Building a Flexible and Empowering Website for JCC Prosserman

Creating a seamless web experience is vital for any community center, and JCC Prosserman was no exception. Serving over 20,000 members across the GTA, JCC Prosserman needed a website overhaul to better serve their members and prospects, and streamline their operations. Ready Set Go took on the challenge, aiming to transform their digital presence.

The original website was a clunky and confusing user experience. With an overwhelming amount of information and points of navigation, taking key actions on the site, such as registering for programs or becoming a member, led to significant user frustration and loss of conversions.

To tackle these issues, we started with a detailed journey map where we used personas to identify the main areas of friction throughout the site. We then spent over 15 hours interviewing internal stakeholders from every department to understand their digital needs and how the website could better serve them. Finally, we decided to actually experience the process firsthand - we became members for a day and went from onboarding to participating in a class, gaining valuable insights both online and offline.

Our primary goal was to make the website simple and intuitive to drive key conversions; namely, program and event registration, and new member inquiries. We restructured the entire information architecture, pared-down copy, and simplified the navigation significantly. This included removing complex dropdowns to ensure the most important sections of the site were easily accessible. We focused on making the user journey from point A to Z as seamless as possible.

We chose a headless CMS for its flexibility and ease of use. The new website, built on React, allowed for seamless integrations and enhanced performance. This setup empowered JCC’s marketing team to manage content independently, reducing their reliance on external support, and without compromising any of the design. The team can now make quick changes without needing technical assistance, significantly improving their efficiency.

One of the standout features was the integration with Eventbrite to manage JCC Prosserman’s events. This ensured that all active events appeared on the website with thumbnails and descriptions, making it easy for users to find and register for events directly through the site. Additionally, we implemented a flexible notification system for real-time updates, which can be used for various announcements such as closures or schedule changes.

Our solution was designed to be scalable. Both JCC Prosserman and Schwartz/Reisman Center use the same underlying components, making it easy to roll out new features across both sites. This consistency benefits the staff and ensures a uniform user experience across these JCC locations. The marketing team found the new system easy to learn and use, facilitating smooth internal knowledge transfer.

JCC Prosserman plans to continue leveraging this robust platform to enhance their digital presence. The success of this project has paved the way for ongoing improvements and innovations.

At Ready Set Go, we are thrilled to have contributed to this transformation. Building a flexible and empowering website for JCC Prosserman has not only streamlined their operations but also significantly improved their members' experience. This project exemplifies how thoughtful design and smart technology can work together to create lasting impact.