The Challenge
A new vision hindered by an old architecture.
In 2021, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) faced a critical challenge: their outdated website no longer supported their growing organization or its mission to advocate for First Nations communities.
The site failed to meet accessibility standards, load times were slow, and it performed poorly in search engines. And with a broad range of advocacy interests putting increasing pressures on their comms and web teams over the years, the site’s architecture had fallen into chaos, making navigation and comprehension difficult for both the general public and the AFN’s own stakeholders.
With new leadership, a new vision, and an expanding team, the need for a modern, scalable solution became crucial to the AFN’s operations and communication efforts.
The Strategy
From chaos to clarity.
In spring 2022, our team worked with senior stakeholders from across the AFN, facilitating large-scale discovery and design workshops to align on a clear, scalable architecture—one that would provide users with a transparent view of the organization’s work and reinforce its position as the leading voice for First Nations advocacy in Canada.
Together, we worked to de-couple the AFN’s internal workings from it’s outward-facing architecture, and instead developed a topic-based taxonomy and plain-language copy strategy that could be applied to the site’s entire content model—including the AFN’s massive document library.
From here, our team worked to devise a site management architecture that would ensure the AFN could easily publish content while maintaining consistency, adherence to accessibility, and SEO.
Knowing that their web management team had previously been burdened with designing and coding solutions under the pressure of fast turnaround times, we devised a scalable and flexible template structure that separated design from content to ensure the site could adapt to future content needs while providing the team with a repeatable framework for building new pages.
The Result
A modern and cohesive platform for advocacy and cultural integrity.
The Art Department developed a minimal visual language sensitive to the diversity within First Nations, incorporating an accessible colour palette to distinguish each of the AFN’s advocacy topics, all while leaving room for the AFN’s own design team to craft and select culturally resonant artwork without compromising consistency in the experience.
Additionally, we developed a content strategy centered on action-oriented sections that clearly articulated the AFN’s advocacy goals and the communities they represent. To make the site more approachable, we provided coaching and guidelines to reduce internal jargon and improve clarity for all audiences.
The Impact
A newfound clarity and improved experience.
The results of this collaboration have been transformative. User testing revealed that audiences now have a clearer understanding of the AFN’s advocacy role, with improved navigation enabling them to locate content quickly and easily. The new site adheres to accessibility standards, operates faster, and is more user-friendly.
Internally, the AFN team now manages content and documents effortlessly through the Bynder DAM and a streamlined CMS. The updated visual design was well-received by stakeholders, and the content strategy successfully clarified the AFN’s role, positioning them as a leading voice for First Nations in Canada.
Our partnership with the AFN remains ongoing as we continue to refine the website, ensuring it evolves as a tool for growth and social impact.
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Let’s see if we fit.
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