Case study: Nuclear Energy Institute

Nuclear energy goes "green" with a clean look and feel and streamlined architecture.

The Challenge:

The Nuclear Energy Institute is the international policy organization of the nuclear energy and technologies industry with more than 300 member companies and organizations. In 2006, the NEI undertook a complete redesign of the www.nei.org website. More than a simple facelift, the new site would become a key component of the organization's strategic mission to communicate and positively influence favorable opinions about the nuclear industry.

The NEI came forward with a number of "must haves" for their new site:

 

• Must be able to support multiple constituents with widely divergent information goals
• Must project a visual aesthetic that conveys the positive attributes of nuclear power
• Must provide an information architecture and technology infrastructure that allows all audiences to easily and quickly locate what they need
• Must be supported by streamlined tools and processes that make the site easy to manage and administer from day one
• Must provide an extensible content management system (CMS) to enable their developers to add new features and functionality as the site matures

The Siteworx Approach:

The NEI had already completed a usability study to uncover key target audiences and objectives for their new site. Siteworx was brought in to apply the findings of the study in the Visual Design and Information Architecture phases of the redesign. Given the size and complexity of the site, Siteworx deployed the Axiom® CMS as the content management system of choice.

The Result:

From a design perspective, the new nei.org provides a fresh look and feel that reflects the Institute's promise for the future: clean nuclear energy that is safe, affordable and environmentally sound. The clean, "green-friendly" color palette conveys health and vitality. The site also boasts a clean, "green-friendly" navigation and information architecture which enables the Institute's diverse member base to quickly and easily locate the information they need.