National Education Association
Through a holistic digital, technical, and operational strategy, we helped NEA strengthen the relationship between 3 million educators and their union.
In the beginning
In 2019, NEA had a web presence that reflected who it had been: thousands of pages of content; more than a dozen microsites for past campaigns and current priorities; website sections with outdated terms and departments. Our goal was to take a forward-looking approach, to show what NEA values, services, and community are and will be.
5 years, 2 Webbys, and 1 enterprise system later, we have a digital platform that connects and supports educators, advocates, and affiliates in their mission to help every child and educator succeed.
The crucial first step
With a large and diverse set of internal and external stakeholders, we planned out a community-led approach to design. Activities included interviews with organization leaders, design thinking workshops with members, and surveys for website editors and end-users. We led open discussions of our findings, helping us refine the strategy and helping shift internal minds and behaviors toward a new common vision for what NEA could achieve online.
"It was critical to take a systems approach to NEA’s content, to look at the people, processes, and platforms needed to help them succeed with change. It meant that we ended up with a product that was needed, wanted, is manageable now, and can grow with the organization into the future."
—Anna Kassinger, Associate Director, Program Strategy
Architecting a streamlined digital experience
To create a connected and engaged user experience across online and offline channels, we defined a content and experience strategy that reinforced holistic relationships among NEA’s affiliates, partners, constituencies, and most engaged members and supporters. It was important to repeat, reinforce, and reimagine NEA’s strategic priorities throughout the new experience, as well as elevate important issue areas.
Setting up educators for success
NEA’s 3 million members and allies are better equipped with the tools and resources they need to set up students for success, excel in their careers, and participate in civic engagement. Everyone can feel satisfaction in knowing that their collective work, feedback, and impact resulted in a web experience that accurately reflects and showcases the value of NEA’s work and the power within its community.
Key outcomes
We succeeded with what we set out to accomplish — to break the cycle of redesigns and create a new digital experience platform for NEA. While we're still working together to continue to evaluate, optimize, and enhance the experience with new features, we're proud of what we've achieved.
- Educators can quickly and easily find resources and tools they need for their jobs.
- Advocates have multiple pathways for growing as leaders and mobilizing other members of the community. (This is how moments become movements.)
- Potential members can see the value of the union and know how to connect with their affiliates.
- NEA affiliates feel supported, valued, and an important part of leading NEA's digital engagement strategy into the future.
- NEA staff have a CMS that supports their needs and workflows
- All visitors can easily follow their areas of interests (e.g., government funding, racial and social justice, salary and workplace conditions) through a sophisticated site search and comprehensive resource library.
- Project leaders know they have a durable foundation that can grow through continuous improvement.
By the numbers
- 100+ stakeholder interviews conducted
- 40,000 pages of content analyzed
- 15 microsites consolidated
- 14% growth in site visits in one year
- 50-70% action rate for priority advocacy opportunities
- 20 affiliates have joined the PaaS (platform-as-a-service)