The CASE.org website faces challenges in keeping up with modern standards. Users found the navigation cumbersome and had difficulty finding information. A redesign with a mobile-first approach is needed to improve consistency and usability across devices. Key changes proposed include consolidating sections like headlines and currents into the highlights section on the homepage, simplifying navigation, and ensuring accessibility. The redesign will make information easier for users to find and bring the site in line with current design conventions.

1. Redesign Proposal For CASE.org
By Matt Cotter

2. ExecutiveSummary Redesign Proposal For CASE.org 1
The current state of CASE.org has many issues and faces more than a few
challenges to remain consistent and in line with modern standards. From the
perspective of the users in the usability test, no one complained about the
sites navigation, nor it’s over all design. They even used descriptive words like,
“colorful”and“nice enough”but had difficulty navigating the website. The
navigation is quite cumbersome and could be consolidated and reorganized
to better reflect the information it provides its users.
A redesign of the site with a focus on mobile development is required to
help bring the website into the fold of modern standards and conventions.
The first issue that needs to be tackled is the navigation for the site with
consistency in both the mobile and desktop landing page. With a Mobile First
strategy in place, it will be possible to achieve this goal. Once the navigation
and redesign is implemented, the website will become more consistent
between platforms.
A few accessibility issues arose from one user who was legally blind. It’s easy
to conclude that the web site does not meet Usability Standards laid out by
the United States Government. (Usability.Gov) In none of the tests did any of
the users take advantage of the search bar, citing they never saw it or didn’t
trust it as a resource. After finally locating an item, 2 out of 3 users admitted
that there was“too much clicking”involved in finding the information.
The main goal of the redesign would be to consolidate existing information
while increasing readability and focusing on the site’s strengths. In all 3 of
the tests, each user advised that the first place that stood out to them was the
“Highlights”section. By consolidating this to include the“headlines”,“currents”
and the existing Highlights section into one on the home page, it creates a
much more streamlined experience for the user.
SiteAnalysis
Redesign Proposal For CASE.org 2
Break Down of Proposal
1. Redesign and consolidation of Header and Navigation items.
2. Consolidation of main page items;“About Case”will be moved to top
of header and“e-Headlines”and“Currents”will be blended into
“High lights”.
3.“Featured Product”,“Featured Conference”will be consolidated to
“Featured”section, limited to 2-3 conferences and 2-3 products.
4. Redesign will be developed using a Mobile First Strategy, allowing the
design to remain consistent with the desktop website.

3. RedesignProposal
Redesign Proposal For CASE.org 4
As for navigation, I would recommend the following renaming and
consolidated information to read: About, Membership, Tools, Publications,
Award Programs, Conferences, and Community. “Public Policy”is consolidated
under“About”and“Career Center”and“Volunteer Opportunities”would be
consolidated under simply“Community”. Upon making these changes, there’s
no doubt that the usability and the readability of the site would have a much
more cleaner and effective way of displaying it’s information for its users to
see.
The website for CASE (Case.org) appears to have been created around 2006
and 2007 (the iPhone was brand new at this time and many people were not
aware of the upcoming revolution). The overall design seems to indicate this
on several levels by it’s non-use of modern standards. To assist implementing
these standards, a Mobile First strategy should be used when redesigning the
site. (Wroblewski 2009) With current standards changing so drastically over
the course of the last 7 years since the site’s creation, the time is never better
to recreate your online identity.
My first point of concern on the website is the navigation. It is simply put,
inefficient. The website’s sub-navigation on the left hand columns in many
cases points to pages that are already in the primary navigation. The website
will gain more space to use and create a much more efficient level of design
simply by using drop down menus in the navigation. This will not eliminate
the requirement for some kind of sub-navigation option, but it will go a long
way in terms of the sites design and layout.
The website will also benefit greatly by implementing a much more“Mobile
First”-friendly strategy. As you will see, the designers of the site saw fit to
create a landing page specifically for mobile users to view when landing on
the site but this design is entirely separate from the desktop version. There’s
also no correlation or harmony between the navigation or design found on
the mobile landing page’s navigation versus the navigation on the desktop
site.
RedesignProposal Redesign Proposal For CASE.org 3
Possible Redesign of Home Page

4. RedesignProposal
The landing page has buttons for“eHeadlines”,“Magazine”(which leads to a
login page),“Social Media”,“Advancement Talk”,“Case on Site”,“MatchMyGift®”,
and“Search Jobs”. The only retention the mobile landing page keeps from
the primary navigation is“About Case”. It’s worth mentioning that all of these
points do have their places in the sub-navigation within the main navigation
- but why are they used as the primary navigation for mobile devices and not
the primary site? What about managing your membership from your mobile
phone? Why is the organizations audio discussion “Advancement Talk”so
important that it doesn’t warrant a place on the primary navigation but is
front and center on the mobile landing page?
The site doesn’t refer to this as a podcast but it seems to be the answer to
having one in lieu of it. It can be forgiven and one may even understand the
line of thinking, maybe a mobile user would be more interested in listening to
such a thing. However, it should not have its own navigation link in the menu
on the landing page if it does not have it’s own link in the primary navigation
in the desktop version. Renaming the section“Publications & Products”to
something along the lines of“Publications”or“Discuss CASE”and labeling
“Advancement Talks”to“CASE Podcast”or“Podcast”would help indicate that
it’s even audio; the desktop version gives no indication of this in the sub-
navigation section.
“Publications & Products”to something along the lines of“Publications”
or“Discuss CASE”and labeling“Advancement Talks”to“CASE Podcast”or
“Podcast”would help indicate that it’s even audio; the desktop version gives
no indication of this in the sub-navigation section
Redesign Proposal For CASE.org 5
RedesignProposal
As for the subject of the main navigation, I propose we consolidate as much
as possible and bring down the number of navigation items. For starters, I
suggest the navigation have the following items: About, Membership, Tools,
Publication, Award Programs, Conferences, and Community. We’ve shortened
the names of the navigation items and we’ve consolidated“Public Policy”
to under“About”, we’ve moved“Career Central”to“Community”, and we’ve
moved“Volunteer Opportunities”to“Conferences”. By doing this, we’ve
created more space for the navigation that we will need when implementing
the drop down menus. As I stated earlier, the need for a sub-navigation will
be required. I propose that the sub-navigation remain similar to it’s current
iteration, as illustrated.
The Search bar will also need to be more prevalent in the new design and
clearly defined. In the user tests, all three either didn’t think to use the Search
when encountering difficulty finding information or didn’t see it. We’ve also
removed the login boxes and upon clicking the“login”option will display an
AJAX or jQuery overlay for them to enter their information. Upon entering,
the“Login”link will display“Welcome (First name, Last Name)!”and include the
options to“Manage”their account or simply logout. The“Become a Member”
link will also be subsequently removed and either of the two options will
display on every page.
The 3 column layout for the sub-pages will remain largely unchanged as there
does not appear to be a way around using that particular layout. There’s just
was too much subsequent information provided and the sub-navigation is
required with a site that has such a large menu.
By implementing these changes, the website will be much more efficient at
giving the user the information they came for. It will also be more accessible
to those with disabilities and site readers. Not only does this conform with
U.S. Law but it’s also the right thing to do.
Redesign Proposal For CASE.org 6

5. RedesignProposal Redesign Proposal For CASE.org 7
MobileView
Redesign Proposal For CASE.org 8
Current State of CASE.org for Mobile
The state of CASE.org’s mobile version isn’t bad. In fact, several years ago,
it would be considered a solid attempt at bringing the current website to
mobile devices. It’s not a fully developed“Mobile First”strategy, however, that’s
implemented because the mobile version was completed, it seems, as an after
thought to the development of the desktop site. The layout for the mobile
site is inconsistent with the layout implemented for the desktop version. In
addition, the navigation items are entirely out of place with the rest of the
website when viewing the mobile version. To it’s credit, there is a“Mobile
Menu”link with a list of the main navigation from the desktop site but few
will know what that even is. There appears to be some reasoning behind this
thought process, such as a direct link to an audio section. This may have been
placed on the mobile’s landing page to try and anticipate mobile user’s desire
for a related podcast of some sort, but that’s not entirely clear on first visiting
the page. In fact, upon first visiting the mobile site, I had never seen all but
one of the site’s navigation items on the desktop version of the website.
For functionality, this is unacceptable and would act as a detterrent to anyone
who may try to use the site’s mobile version over the desktop’s. A user should
never feel as if they’re being treated differently just because of the device
they’re using. If a person were to first visit the mobile version of the website
and then try to attempt using the desktop version, they could give up in a
matter of seconds due to the website“not being the same”as they viewed it
previously on the mobile version. It’s also likely that could be the same case
for the desktop to mobile viewers, as well.
In one swipe, you’ve given your website a new, fresh look that breathes new
life into the organization and you’ve also fallen in-line with what the law
states is required in terms of usability.

6. UserTestSummary
Redesign Proposal For CASE.org 10
Please see Usability Test for questions and summary.
User #1
User #1 is 23 years old, works retail and uses a computer on a daily basis for
recreational use and school, averaging more than 4 hours a day or more. His
inital impression of the website’s design is positive, citing no real issues with it
and likes the color usage. He admits the first thing that stands out to him are
the Highlights section. When asked what he thought the site was about, he
simply read off the logo and the“About section”on the main page.
• Question #1: clicked several links, even the neccessary path and then
navigated away before coming back to the correct page.
• Question #2: struggled with finding information under“Public Policy”,
but conceded later that the location“made sense”.
• Question #3: Hearing the keyword“Membership”, the user found this
information almost immediately.
Special note: This test was conducted over Twitch.TV with the user residing
in Texas.
MobileView Redesign Proposal For CASE.org 9
The items that appear on the mobile version’s navigation are burried under
at least one layer in the sub-navigation items of the website. Due to this
inconsistency, it’s recommended that the website be stripped and rebuilt with
mobile users in mind first. Due to devices such as the iPad and smart phones
and huge exponential growth, Morgan Stanley issued a report predicting that
mobale web usage will overtake desktop internet by 2015. (Mashable 2010)
The time has never been better to upgrade your website for the future and to
be rid of any inconsistencies in the separate versions of the website.

7. UserTestSummary
Redesign Proposal For CASE.org 11
User #2
User #2 is 27 years old and is a healthcare professional. She spends 3-4 hours
a a day average using the internet but admits that’s primarily spent watching
Netflix and chatting with friends and doesn’t spend much time browsing. She
finds the design“colorful”and“easy to read”. She admits that the Highlight
section of the site is what stands out to her due to it being front and center of
the main page. She admits she doesn’t understand what the website is about,
despite the“about”blurb above highlights.
• Question #1: She was unable to find the“Nominate”link, and concluded
the best way to recommend someone to speak at their conference was
to call or e-mail CASE.
• Question #2: After navigating to the Public Policy page, she navigated
away and neglected to click the United States. After finding the related
material, she states,“that was too much clicking.”
• Question #3: Was able to very easily find the information; no issues
locating rental list.
UserTestSummary
Redesign Proposal For CASE.org 12
User #3
User #3 is 57 years old, retired and legally blind. She rarely uses the computer,
averaging about an hour or less a week. After taking several seconds to move
around the site and become acquainted with it, she states that the website’s
easy enough to read and has no complaints regarding it. She identifies the
“highlights”section first as her first point of interest. When asked to identify
what the website is about, she’s unable to read the“About”blurb on the front
page because the“Select Region”screen partially blocks it. She spends almost
a full 2 minutes trying to figure out what the website is about but concedes
she can’t just by the front page and never once knew that she had to select a
region first before the full view of the website would be available.
Question #1: She never locates the“Nominate a Conference Speaker”link,
looking under several different sections as to what she thought it may be
under, one of which was the correct path.
Question #2: Public Policy was her first choice to look under, but
navigated away and never identified the sub-navigation. After she
identified the sub-navigation on another page, she was able to go back
to Public Policy and locate it successfully.
Question #3: Easily found due to the keyword,“Membership”.

8. WorkCited Redesign Proposal For CASE.org 12
“iPhone 5S Psd Vector Mockup.”. Pixeden, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 30 Apr.
2014. <http://www.pixeden.com/psd-mock-up-templates/iphone-5s-psd-
vector-mockup>.
O’Dell, Jolie.“New Study Shows the Mobile Web Will Rule by 2015
[STATS].”Mashable. Mashable, 13 Apr. 2010. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. <http://
mashable.com/2010/04/13/mobile-web-stats/>.
Wroblewski, Luke.“Mobile First.”LukeW. Luke Wroblewski, 9 Nov. 2009.
Web. 30 Apr. 2014. <http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?933>.