Thrive
Improved navigation, accessibility, and search
Thrive Audience Development is a non-profit charity supporting the Arts, Culture and Heritage sectors through audience research and consultancy. Their services include evaluation, surveys, and marketing support for organisations looking to better understand and grow their audiences.
Since Thrive’s work centres around helping others connect with audiences, it’s important they make information clear, accessible, and engaging. A user-friendly website ensures all users, regardless of experience, can easily access resources, reports, or contact information.
Initial Challenges
Thrive approached DHD with several website challenges, particularly around navigation, content discoverability, and accessibility. Their existing site had:
- Overly nested pages and disorganised content
- Outdated material that was hard to find
- Inconsistent content tagging
- An unclear value proposition and service offering
- Limited visibility into their expertise and impact
- A lack of relevant content recommendations
- Potential accessibility barriers
Not ideal for an organisation focused on connecting with audiences!
UX Research
Thrive had already conducted some usability testing and a user survey, but there were gaps in insight. Our UX research aimed to build on that foundation to understand user needs more deeply, identify pain points, and uncover opportunities for improvement.
Key research goals included:
🤔 Understanding why visitors come to the site
🔍 Exploring how users interact with the search bar
🗣️ Pinpointing frustrations through open-ended feedback
📈 Identifying the most valuable content and features
📓 Learning how users interact with downloadable resources
Accessibility
Accessibility was a core focus throughout the process. To align with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and enhance user experience, we made a number of updates:
🎨 Adjusted brand colours for improved contrast
💬 Improved visual clarity through better text sizing and button design
⌨️ Enhanced structure using semantic HTML, focus states, and keyboard navigation
📲 Improved responsiveness across devices
🔗 Added inclusive media like alt text and skip links
🔍 Upgraded the search for accessibility
Development
With UX insights in hand, our development team implemented a new site map to streamline navigation and improve how content is organised and found.
One of the most impactful changes was the integration of Algolia for site search. This significantly improved content discoverability, helping users find relevant articles, toolkits, and case studies faster. The new search experience is also designed with accessibility in mind, offering a smooth, intuitive experience for all users.
By addressing structural and accessibility challenges, Thrive’s new website now better reflects their expertise and mission. Visitors can easily find the content they need, engage with research, and connect with Thrive’s services ensuring the site truly supports the arts and culture communities it was built to serve.
Thank you to the Thrive team
Thanks to Fiona, Candice, and the team at Thrive for trusting the team at DHD to improve your website experience!