With campuses in Cheltenham, the Forest of Dean, and Gloucester, Gloucestershire College offers a wide range of practical courses – from computing and construction, to business, sport and health and social care.
The primary challenge in redesigning the Gloucestershire College website was balancing design trends and audience expectations with the constraints of the existing systems.
The College recognised the need for a contemporary, user-friendly, and mobile-first website to engage prospective students and stakeholders. However, the work required to replace the existing CMS and middleware was out of budget, hence the redesign had to work within the existing constraints of these systems.
Despite these constraints, our goal was to create a seamless and accessible user experience that could integrate smoothly with the existing backend systems. This required a ‘Collaboratively Creative’
approach (that’s one of Our Values) in order to bring our design expertise, insights from the College, and the existing development agency together to deliver the project.
To overcome the challenges presented by Gloucestershire College’s need to maintain their existing CMS and middleware, we developed a mobile-first UI and UX that worked in harmony with the current systems. Our approach focused on creating an intuitive, user-friendly design that prioritised accessibility and the College’s branding guidelines. By using a responsive design approach, we ensured that the website delivered a consistent and engaging experience across all devices, meeting the needs of the target audience.
Collaboration with the development agency was crucial in achieving our goals. We worked closely with their team to ensure our designs were technically feasible and compatible with the existing infrastructure. Regular communication and iterative feedback allowed us to refine our designs and deliver the final artwork in the requested format, leading to a smooth implementation. This collaborative effort enabled us to successfully launch a refreshed, user-centric website that fulfilled the college’s requirements and exceeded user expectations.
Following the successful launch of the new website, we continue to provide ongoing support for any UI and UX requirements, ensuring the website evolves to meet emerging trends and user needs. By building upon our long-term partnership with the college, we aim to keep their website engaging and accessible, providing a seamless experience for all users.
It was a pleasure working with WebBox on the designs for our new college website. They translated our new branding beautifully, and were instrumental in creating a streamlined, user-friendly homepage navigation, as well as many other new page designs. Would highly recommend WebBox for website design!
Shelly McCatty, Head of Marketing, Gloucestershire College
