We began a process to understand more about who their audiences are and what they want to say to them. We started with workshops and involved key members of staff from across the whole organisation.

We made it an engaging and interactive process so everyone felt they had contributed and had a sense of ownership over the project.

Our focus was on creating personas and user-journeys, getting different teams to reflect on the core messaging and information that would be relevant to different audiences.

We gathered feedback from prospective and current students, parents, staff across the RCM, website visitors, event attenders and other website users.

We were able to use that feedback, alongside various data sources, to produce a detailed snapshot of the kinds of users who would be visiting the site. Using ‘personas’ we looked at the messaging that they would respond to. And we turned all of that into a comprehensive report into user behaviour, attitudes and recommendations.

We needed to present the case for change across every area, from the reception to the boardroom so we created a simple overview to summarise our vision for the project.

Design: Embody ‘the future of music’. Be bold. Be distinctive. Be clear. Be adaptable

Structure: Simplify navigation. Focus on prospective students. Consolidate course & faculty areas. Highlight public engagement.

Functionality: Connect content intelligently. Improve user interactions.

Content: Show don’t tell. Let brilliant imagery set the scene and back it up with snappy copy.

We knew that this project required a systematic and flexible approach. The designs needed to be able to accommodate huge amounts of constantly updating content and ever-shifting messaging (through the cycle of the academic year), whilst still feeling slick and coherent in its overall aesthetic.

We worked closely with our client team and met frequently to discuss progress.

Key to the success of the project was attention to detail. We mapped out every scenario on a carefully plotted grid. Every screen size, viewport and breakpoint was carefully considered so we maintained the clarity of the design, no matter what device the site was viewed on (or what screen size and resolution).

We introduced specific colour-coding, typographic detailing and a managed hierarchy of menus and submenus that all combine to make this hugely complex site feel simple and clean to any user.

The scale and complexity of the site meant that we worked (and continue to work) with the RCM to roll-out sections and to tweak functionality in stages.

Our clients have been delighted with the results, and they’ve been kind enough to share the positive feedback they’ve received from across the organisation.

Amongst our favourites is this from a front-of-house team member.