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&description=A Content Managed Site for One of the Nation's Preeminent Academic Medical Centers
The Berndt Group partnered with Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center to design and develop a new web site in the Ektron CMS400.NET content management system. Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (WFUBMC) is one of the nation's preeminent academic medical centers that operates 1,238 acute care, rehabilitation, long-term and psychiatric care beds. The Medical Center is the largest employer in Forsyth County, North Carolina, with more than 11,750 employees and consistently ranks in U.S.News and World Report's "Guide to America's Best Hospitals." The project kicked off with extensive stakeholder interviews and analysis of WFUBMC's business requirements. This research and feedback guided The Berndt Group's recommended strategy for handling the various complex issues of the current site. Our solutions included: Enhancing the market-leading brand presence for Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, using more appropriate imagery and clarifying the institutional structure for site visitors; Implementing color coded explicit segmented navigation, improving usability for site visitors; Developing related link strategies that allowed site editors to control their related links, while reducing overall site management time; Improving audience conversion, with better calls to action, improved usability and tab based user segmentation; Creating a better infrastructure for content development and maintenance, integration of ADAM (medical content) and other automated content capabilities. With these goals in mind, The Berndt Group created wireframes and a site map that laid the ground work for a much improved user experience. We developed designs and XHTML templates while the technical development team (a combined team of WFUBMC and Berndt Group developers) worked on the functional requirements/specifications that served as a blueprint for the developers to implement the site in Ektron, the content management system. Berndt Group developers created base templates and navigation which we handed off to WFUBMC developers to build out additional site areas. Berndt Group developers also provided guidance and strategies for difficult integrations with external databases like the A.D.A.M. medical reference data. Content creation and editing began in April 2009 with The Berndt Group assisting WFUBMC with entering content into the Ektron CMS. This final phase of the project wrapped up in late summer 2009 and the site launched in October 2009. Noteworthy site features include: Integration with various database technologies, including A.D.A.M. data (specialized medical reference data) and custom physician databases; Extensive taxonomy (content relationship) structures creating automatic links of content based on related terms or topics; More visual calls to action allowing users to find doctors, faculty, and research projects quickly; Improved usability, quick reference information highly visible throughout the site and a more shallow site structure; High impact, emotionally resonant photography conveying warmth and making a connection with visitors; and Web Operations Management policies alongside the new CMS implementation allow more streamlined content management and ownership within each department. The Berndt Group designed the site shown in this portfolio entry, as well as the current live site that features the organization's updated branding. |
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