Keeping enthusiast members engaged with an
improved content experience.
Project Type: UX/Web Experience
Building an improved web experience for the American Meteorological Society's enthusiast membership tier: Weather Band.
Overview
The American Meteorological Society (AMS) launched Weather Band as a community for weather enthusiasts in 2020. With climate change and concerns about the environment continuing to grow as topics of societal interest, AMS Weather Band has been a source of engaging, informative content related to weather, water, and climate science aimed at the general public.
Ongoing member feedback, website analytics, and membership trends indicated that there was a need to refresh Weather Band's web interface to re-align more closely with its evolving needs. This case study explores the deployment of Weather Band's updated web experience.
Role
Visual Design Manager - Strategy, Research, Design, Wireframing and Prototyping, Development Support, User testing
Team
Front end developer, Senior Back-end Developer
Leadership (Community Engagement Director, Digital Products and Technology Director)
Community Engagement Department Staff
Project Management
The Goal
Website analytics and membership trends have shown that numbers for AMS Weather Band membership had stagnated after years of continued growth. Data from ongoing member surveys indicated that users largely joined Weather Band to engage with its growing catalog of content and resources published in collaboration with weather and climate experts, but were finding it difficult to locate what they were looking for. We wanted to re-design the homepage for Weather Band to be more content driven, while still maintaining informational elements aimed at membership recruitment.
The Problem
In its initial development, AMS Weather Band's web presence was focused on membership recruitment. Since we were targeting an enthusiast user that would not qualify for AMS's professional membership, information on what the product is and how to join was put into focus. As the product matured and membership numbers increased, the business goals shifted towards a balance between building for existing users while also maintaining recruitment efforts. We wanted to provide an easier way for users to engage with new content, as well as content on specific topics or by our "celebrity" expert authors called Maestros.
The Approach
We started with an analysis of qualitative survey data collected from regular surveys that were sent out to Weather Band membership. An in-person affinity diagram exercise was conducted and reoccurring pain points were identified.
We combined survey data with an audit of the existing version of the Weather Band home page and determined high level objectives that addressed user pain points. We wanted the website to act more like a content vehicle, so benchmarking research was done to identify existing examples of products that offer interfaces for what we would like to do.
Benchmarking research
Existing version of Weather Band
Wireframes and medium fidelity prototypes were produced and iterated until a final version was approved by all stakeholders.
Wireframe Prototype
Medium Fidelity Prototype
The Outcome
The Results
The resulting outcome was an interface that leads with high level information on what Weather Band is and how to become part of the community. It then leads into a featured content section that can be used to highlight new or especially timely pieces. The "Maestro Spotlight" section follows, allowing users to read highlighted content from "celebrity" community figures. The final section of the page is the expandable feed of content listed chronologically. Users may also use content tags to filter by current trending topics.
Continuing user surveys collected after the launch of the new layout expressed sentiments about how it was easier to quickly scan the homepage and find the types of content users were looking for. Our web analytics saw a ~20% rise in traffic in the first few months with numbers trending upwards.
The Community Engagement Department and Executive team were pleased with the functionality of the new page. They were able to quickly and easily deploy new content to our members, as well as be nimble with what content is highlighted depending on what topics are trending in the moment.
Next Steps
This project was a result of evolving business needs for Weather Band. We will continue to monitor membership numbers, user sentiment from surveys, and content trends to see if the current layout is offering the best experience for our users. More specifically, a point of focus will be on the balance between serving potential members vs. existing members.