Accessible & integrated user-led website design

BANES Carers' Centre provides vital respite services, advice, and information for carers across Bath and North East Somerset.

Recognising the critical role carers play, the organisation wanted a new website that placed carers firmly at the centre, ensuring their needs guided every design and development decision.

Our goal was to create an engaging, accessible digital platform shaped by real user experiences. Additionally, we aimed to make our learnings open source, allowing other organisations supporting carers to benefit from our insights.

As part of a wider digital transformation programme, we embarked on a deep discovery phase to truly understand carers’ needs.

We conducted multiple participatory workshops and 1:1 interviews with young carers, adult carers, and parents of young carers, ensuring that carers’ voices were directly reflected throughout the process.

In parallel, we documented the project journey on Medium, sharing methods and findings to contribute to broader sector learning.

Key steps included:

• Defining detailed user profiles and journeys to inform the site's structure and navigation

• Designing and testing wireframes iteratively, validating every stage with real users

• Translating BANES’ existing print branding into a strong, consistent digital identity

• Building the new website using Umbraco CMS with Azure hosting credits for charities

• Seamlessly integrating with Salesforce, Campaign Monitor, Stripe, and GoCardless to streamline operations

Accessibility, mobile experience, and user engagement were prioritised at every step.

Through a comprehensive, user-led approach — including 17 hours of direct user testing — we delivered a new website that:

• Doubled site traffic, attracting and retaining users with greater value and relevance

• Elevated the charity’s public profile and increased awareness

• Streamlined operations through Salesforce integration

• Co-created an accessible, engaging platform that amplified the collective voice of carers

• Ensured continuity of branding from print to digital

• Enabled ongoing development and support through a managed service

This meticulous, collaborative process resulted in a website that not only met, but exceeded the organisation’s strategic ambitions — putting carers first at every step.

Through a comprehensive, user-led approach, including 17 hours of direct user testing, we delivered a new website that:

• Doubled site traffic, attracting and retaining users with greater value and relevance

• Elevated the charity’s public profile and increased awareness

• Streamlined operations through Salesforce integration

• Co-created an accessible, engaging platform that amplified the collective voice of carers

• Ensured continuity of branding from print to digital

• Enabled ongoing development and support through a managed service

This meticulous, collaborative process resulted in a website that not only met, but exceeded the organisation’s strategic ambitions — putting carers first at every step.