Redesigning the AUCatholic website
AuCatholic es el Ministerio Católico de la American University, en Washington DC, Estados Unidos. Su misión principal es acompañar a los estudiantes en su camino de fe, configurando una comunidad vibrante que los llama, forma y envía a ser "sal y luz" en la Iglesia y en el mundo. Su objetivo es ayudar a los universitarios a encontrar a Cristo, integrarse en una comunidad y sentirse orgullosos de su fe.
The challenge of 3 audiences
AUCatholic approached us with a clear need: to modernize and optimize its website to amplify its reach among students, parents, and members of the Archdiocese.
The primary objective was to ensure that prospective and current university students could identify a community where they could connect with peers who share similar spiritual interests and pursuits.
As a secondary audience, the goal was to show parents that AUCatholic is a safe and enriching environment for their children, offering sacramental programs that foster their growth in faith.
Additionally, as any institution relying on collaborations, it was fundamental to show the Archdiocese, clergy members, and close allies the mission's impact and results.
“We don´t have to fake anything, we just need to show it better”
Eremo’s strategy
UX redesign
We focused on a complete restructuring of the website to eliminate any friction in navigation, making it easier for students to access the information they sought. Sometimes, less is more.
Trabajamos de cerca con los estudiantes que ya utilizaban el sitio, tomando en cuenta sus experiencias para rediseñar la estructura del sitio en base a sus necesidades reales. Esto se tradujo en secciones claramente marcadas, con títulos intuitivos como "I want to..." , que ahora dirigen al usuario de forma directa a la información que buscan.
Content conceptualization
We collaborated hand-in-hand with the AUCatholic Campus Minister. We used the Claritee tool to conceptualize and write the descriptions for each page. The goal was for these texts to be not only clear but also appealing and promotional.
Additionally, we edited the video for the site's Hero Section, optimizing its duration and file size so it could integrate smoothly into the navigation.
Site design
With the web's "skeleton" approved, we moved forward with the visual identity redesign. We aimed to convey a design that was youthful, approachable, and dynamic, without losing the seriousness and institutional perspective that the organization already possessed.
- Typography: We primarily incorporated Sans-serif fonts for their legibility and modern feel, complementing them with Serif fonts in specific details, as a subtle nod to the institution's pre-existing logo.
- Authentic images: We ensured the inclusion of photographs that faithfully represented the real experience lived by the students. These images needed to convey the profound sense of community, brightness, and joy that AUCatholic fosters, showing future students that they could find meaningful friendships in this space, surrounded by people similar to themselves.
- Color palette and graphic resources: To reflect the youthful and bright tone of faith, we added brightness and saturation to the existing color palette, applying them strategically to buttons, visual elements, or specific titles. We added graphic resources like splatters, geometric shape patterns, and frames, which brought a touch of modernity and freshness to the overall design.
Before:
After:
“¡¡¡¡¡Me encanta!!!!! It looks amazing!! It looks so slick and modern, I love it! I think having so many pictures is great because it shows more of who we are! This is AWESOME!!! Thank you SO MUCH for all your hard work on this - I LOVE IT!!!”
Allie Dunbaugh
Campus Minister