eCommerce web design for youth charity

Action4Youth are an established, energetic youth charity who provide positive, often transformational experiences and activities which inspire children and young people. Their aim is to enable young people of all abilities and disabilities to learn to challenge themselves and work with others – learning what they can achieve rather than what they can’t.

Prior to engaging with Oxfinder, Action4Youth had invested in developing a brand identity, alongside growing the size and effectivnesss of the charity. Its visual identity across all marketing channels had become stronger and more coherent, and brand recognition was becoming more established amongst 9-18 year olds in the Buckinghamshire area.

Oxfinder were able to identify weaknesses in the charity's operations which were directly attributed to its website. Issues relating to poor functionality were causing unnecessary additional work loads for staff. Technical and user experience issues were also preventing the charity growing its online reputation, inline with the efforts it was making offline.

Planning & prototypes at the heart of eCommerce web design

After winning a competitive tender, Oxfinder planned, developed and relaunched a new website for the benefit of all users and employees, on time and on budget. Visit Action4Youth.org

The planning and pre-build stages included identifying a user interface and site structure which would promote the activities and achievements of the charity at the right time across all user journeys. This was further enhanced by establishing a content resource which would be used in the form of case study 'stories' by children, parents, staff, supporters and partners. To ensure that the journeys worked, and to achieve the best possible user interface, Oxfinder developed a fully working prototype of the website ahead of any design considerations. This focused client and developer thinking towards desired outcomes for every page on the website.

The build of the website also had to ensure that users could register or pay for activities, events and products. One of the most significant areas was The Duke of Edinburgh's Award where users can register and pay to join specific awards and expeditions based on their age and experience. Automated processes were then set up to deal with large volumes of applications and reduce manual work loads for Action4Youth team members.

The launch of the eCommerce website was delivered with team training to enable all administrators the ability to run the site themselves from day one. The timing of the launch was also critical, because the originally identified issues of the old site had continued to affect its performance, and eventually stopped working hours before the launch of the new site. The term 'perfect timing' could not have been more appropriate.