I was approached by First Church of God with questions about how they should proceed with their current website and church management system, Church Community Builder. I conducted research, provided my findings, and created a website that demonstrated where the Church currently stood and where they were trying to go.
Before constructing my first wireframe I spent one month conducting research. I held interviews with the church staff, various board members, ministry overseers, etc. I was able to grasp the structure of the church that was both on paper and in reality. Doing so allowed me to layout a website that reflected a bit of both. You can take a look at my research findings here. The church was currently in transition so the graphical look I gave to the site represented a church that had a significant past but wanted to make room for the youth and young adults who are and would be attending the church.
After gathering my findings I was able to create nine personas to develop wireframes around. I listed out the needs of each user for each key page and then merged them at the end to make sure no information was left in the wind.
I admit that designing for such a vast user base that in some aspects literally opposed each other was difficult and creating a look and feel that would appeal to both was no easy task. You should check out the site here at 1stchurch.net.
As the deadline approached, I took on some help from a fellow SCAD Graduate, Travis Vargas. I enlisted his graphic design skills and asked him to create banners for the various ministries at First Church.