”An extraordinary time for ASCD to launch a website that is user focused, modern, strategic, scalable, and a breath of fresh air.

Thomas LytleASCD Creative Director
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New brand, new website. A new way of delivering content for ASCD in a freemium to premium product model. It’s a content first driven website based on user needs around important topics of education and professional development. Secondly it ties and serves our products to the user from the same related education topics. Everything is connected from content to product, and the rebrand and UX allows all of it to breath and be digestible.

As Creative Director for ASCD, I led the user experience, visual design, and branding execution for ASCD in collaboration with our working partners outside of the organization for the website.

Role: Creative Director
Our key results for the new website:

  • Increase time spent on the website and key landing pages.
  • Increase visit and revisit rates.
  • Drive product subscription revenue.
  • Through increased reach, integrated marketing to the website and products, and an improved store, the team will drive revenue for all its business priorities.

Planning, Wireframing, Design, Dev Time, Oh My!

In July 2021, ASCD’s new website successfully launched live and unveiled the new branding. It was an amazing and fruitful adventure with cross collaboration across many internal departments, stakeholders, and outside vendors. With so much that needed to be done to reach the live date, we divided each phase and section of the website into sprints. 

The set criteria that we needed to launch with were:

  • eCommerce for ASCD products and services.
  • freemium to premium subscription model
  • Publication content articles
  • Product and Topic pages with linked tags
  • Embedded Media players and libraries for podcasts and videos
  • Events, Professional Development, and Community pages
  • Reflection of new branding in images, tone, UX, and UI.

New Technology for ASCD

The website utilizes a new technology for ASCD called a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system. The website pulls all imagery from the DAM for easy integration, and acts as our central asset and multi-purpose image library. As Creative Director, I worked with ASCD’s Chief Digital Officer and Educational Leadership Magazine’s Editor in Chief to build the DAM from the ground up. I led the initial implementation, and now own the strategic use of the DAM for the organization and integrated approach to branding, marketing and product initiatives.

ASCD New Website Teaser

ASCD in collaboration with their working partner Appnovation, put this teaser video of the new site to help promote the new experience.