-person event consisted of large auditorium sessions, workshops, breakouts, networking, and a sponsor expo hall. Now the challenge was – how could the conference maintain a similar structure while everyone was remote? CMB had already sold attendee registrations and sponsorship opportunities, but without the usual event activities and an exhibit hall, how could they ensure the return on investment for everyone involved?

Our team custom-created the overall look and feel for the virtual conference, and all design elements perfectly aligned with Momentum 2020’s brand they had already created for their physical event. Just like an in-person conference, the platform featured a “lobby” homepage where attendees could always find real-time information on what was currently happening and how to access the content. The content consisted of a live stream broadcast, workshops, breakouts, virtual networking, and more. The lobby also included spaces allocated for sponsorship opportunities and a link to the Exhibit Hall, highlighting the sponsors who make the event possible.

In 2019, we created a new website for the Heart Rhythm Society, the leading international nonprofit association representing cardiac rhythm disorder specialists. They loved it so much that they came back for more, asking us to partner with them to create a new, patient-centered website – and brand – entirely from scratch.

When building HRS’s main site, our target audience was medical, allied health, and science professionals. To make the pivot and speak directly to patients, we knew we’d need to make the new website and the brand significantly more approachable. After all, most users of the new site would be looking for more than just information – in the wake of a recent diagnosis; they’d be looking for hope. So how do you deliver complicated medical information in an easily digestible package, while providing a sense of optimism that turns users into fans of your brand?

We put humanity and heart into every element of the project. From the name to the visual branding to the website and user experience, we kept patients at the center of our mission.

Our initial brainstorm produced over 125 potential names for the patient resources center. After an extensive research and elimination process, we presented our client with 15 names to choose from. We then submitted their top 3 choices to rigorous testing within their current audiences to determine which resonated best. Ultimately, we emerged from the process with the name UpBeat – short, sweet, and memorable. It playfully references the heartbeat while evoking a sense of optimism and positivity.

A competitive audit revealed that most of the major players in the heart health landscape were using bright red as their primary brand color, with a simple heart shape in the logo. While we still wanted to include a heart in our logo, we avoided bright red and explored alternative heart shapes to ensure that our logo would stand out from the pack. The overall mark uses lots of soft shapes and gentle gradients to capture the brand’s friendly and welcoming essence.

For over 40 years, Rare has been working in several countries around the world to change human behavior to see nature thrive. They are the “global leader in catalyzing behavior change to achieve enduring conservation results.” Our team at Taoti worked with Rare to develop their Solution Search contest platform, a “global crowdsourcing effort” to find behavioral and conservation initiatives that are working and help them grow. We also had the opportunity to work with their BE.Center Resource library, which works directly with academic institutions to connect “behavioral scientists with practitioners on the front lines of our greatest environmental challenges."

First, the Rare team needed to create a platform for its Solution Search contest to make it more globally accessible and streamline the entry and judging process. They also wanted the platform to drive users to the BE.Center Resource library. At the same time, the BE.Center Resource library needed to become the go-to learning hub in the environmental field, encourage users to engage and connect and build capacity for practitioners.

Ultimately, both projects had similar goals for the organization. These included continuing to position themselves as global thought leaders, grow climate-smart agriculture in Colombia and China, build US programs on climate and behavior and make Behavior Centered Design the norm in the environmental field.

Our goal was to not only help Rare build what they needed on both platforms but also to empower their team of content administrators to easily change content and create an amazing user experience (UX). So, we looked at what was most convenient for each project and built the Solution Search contest site on Drupal 8, and the BE.Center Resource Library on WordPress.

ScentAir Fragrance Solutions uses scent marketing to make "on-site customers more meaningful." Their goal is to work with businesses to create unique scents for their brands like they've done for Westin Hotel & Resorts and American Airlines. We partnered with them to create a modern website that would reflect their unique selling point to potential customers and would be easy to update for their global team.

ScentAir has distributors and offices across the world, but before we came in, they were lacking a consistent voice across all markets. There were six different websites. Some created on WordPress and others in proprietary platforms. Each of these sites also had its own content, including different colors and images. Another challenge was that the marketing teams in each country had to update their website and figure out how to use each content platform.

In just six months, we took everything from the six existing ScentAir sites and put it into one website. Using Drupal, we developed a multilingual site that translates into six different languages, including French, German, Dutch, Spanish, UK English and Mandarin. It also allows eleven different countries to customize their content while at the same time, keeping it the look and feel consistent.

Our team started by creating a clean new look with inviting colors and images to showcase what ScentAir can do for businesses and their customers around the world. The modern feel of the website now works perfectly for all markets.

But what about content in different languages? Using Drupal, we created one easily-translatable iteration of their website. Our team developed a translation module that allows their team to create content in English and then choose to translate it. The text can be manually translated or automatically sent it to a professional translating company. Through Drupal, the company then sends back the translation to the ScentAir team to approve or deny and publish it.

To help the ScentAir create a more data-driven marketing plan we also integrated Google Tag Manager with their website. Our team then worked directly with ScentAir’s marketing team to help them translate these data points into actionable items since their website is mainly used for new business lead generation.

U.S. Figure Skating is one of the strongest and largest governing bodies within the Olympic movement, with more than 192,000 members across countries. The organization connects all its members, including member clubs, collegiate clubs, school-affiliated clubs, individual members, Friends of Figure Skating and Learn to Skate USA participants. 

Problem: An outdated and hard to maintain website created almost two decades ago that lacked the mobile responsiveness necessary to engage and connect its members and users. 

Solution: We developed a new website that allows both the user and the administrator to have a better experience. Focusing on U.S. Figure Skating’s goals to increase membership and reestablishing their digital footprint, we created a section exclusive for members. The site now caters to all audiences, including users outside of the figure skating community and people new to the sport. 

As a global nonprofit, Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots looks to empower young people and their educators to make a positive change in their communities. Taoti Creative worked with the organization to re-do the United States website and help them connect its members and audiences across the country.

Problem: We needed to create a website that was visually appealing to all of Roots & Shoots’ users, which included young children, university students and educators at all levels. This part wasn’t a challenge for us. But how do you get people in such different phases in their lives to connect and communicate between them? How do you encourage users with diverse levels of engagement to be part of the organization and find helpful information? That’s where we really had to put our innovation hats on.

Solution: We created different sections tailored specifically for youth and educators. As we went through our research phase, we also understood that even though members want to make a change, not everyone has the same time available or the same interests. Our solution was to create a tailored experience for each user so that everyone could feel identified with the organization.

When Farm Credit Council wanted to lead visitors quickly and simply to state-specific information for their popular, annual Fly-In Campaign, they realized a typical map-based solution wouldn’t work. We agreed. Because as everyone who’s ever tried to click an onscreen map to pick a state in New England will tell you, if you tap Connecticut, chances are you’re going to open up the page for Massachusetts – or vice versa. And don’t even think about selecting a small state if you’re using a phone!

Another route entirely was the best way to go. So that’s what we designed.

The alternate design solution needed to work on any device. It needed to be engaging and simple. Last but not least, it had to fit the unique look and feel of the design system we were already developing for Farm Credit Council. Turns out, these factors meant the solution wasn’t a map at all.

We used big, beautiful pictures of the most popular Fly-In events so users would get excited about attending. Then, with a simple drop-down menu, users could easily get a preview of what content was being offered in their respective states. It’s more engaging. It builds enthusiasm. And best of all, it works.  Simply.

Ballast Research is the only organization in Washington, D.C. that conducts research directly with senior policymakers. We worked with Ballast to give them a new website that better serves their mission of improving conversations between legislators and advocates and helps build trust between those groups.

Ballast’s previous website was built for their advocacy clientele, but growing evidence suggested that most of the users on the site weren’t potential clients – they were potential research subjects. Policymakers and Congressional staffers were coming to the website to determine whether to participate in their research. So how do you convince busy legislators that working with an organization like Ballast is a good use of their very limited time?

We developed a new website designed specifically with policymakers in mind. On the User Experience side, we elevated published research and testimonials to show legislators how Ballast’s research could be valuable to their goals. On the visual design side, we expanded their existing brand guidelines and determined a new look and feel on the website that conveyed trustworthiness.

Ballast wasn’t looking for a rebrand, but they were open to expanding their existing visual identity to reflect their new priority of building trust with policymakers. We minimized the loud teal color that had previously dominated their aesthetic in favor of a more formal navy and gold palette and selected a new suite of typefaces that felt traditional without being dated. We also provided new photography guidelines so that they could move away from stock imagery of D.C. architecture, which felt impersonal and potentially alienating to state legislators; we encouraged a more personal touch by using candid images of their team.

Beyond just delivering a beautiful design, we wanted to equip Ballast with the tools to easily manage and make changes on their site for years to come. We decided to build the entire website using flexible, modular page-builder elements that are simple to implement. It also gave Ballast the freedom to change and adapt their site as needed, whether they’re creating a new case study, adding in new testimonials, or updating their offerings to reflect the political moment.

The DC Public Charter School Board had what amounted to a long page of alphabetized charter schools, which for parents trying to find charter schools by way of traits like school quality, health or even location, was challenging–to say the least. Moreover, parents couldn’t separate information about the Board from information about the schools they were looking for.

Taoti conducted user testing to better respond to user needs. What’s notable in this case is the inclusion of a D.C. parent in that process. Parents need to use the DCPCSB website to target the District’s best schools. Their experience was critical to the redesign effort.

When we conducted user testing, what we found was that the difference between finding a school and evaluating one wasn’t clear to parents. We relabeled the navigation and made a clear call-to-action indicating where parents needed to go to find a new school.

Education Watchdog, a project of the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, took notice and acknowledged that “the new search tools could have aided [a parent] search for a language-based school for her 6-year-old daughter.” We strive for all our projects to have such an obvious impact on critical end-users.

AFSA.org remains a crucial touchpoint to the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) members located throughout the world.

Taoti wanted to create a seamless experience for users between member services provided by Avectra and the content provided by the website.

Taoti partnered with AFSA’s communications team to modernize the website’s visual design and implement a fully responsive site layout to optimize the user experience for users on mobile devices. We also migrated the existing DNN website to the Drupal Content Management System to make the site easier to maintain. Unique site features include FlippingBook integration for the monthly Foreign Service Journal and an events calendar.

To celebrate its 125th anniversary, Strayer Education sought to showcase the unique history of its growth and journey to becoming the most significant for-profit venture in American history. As Strayer has evolved, it has adapted to meet students’ needs and changing business demands simultaneously. We were tasked with bringing Strayer’s evolution to life.

Solution: We took the term ‘interactive timeline’ to the next level. We designed and developed a captivating digital experience, 125.strayer.edu, that highlights major advances in education and capitalizes on key moments in Strayer’s history. To maximize the impact, value and lifetime of the project, we also built a custom administrative interface so that Strayer staff can maintain and add new content and deliver it to many web properties simultaneously via an API. This same content is now presented on the celebration minisite, as well as the main university website.

Through its members’ work in communities and regions worldwide, Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) imagines, refines and implements the means for making great places.

Taoti partnered with the CNU Communications team to re-architect and re-design CNU.org to reflect the organization’s extraordinary design tradition.

The website not only serves as a platform that invites a conversation with audiences who recognize the potential of New Urbanism, but also showcases high-quality photos of CNU members’ work. It also provides users access to important resources from members and partner organizations. The CNU.org homepage is a flexible, curated homepage that seamlessly integrates multiple content types in a series of ‘blocks’. The easily updated structure includes a mix of ‘evergreen’ and dynamic content that enables CNU to feature events, articles and graphics. The result is a responsive website that enables visitors to quickly and efficiently learn what CNU is about and what it is currently working on.

America Abroad Media (AAM), especially their radio series, needed an online presence engaging both sight and sound through embedded photo galleries, videos, and audio players.

Our goal was to convey AAM's energy and refinement through a new visual identity. Clean lines, sharp shapes, and bold imagery were used to highlight each aspect of the organization's programming.

We created a fully responsive website around this multimedia experience. We also developed a new brand, color scheme, and logo, both visible on the redesigned website. Our design included a unique landing page for AAM's annual award dinner and added a sitewide presence to maximize registration.

So you’ve finished your degree in chemistry and now it’s time to figure out the first step in your career. What to do? ChemIDP.org was created to provide graduate students and postdoctoral scholars with direction for understanding and achieving their career goals. This individual development plan (IDP) was designed to be used by students and postdocs to facilitate discussion with faculty, advisors, and mentors.

Taoti worked with the American Chemical Society to develop a Drupal-based, Single Sign On (SSO) integrated, flexible tool that enables users to undertake the following tasks: Self-Assessment, where users identify their existing skills and the values that are important to them; Skill Strengthening, where users get recommendations for increasing their marketability; Goal Setting, where users actively chart a path forward; Career Exploration, where users can drill down through faceted filters to scope out their career options recognizing that users might want to start this exercise from different points, the tool is built so users can start anywhere, save their assessments and accomplishments as they go, and ultimately use it as a flexible, powerful navigation device for their future.

The National Apartment Association, as part of its comprehensive We Are Apartments campaign, was looking for a fresh, interactive way to share its data.

Rather than developing a traditional infographic, Taoti developed a digital storytelling experience.

Users navigate through an animated graphic built entirely with HTML and CSS3 in the Drupal platform. The site also features an interactive Apartment Community Estimator (A.C.E.) to calculate the economic contribution of an apartment community in a specific state. Taoti also created an interactive map that allows users to quickly read data through a pop-up and click on a link to see a full state-level fact sheet.

In addition to building this in a way that allowed the National Apartment Association to define what it felt was important, it was also done in a manner that recognizes the power of a modern digital campaign by allowing users find information by congressional district or by state that’s of most interest to them.

Taoti Creative also created an oversized accordion fold infographic brochure for NAA and the National Multi Housing Council. Taoti helped NAA and NMHC develop a communication strategy that included both digital and print material.

Phillips & Cohen’s attorneys are well aware the journey a whistleblower takes is perilous enough. Its website needed to open itself up and clearly, quickly and discreetly convert visitors, and it needed to do so in a way visitors feel secure in every aspect of their decision-making process.

Phillips & Cohen relies on its website as a key means of generating new leads. Whistleblowers are a unique base of clients for a law firm because they are often only one-time clients and the firm needs a constant flow of new leads to stay on top. Our approach was to streamline the experience and reduce the number of forks on the road to secure contact.

The firm’s long record of success is best shown, not told. By calling out key statistics from big wins, highlighting attorneys, and telling individual stories of successful cases, the new design cements the brand’s notion that Phillips & Cohen, LLP is the most successful and most experienced law firm representing the US and international whistleblowers. Speaking of brand, part of our agreement with Phillips & Cohen included modernizing their logo and tagline.

The Society for Science & the Public is dedicated to providing concise, accurate, and inspirational science news and opportunities to its nearly 100,000 subscribing members, the 50,000 alumni of its competitions worldwide, and millions of unique online visitors and social media followers.

ScienceNews.org includes thousands of pages of content that cover the full spectrum of science news. However, it faced significant challenges with its navigation, internal search, and its ability to be effectively shared and subscribed to by an audience eager to better connect with its content.

The society looked to Taoti to fundamentally change its digital presence to convert more visitors into members as a key part of its financial strategy. We undertook a variety of analyses and updates to multiple sites in its current Drupal-powered website environment.

Together, we developed a list of high-impact improvements. The result of this ongoing relationship is the dramatic new experience on both websites.

Since 2007, the Alliance for Biking and Walking’s biennial Benchmarking Report has represented a comprehensive, actionable collection and analysis of data on bicycling and walking in all 50 states, the 52 largest U.S. cities, and a select number of midsized cities. Over the years, the report has become a vital tool for public officials, advocates, decision-makers, city planners, transportation professionals, public health professionals, and researchers interested in improving mobility options for healthy, vibrant communities.

Taoti worked to simplify the story through compelling, engaging interfaces, paired with a range of back-end and front-end tools to help point people to most relevant datasets. We enabled audiences with a specific topic interest (environment, health, a specific location etc.) to quickly find and share content of interest to them, as well as providing pathways to make all data available for super-users.

It was also clear that the information in the Benchmarking report is working for core audiences. Taoti saw an opportunity for additional audiences to advocate for healthy, vibrant communities through social media with a portal that was built with sharing in mind. But we did not discount how this information is often shared with decision-makers. More often than not, reports are delivered to panels of community leaders in open forums. So, we made each and every report generated able to print to an attractive PDF. Score one for enabling civic action.

“We want to have a website that makes it easier for us to connect with our customers and matches the innovative work we’re doing at DC Water,” said DC Water CEO and General Manager George S. Hawkins. George asked, and we delivered.

Perceptions of DC Water have grown, evolved, and improved ever since its days as WASA. Everyone knew it was time for the website to take a dramatic leap that furthers the DC Water brand; creates a smarter, customer-focused experience; and makes the case for DC Water’s rates and ongoing capital improvement projects.

We built the new dcwater.com in Drupal, an open-source content management system (CMS) that makes it easy for non-technical users to update and add content to the site. The bright, modern and airy new design is fully responsive, meaning it works great on any size of device (though we may have skimped on testing the Apple Watch).

The whole website is an intuitive user experience. All customer actions are accessible from a fly-out customer center, which also looks and works great on mobile devices. For those more interested in finding out what DC Water is up to, the project and publication databases are filterable by type, ward and zip code. Other advanced functionality includes a fully Drupal-integrated ‘Report a Problem’ workflow, permit status check, and MailChimp integration that alerts newsletter recipients as content is published to the site.

How would you guide an undergraduate physics student on how to start their career after school? The American Institute of Physics needed a fun and interesting way to present information about physics careers that had previously never been accessible online. However, AIP needed to launch the interactive Careers Toolbox quickly and with a limited budget, so we got creative. Taoti designed and built a responsive parallax scrolling site that presents the highlights of its Careers Toolbox program in a highly engaging and visually appealing manner. Through intuitive and easy to use navigation, the Careers Toolbox website encourages physics students to work through tools and exercises to get their career search organized. The site includes interactive HTML 5 graphics and unique navigation.

Taoti adopted the Arent Fox website in the middle of a redesign, developing custom Drupal modules to improve caching and performance and creating a specialized mobile theme. We also launched a multisite configured blog that runs on the same Drupal codebase as the main site.

The vision for this website project began, "Loudoun Water is one of the most progressive and innovative water utilities in the country and as such, wants to convey this premier image through its website." Taoti partnered with Loudoun Water to achieve that premier image, producing what we believe to be the world's best water utilities site to date. First and foremost, the site serves the needs of the residential customer. The new design simplifies the user experience and focuses on key tasks like bill pay, account management, starting and stopping service, and the needs of the business and development communities. The main site integrates seamlessly with third-party vendors, so as to maintain a fluid user experience, but also includes a self-service customer portal called LW Connect, where registrants can view and pay their bills online, enroll in eBilling, see their payment history, and more!

Taoti partnered with the National Association of Counties (NACo) communications team to both redesign and develop a fully responsive, Drupal-based website. The result is a world-class website with a fresh new look and enhanced user experience. The new website takes a topic-centered approach to the information architecture, which makes the website much easier to navigate. Related links are also used throughout the interior pages so that users can easily find information they may be interested in. A simple 'filter bar' appears throughout the site to let users quickly identify the type and topic of information they’re looking for. Results can be toggled between list and grid views, depending on viewing preference. A persistent navigation bar always stays on the screen so users will never have to scroll back up to the top to get to other parts of the site. Every page of the website also includes a unique morphing search function, which displays a full-screen "Explore" feature that includes links to key areas of the site (as well as a sophisticated search engine that works as you'd expect it to). Under the hood, the new website is built on the Drupal content management system. While this doesn't have a lot of impact on end users, it does make it much easier for NACo staff to manage the site. This means content will be posted faster, more frequently, and with less hassle.