The NHS and its partners pride themselves on having a coherent, recognisable, and consistent brand image across platforms. ELFS wanted to reach even higher as they sought to maintain this standard, and they also had a wish list of changes that they thought would improve the functionality and UX of their site.   Among other things, they wanted to update their main navigation bar, remove their burger menu, and change their logo, all while keeping the NHS logo in the top corner and aligning with the brand requirements of the NHS. They also wanted to change the search function on their site, update its content, and display more images that had a really premium finish. Added to this sizable list, they wanted an About Us section, a better internal linking structure, a privacy notice, and an Our Client section. The project was shaping up to be pretty big!   The initial intention was to adjust their existing site and build a few new blocks for them, but as the list of amends grew, it quickly became clear that there was a better solution. We loved the enthusiasm for excellence that ELFS showed us and wanted to deliver something that didn’t just meet their expectations, but that exceeded them. Because of that, we soon decided that it would be 100 times easier and more effective to just rebuild their site from the ground up.

After initial investigations, we decided to build the new site on SUDS, our proprietary WordPress solution. This would make it easier for ELFS to not only continue our fantastic relationship in the future, but also make their own amends to their website in the long term. We made sure to keep the ELFS’ team updated at every step of the process. Our Operations Director had regular calls with various board members to make sure that their valuable input was realised within the build of the site. Although we took the lead regarding design and creativity, it was crucial to us that feedback was taken onboard and implemented promptly and consistently.   A key part of the new designs was to get the services front and centre on the revamped site. The old ELFS site didn’t put its services in such a prominent place, so this was something we were keen to rectify. We also needed to showcase their jobs and careers section more effectively to make it easier for the search function to pick them up. ELFS NHS was keen to expand their team, and so they highlighted their careers sections as a particular point of interest in our redesign.

We designed and built all aspects of the new site, making the process easy and stress-free for ELFS. We entered all of the content, sourced all of the imagery on the site in accordance with the NHS brand guidelines, and made sure our designs adhered to NHS brand guidance. We did all this in accordance with, what was by their own admission, a modest budget.   We built the whole site using reusable components so that the ELFS team could easily create and edit new pages in the future without any development support. All content on the site can be edited from the CMS. We set up all jobs and services pages as custom post types, allowing ELFs to adjust the content of each page individually. We built the pages in such a way that allows each service and job to automatically show up on their corresponding archive pages.   Additionally, we created a site-wide search function that featured a “frequent searches” function to help users find what they are looking for more easily. We rigorously tested the entire site on various devices and web browsers such as IOS, Android for mobile and tablet, Windows, Linux and Mac desktop devices, Safari, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox browsers. At every turn, a lot of hard work went into ensuring the site was more accessible, user-friendly, and functional for both users and ELFS NHS themselves.   ELFS loved their new website so much that they decided to stick with us. We’d hosted their old website, so they renewed that arrangement for their new site, which is now hosted on Prostack. We also continue to work with them to improve security on their site; we perform regular maintenance checks, assess cookie compliance, and we’re now laying the framework for a long-term partnership in the form of a maintenance package.