Bedales, one of the UK’s most prestigious independent schools, wanted to launch a new online presence that conveyed the unique culture, passion and creativity that sets it apart from the more traditional independent schools throughout the country.
Founded in 1893, heritage plays a vital role in the school, as well as the a more progressive approach to teaching and variety of skills and subjects taught. Today, Bedales encompasses three schools: Dunannie 3-8; Dunhurst 8-13; and Bedales itself 13-18. Bedales students are encouraged both academically, and in personal development, and the combination of creativity, passion and quality in every aspect of Bedales life is tangible. The school's premium facilities and beautiful surroundings, in the Hampshire countryside, are another facet to this organisation that needed to be captured and portrayed as successfully online as they are in the newly designed prospectus.
The brief, to communicate the true essence of the unique learning environment, online, not only refers to presenting Bedales in a premium and professionally designed website, but also encompasses the requirement to cater for each stakeholder, so that every user enjoys a premium experience. The website needs to position the school as offering a unique learning experience, act as a central communication portal for each stakeholder, and fulfill a sales role too. The website needed to be crafted, rather than built, and that is exactly what we did...
The project began with user research and persona creation to ensure that the user strategy would keep them in mind at all times. The target audiences were defined as prospective students and their parents but as well as the sales role, the website had to cater for the internal audiences too. This included students, teachers, governors, parents and the local community. Dealing with each one in turn, we created a character persona so that we could understand the mindset of each user. We then designed and ran a series of focus groups to be clear on the requirements and preferences of each key user so that we could be confident in putting together the user experience strategy and ensure that, ultimately, the website achieves its goals.
With the strategy clearly defined, work began on the information architecture - we structured the content using the sitemap, taking into account the expectations of each user, and considered the format of each page for content optimization. Using the prospectus, and our design team’s thorough understanding of the client's offering, we then set to work on the creative, presenting a fresh and unique style that strongly communicates the Bedalian way of life.
The website was integrated with both the WickedwebCMS platform, and Schools Base database, which has given both client and user added value functionality. Bedales can now manage the content displayed by each of its schools, including the events calendar and news section, while parents can login to the schools database to view their child's progress reports and timetables.
Wickedweb has delivered a website that never fails to impress - iit has successfully captured all that is special about Bedales - and all the stakeholders, including us at the agency, are very proud of the project, and how it has positioned Bedales at the very top of its game. It is also a website of huge potential and over the next twelve months, many interactive elements will be added, with valuable features for internal and external audiences alike.
"We are very pleased with the new Bedales website, which has been wholeheartedly welcomed by many stakeholders for being a massive improvement on its predecessor. We are not the easiest organisation to understand, and in a short period Wicked Web has managed it! Their methodology and rigour helped us grasp what we wanted, and also to manage expectations about what can be achieved. We set a challenging timetable and the new site even arrived early with a design that is an excellent online adaptation of our brand. I have enjoyed working with Wicked Web, and am excited about what we can achieve together over the coming months."
Rob Reynolds, Bedales Director of External Relations:
